BlackBerry RIM - Still worth the buck?

Blackberries are small pager sized devices which enable people to send and receive email wirelessly from just about any location in the world (where subscriber service exists). By using both thumbs and a small button keyboard users can type in messages rather quickly, so the Blackberry is simple to use, and quick to learn. There is no learning curve for writing like the Palm.

The question is, in this time of economic downturn, mass tech industry layoffs, and busted dot.com's is the Blackberry still worth getting? The answer in short is yes, but the motive and user has changed slightly. Where the Blackberry used to exclusively be the toy of twenty-something execs, it has now been spun off onto the masses of AOLites, and general connectivity freaks alike.

Now, in addition to IM, ICQ and AIM, the mobile freak on the go has email. Email is of course the killer app of the Internet, and given the opportunity to send and receive email from anywhere, at any time, users are quick to embrace it.

From our perspective, we picked up a BlackBerry several months ago, and have been using it almost continuously since. Its' usefulness as a sort of mobile notepad is phenomenal, and its transformation of otherwise wasted commuting time (drivers not included) into valuable email answering time is superb.

I don't know about you, but as an editor I get on the order of 100-150 emails a day. Sorting, answering and dealing with requests usually takes up a good portion of my mornings. Any way of trimming down that time is more than welcome.

And what happens when we have to pack up and go to a trade show for a few days to report on the newest and greatest from the computer industry? With the BlackBerry set up for US roaming we can continue to receive and answer important emails without skipping a beat.

The ability to import address books, message folders and the like into the BlackBerry means that users can effectively take their email programs with them. The Sony jog-dial makes indexing through large lists of email addresses or folders of messages a quick and painless task. With a bit of practice, typing on the small BlackBerry keyboard can become quite a speedy endeavor, and it's a hell of a lot simpler than any WAP enabled phone will ever be.

The only downside that we can see is in the batteries. Where Handspring uses integrated rechargeable batteries, the BlackBerry uses a standard alkaline power source and a non-recharging cradle. In most cases, battery life is about a month, but if you are a heavy user it could be less. Auto power-off features help to extend that life span, but sooner or later you will find yourself faced with a dead BlackBerry and wishing RIM has used rechargeable batteries.

Despite this, the BlackBerry is very will designed for what it does. It has not suffered the fate of so many other devices by trying to cram in as much as humanly possible till the device becomes too large to carry around. The BlackBerry is small, not much larger than a pager, and optimized to do what it does. The display is black and white LCD, the backlight would be better if it were Indiglo, but isn't however.

In any case, the BlackBerry has taken the place of pseudo ICQ or IM, and with the additional address book features offers an incredibly powerful way to maintain email communications on the go. As other PDA's begin to pick up and deliver similar services with equal simplicity, the BlackBerry may eventually fall to the way side, but for the moment that level of electronic convergence has not realized.

If you live an die by constant email communication, the BlackBerry will be a welcome addition. If you already have a PDA, and cell phone you'll probably be dismayed at the prospect of carrying yet another $400 device around with you everyday, and might be better off sitting this device out. In the end I suppose it comes down to personal preference, but rest assured if you decide that a BlackBerry is right for you, RIM have delivered an intuitive and proficient device that will prove its worth rapidly.