Well, this comes as a complete shock! Yes, it seems as if Sprint is delaying the launch of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook yet again.
As you may recall, both companies originally tapped April 19th as the release date for the Sprint BlackBerry tablet, but then pushed off its debut until May 8th.
Now, if a leaked internal Sprint memo is to be believed, the PlayBook won’t be hitting (Sprint) store shelves on the 8th.
And interestingly enough, a replacement date has yet to be provided.
As John Paczkowski of AllThingsD points out, the memo does advise dealers to retain their PlayBook marketing materials and display pedestals, indicating a new launch date is clearly in the works.
“Perhaps, like Verizon, Sprint’s not sure whether the PlayBook’s ready for market,” Paczkowski mused.
Exactly.
If you ask me, this is a perfect example of why Apple still reigns supreme in the tablet space. The rest of the industry really needs to get its act together. I mean, can you imagine Apple releasing a half-baked version of iOS like Google did with Honeycomb?
And does anyone really believe Cupertino would pull an Asus and promote a phantom tablet that wasn’t available anywhere in the United States?
Let’s not even talk about Motorola’s terribly overpriced Xoom which was rushed to market with virtually no tablet-specific apps.
Seriously folks, nothing is going to change in the tablet space until companies like RIM regain their sense of professionalism. Just because it is a tablet form factor doesn’t mean you have to get all wonky and drop the ball.
How so, you ask?
Well, just don’t friggin’ announce, market and launch an over-hyped tablet until it is truly ready. Yeah, the situation would really be quite funny if it wasn’t so damn pathetic.
Even so, you can bet that Steve Jobs and his loyal captains at the Infinite Loop can’t stop laughing at the incredibly amateurish behavior displayed by the so-called competition.
Hell, I know I can’t.
