One of the early Blake and Dennis radio shows discussed cool phone applications for the Apple i-phone. Unfortunately, I’m not lucky enough to experience the i-phone … I have a Blackberry. My employer tells me that I will have a Blackberry. For the record, I resisted getting a Blackberry because I didn’t want to become one of those “slaves” to their phone. Taking and making calls seemed committed enough to me at the time, though I always maintained that I had a mobile phone for MY convenience, not others. Well, I got one and liked the idea of being able to see email messages while out of the office (think pub crawls with customers or golf on a sunny day). Just because I could “see” the emails, didn’t mean that I would have to respond, right? Well, not right away, not this instant. After enjoying knowing what would be waiting for me the next time I logged into my computer at work, I progressed to, well … let me put down my beer for just a second because I REALLY need to answer this message. Oh, and this one too … just another sec … bartender?!
Anyone with a Blackberry knows how this evolution occurs seemingly against your will. Pretty soon, you learn to hold your beer with one hand while deftly solo-thumb-texting a reply while seemingly to pay attention to whomever is watching you across the table commit yourself further to your Blackberry communication needs. *sigh*
So this weekend I went to the Blackberry “Owners Lounge” where I gave up a bunch of personal information (can’t wait to hear from whomever they sell THAT to!) and was admitted to some pretty interesting download areas (some free and some not so free). Games, business applications and personal productivity, and communication.
Hmmm, lots of games, but they want me to buy them. Of course, they give me a discount but I still gotta pay. No thanks. Well, maybe Suduko because it’s free and it’s better than Brickbreaker. Looking under business applications, I chose “The Street” adverstising real-time market information. I can view stock prices (with a 15 minute delay), and get some sponsored news information (Go Jim Cramer!). The do offer market information (losers & winners, and analyst upgrades/downgrades). Tried to get the NY Times but the server isn’t available.
Let’s look at something for me. I’m an Aries and I’m all about me! Personal productivity (looking at my dust-gathering Palm III device with Frankin Planner software in the corner) … um, personal productivity is good, right? I was interested in improving my personal productivity enough to withstand over 2 hours of downloading and installing Handango with InHand, Viigo and Hockey News – all free applications. Handango is still configuring itself, but Viigo has some cool links via AccuWeather to cities I frequent and some good information on things going on in Houston. Hockey News is awesome … too bad I don’t follow hockey more closely. Maybe I will now.
One thing I noticed is that to get more out of today’s devices (Blackberry vs. Palm III PDA) … one needs to invest a lot of time and probably some $$$ to really get what you want. I saw some good apps in the $30-$40/year subscription range that look pretty cool. I don’t feel like paying for them … not now. Hope Handango finishes configuring before I go to bed.
That reminds me of an old joke about the difference between being involved and being committed concerning a breakfast of eggs and bacon. The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed! I think I just got more committed to my Blackberry with these downloads … at least more connected!!
