This Wednesday, the work-supplied BlackBerry arrived at my cubicle. I had been both looking forward to this moment and loathing it as the day encroached. I opted for a much more sleeker version of the typical BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Curve 8300.
There are some serious benefits to having one of these devices.
- Easy access to email: Sure beats Outlook Web Access and Secure Remote Desktop just to check email
- Installation of other applications: GMail, Google Maps, and other useful and not-so-useful things
- Web browser
- Access to Contacts, Appointments, and Tasks: Everything an addict to Outlook needs
There are some serious drawbacks, though:
- Constant Message Notification: I tend to turn off mail notifications on your usual mail clients, as I find that a sound/desktop alert/envelope icon tend to be distracting. All they do is make you feel as though you must answer email NOW!!! There needs to be a way I can turn this feature off or make it not as persistent. I like seeing email, but I don’t need to see it immediately, every second, of every day.
- Slow AT&T EDGE Network: This is not nearly as bad an issue on the Jebus phone, but the EDGE network is teH sucK.
- Audio Interference: Aside from that, it is an incredibly bad source of interference for all types of speaker equipment. Just having that thing sit on my desk in my home office while working remotely and receiving emails is a royal nuisance as I constantly hear the buzz in my desktop speakers.
- Two Devices: I now have two devices I keep with me most of the time. My RAZR2 cell phone and my CrackBerry. I dislike the multiple device effect.
- Sense of Self-Importance: Having one of these things makes me look like one of “those guys.” Always looking at your device, occasionally banging out an email response, or responding then running off to address a problem. I have never wanted to have that appearance, but I have a feeling that this thing does.
I never thought I would say it, but having the CrackBerry is quite handy. I can browse the interwebs and my Gmail pretty quickly, but I am still trying to find a way to get my RSS feeds on the go. My usual reader of choice–FeedDemon/Newsgator–has an application that does not like my CrackBerry (or potentially me). Nonetheless, it came in handy the other evening during my neighborhood meeting.
So, count me as a begrudging fan of the CrackBerry.
{ 6 } Comments
I love all sorts of little handheld devices, phones, PDAs, GPSs, you name it, I’ve made it work. However, after spending years carting around a handbag full of devices I started to assess the toll they were taking on other things I was trying to accomplish. I was spending less time concentrating on face to face meetings, just itching to get my hands on a toy in the bag. Somewhere along the line the bag of toys started taking over my life. Was my bluetooth working properly? Was my phone on? Did my bff call? What is in the email?
I occasionally look at blogs though I no longer answer every email. Next week I kill my cell phone. I’ve traded my GPS for a paper map. And if my friends can’t do me the decency to concentrate on whatever we are doing when we are together then I am begining to offload them as well. I’m getting much more done and feel better too.
Watch that crackberry thing, it will take a toll on you that you won’t notice until it is too late. Feel lucky that men aren’t allowed to carry a handbag because it could be worse.
You should have gotten the Jebus phone. Then instead of looking like “one of ‘those guys’” you could walk around with a nice air of smugness that is included in every box and look down on those boring corporate “those guys”.
The crackberry isn’t so “self-important” anymore since everyone has one. The bluetooth ear thingy — oh now you’re talking self-important. You’re safe so far, JJT.
My biggest complaint with people using bluetooth headsets is it has become so much harder to figure out who’s crazy and talking to imagined voices in their head. Used to be if you were walking down the street and the person in front of you was holding conversation with someone else who wasn’t there you knew they were nuts. Now they might really be talking to someone.
Cham: I completely agree. The CrackBerry has limitations, and I learned a long time ago that one needs to have limits to how much work gets in the way of life.
Paul: Your first comment was oh so true.
Paul and Carol: As for the bluetooth headset, you do what Larry David did in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Priceless.
Everyone I know that has one ends up getting glued to it 24/7. It doesn’t seem to matter if it was for business or not. It’s the ultimate leash, where those who wish to reach you don’t have to inconvenience themselves at all.
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