Like most modern day relationships, ours began online.
Me? A single fashion journalist desperately seeking a device I could have fun with, bring around friends, trust and, most importantly: make my tech-savvy ex jealous!
Not a lot to look for, right? But I had cause for concern.
I'd been involved with a cherished Vivienne Tam HP Notebook, which usually fit my needs. But despite its good looks, it had some size issues. Despite being cute and compact, it was still slightly too big for those days when I'm on the go and need a device with a keypad big enough for typing full stories, but small enough to slip into my Chanel 2.5 quilted purse.
I have a long-standing relationship with smart phones which are as portable and durable as it gets, but fall short when a full keyboard is needed. And while I've flirted with the iPad, my pride wouldn't let me get serious. It's much too sleek, seductive and popular with my girlfriends.
After hearing the buzz about the Blackberry Playbook, I decided to do my research. The 7" LCD device came in an ultra-sleek ½ inch thick package weighing less than one pound. Beyond being portable, it offered all the durability I was looking for with software that seamlessly takes you from Adobe to Word Documents to email to calendars. Best of all, these programs and more can run simultaneously.
Reading about it online sent my heart aflutter, but finally seeing it offline was a letdown. A matter of hours into trying out my new hot toy, I found it hard to navigate. Several components were missing -- email capability (i.e. being able to email from the notepad or WordDoc on-the-go options) and I found Internet connection via my Blackberry -- a fun feature called tethering -- dodgy at best in reality. By the time I spent an hour trying online check-in for a flight I was late for, I'd given up.
Until a vacation brought us together.
The four day trip to Barcelona to check out W Hotels' new project with Burn Energy drink was equal parts work and play. Without a digital camera, I relied on the Playbook to take photos. But the device proved it can go above and beyond taking expertly shot photos. My Playbook took me deftly from interviews, where I typed my notes, to poolside parties where I used the voice recorder to capture music played by W Hotels' DJs to quiet beach time where the camcorder captured the crashing waves.
I went from strong like to total love when I discovered the Word-to-Go capability which allowed me to get a head start on stories with ease. When the day was done, I could unwind with a glass of sangria and the Kobo Book reader application.
Truly, I'd never known love -- of a tablet -- like this before.
Since our trip, me and my Playbook have settled into a nice routine of working hard and playing hard -- together. Still, I wasn't sure where this relationship was going, until that tech-savvy ex inquired how I liked my new device. I responded with the true mark of a relationship heading down the right path.
I called it by a nickname: my Blaybook.