Social suicide - or how I think I might actually want to own a BlackBerry

There are many milestones in a man’s life. Like the day he discovers that Radio 2 actually has some good presenters who play good tunes as well as libel celebrity granddaughters. Or the moment when the clothes in Burton’s don’t just seem competitively priced and practical, but almost a bit cool. But for me the one I have been dreading has finally arrived. Yes I actually want to own a BlackBerry.

Over the last half decade I have smugly looked on at mates, work colleagues and randoms on buses whose lives are pretty much governed by those horrible little excuses for phones. Smug in the knowledge that, 1 I had a decent handset, usually a Nokia, 2, that my phone did all manner of wonderful things - like take amazing high quality pics and play back MP3s and, most crucially, 3, that I wasn’t checking my phone screen every three minutes in case my boss had emailed me.

Throw in the fact that up until a couple of years ago BlackBerrys were 1, huge horrible devices that deliver the kind of unsightly bulge that would ruin the cut of even the most happening pair of Burton’s trousers, or 2, those small things without a keyboard that were great for collecting email but rubbish for returning it as they had no usable keyboard and my life was clearly going to be a BlackBerry free zone.

Until now. Firstly I have a bit of change in circumstances which means it is actually quite useful to get constant email, or push email, as the techies call it. More importantly though BlackBerrys have just become well, sexy, and not even in an ironic kind of Burton’s way. The new BlackBerry Storm, which I got to play with last week, is a device that I’d be proud to own it. The big story is that, taking a leaf out of Apple’s book, they have made it touch screen phone. So you can gently stroke it and it’ll take you through all the features in a very swish way. The clever bit is though if you need to send a message. For the touch screen enables you to type in a myriad number of ways. So you have the option of the QWERTY keypad, the sensible one for big fingered chaps like myself, a text message style screen and various other permutations. And even though it is touch screen thanks to some clever technology it does actually feel like you are pressing a button or two. Smart stuff.

The device not only looks good, it is also stacked with way more features than its ancestors, so there’s an ok camera, ok, in that it isn’t as good as my Nokia but hey you can’t have everything, GPS for finding your way and a really web browser. They are also opening up a BlackBerry download store too. So all those clever techies can now offer wonderful games and apps for your BlackBerry which you’ll be able to download in the New Year.

There are a few things which could have been added to the mix, namely Wi-Fi, but given that the device looks so pretty and behaves so cleverly I can forgive them that little oversight.

Of course you may then be thinking why don’t you just go and buy an iPhone? Well, I must admit that my hatred of the way Apple controls the legal music download market (still that’s going to change) is one reason. Another is that until they do a deal with BlackBerry there isn’t a good enough push email offering for the iPhone. Lastly too I think that the new BlackBerry is an even sexier looking device.
So, with mid-life crisis in full swing I am soon to be the proud-ish owner of BlackBerry. It’ll be the nasal hair trimmer next.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, November 2008 | In: Tech Focus, Technology Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink