That’s not the real question, of course. We know lots of people who use BlackBerries, including President Obama, and we’ll probably learn during the wall-to-wall inauguration coverage whether he’ll get to keep his, what with all the security concerns.
Switching from a regular cell phone to a BlackBerry is a big decision for me. Could a BlackBerry be my new tiny dream machine? Here’s what I hope it’ll do: Handle most of my communications needs while I travel a lot this year.
I don’t love my clunky old laptop and in a hotel I use it mostly for emailing and looking up addresses on the Internet. I’m told a BlackBerry can handle these duties and then some. If I get a BlackBerry, is there a model with a screen big enough so I can actually read the Internet display?
Texting is another quandary. I’m not a texter, but might be if I can actually find the letters of the alphabet. Since a BlackBerry has a keyboard, that might just do it.
The dilemma is – which model to get and how much do I need to spend to get the features needed?
I hope to avoid buyer’s regret – or future BlackBerry lust – by knowing which features I’ll wish I had, if only I’d paid for them at the start.
Help me please. I’m suffering from BlackBerry-Indecision-Paralysis.
Ó Anita Garner 2009
Can’t help you. I love my computers but I don’t like having to carry gadgets around. If I was a woman I doubt seriously that I would ever carry a purse.
I remember when cell phones were first being issued to everybody in the world. I didn’t want one. I don’t like having a device that can jump to the head of the line and interrupt a real-life conversation in progress. These days on the rare occasion I forget to carry my ball and chain with me I feel wonderfully free and at peace with the universe. I can hear myself think without interruption.
I’m a LOOONG time Palm user, so I carry a Palm Centro. I guess it’s Blackberry competition in a sense, perhaps like the Jamaican bobsled team is “competition” to the Austrians, but it does what I want and the software I’ve already purchased for my Palm over the years doesn’t go to waste. It interfaces with Outlook and all that other Microsoft stuff and surfs the internet well. The keyboard, however, is the perfect size for a Lilliputian. I get around this with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard that I bought that’s normal-sized and folds up to slip in a pocket. Solved the whole email problem. Last I saw, Verizon was offering Centros for 50 bucks.
When we compared hand size a long time ago, and yours were as big
as mine, I am not sure either one of us can manage the miniscule
keyboard. I have a hard enough time with my regular cellphone
which does not have a keyboard. Perhaps we could carry a tiny
stylus? I see that Overstock.com has blackberry phones on
sale (refurbished) for a pretty good price. I am staying with
the old cellphone but know people who say their life is very
well-managed by their Blackberry. I seem to be managing
my life pretty well without it, but I am an old foggy.