Following yesterday's BlackBerry PlayBook update and subsequent recognition that this is the last OS update the BlackBerry PlayBook will ever see, the community has been pretty vocal. Looking back at the history of the PlayBook, it really is a sad story. So much potential, but instead we're left with shattered dreams, broken promises and what still feels all these years later, like an unfinished project.
What a lot of people may not realize is that the vision for original BlackBerry tablet was much simpler. As the story goes, what Research In Motion founder Mike Lazaridis originally wanted was a simple big screen companion device for his BlackBerry Smartphone. Much more a simple multimedia accessory and much less a full blown standalone tablet. Plans were already in motion on this one before Apple announced the original iPad in early 2010, but after that announcement BlackBerry pivoted and the vision for BlackBerry's tablet became much BIGGER, and of course, much more difficult to execute on.
What's ironic, and is well illustrated by the message I received this morning from CrackBerry member Jsolts, is that the original basic "big window to a BlackBerry" functionality is still what's wanted today!
