Remember how right after Christmas there was that announcement that a whole ton of Sears and K-Mart stores would be closing down because the holiday sales figures were just that awful? Well, that’s what’s happening with tablet computers now (I guess they needed a couple extra days to add up the lack of figures). You can now get a PlayBook, that’s the tablet from Research In Motion (makers of BlackBerry), for $299. That’s the price for 16gb, 32gb, or 64gb model. Doesn’t matter, $299 and its yours. If you go with the 64gb, that’s a savings of $400 off the original $699 sale price. A screaming bargain, right? Well, maybe, but it’s also maybe $299 for something that won’t be supported for long, won’t have any developer enthusiasm – translated: crappy apps forever — and may be in the process of dying. Has all the markings of a clear-the-inventory effort. Then again when HP did this with the TouchPad it sparked a small revival.

In a related story, Sony slashed the price of its Tablet S, which runs on Android, by a hundred bucks.

Oh and look at this story that just showed up: RIM is going to get a new Chairman.