I have a confession. I’ve never used a BlackBerry. Hand me one, and you’ll see that I have no freaking clue of how to work it.
Don’t be looking at me like I’m some forty year old virgin (no disrespect to them, by the way, amazing people) but I just never saw the need. Even if that means I don’t fit your stereotype of the young connected professional, my ignorance has been marked with spectacular bliss. I’ve lost many a dear friend to the BlackBerry craze, but the fear of missing out has failed to sieze me.
But yes, that’s indeed is the BlackBerry Q10. In the end, it was curiousity, not FOMO that finally nabbed me. When I received an invitation to review the device, I was intrigued. An opportunity to gaze into the zombie world of thumb racers would be a terrible thing to waste.
It wouldn’t be altogether correct to say that I’m totally ignorant of the BlackBerry ecosystem, no thanks to the fact that almost everyone I know uses one. The problem is I know only just enough to have formed a number of preconceptions, some of which aren’t accurate, I imagine.
For instance, BBM sounds like the kind of really noisy thing that I’m certain to hate. Never quite took to things like Whatsapp, or the concept of chatting for that matter. Then there’s those dreaded broadcast messages I’ve heard about. Life is too short to add more needless annoyances. While I’m willing to give BBM the benefit of the doubt and add a grand total of five people, I really don’t see myself “pinging” in the near future.
I know that BlackBerry users are forever plugging their devices into any and every available socket and USB port, so I get the idea that the batteries generally suck.
Then there’s this hanging thing that I’m always hearing about. “This stupid BlackBerry is hanging again”. All devices are known to freeze at some point or the other, but BBs seem to be especially notorious.
No, it’s not just bad things I’ve come to know BlackBerry for. There’s good. Like how it’s a great way to be in touch with everybody forever and ever, even if you run out of airtime with the omnipresent BBM. And how data/cost efficient it is, compared to other platforms. I’m sure that there’s other advantages to using a BB, but I forget. It used to make one a cool kid at one point, but how true is that these days though?
Because of some things I’m currently tied up in, I haven’t paid the Q10 any real mind for the past few days. Now I’m about to make it my primary device, put it through its paces, my style. But just before that, I have a few questions for the BlackBerry connoisseurs to help me speed things along. Like what are the apps I must install to achieve maximum peace and enjoyment of the BlackBerry universe? Suggestions for Twitter and news would be fantastic. Then what’s a brother to do in the event that the BB starts to hang? And how do I react to the inevitable “what’s your BB pin?” question. Off topic: If I had a list of annoying questions, this would rank second and only after the unbelievably random “how was your night?”
In any case, I have the BlackBerry Q10 for the next two weeks (now less since I’ve taken delivery of it since last Wednesday). This should be interesting.
