Blackberry – what is this new fangled thang?
Last time i checked Blackberry was a really tasty jam that goes well on toast particularly with Peanut Butter – now all of a sudden it’s being tossed around as the latest must-have phone technology!
Well a company called Reasearch in Motion (RIM) in Canada invented and developed a wireless device for the worldwide communications …
market called Blackberry. It is basically a revolutionary communication tool that allows cellphone users to stay in touch with their email wherever they go…
In an attempt to get this theatrical brain around Blackberry being a phone thingymajig I contacted the man that knows all about anything to do with phones – he’s a high-flying wheeler and dealer in the phone technology market in the East – he’s Stoffle and he explains it nice and clearly:
So what is Blackberry?
It’s a wireless technology sweeping the world. It’s killer application is that email is PUSHED to you – this is a complete paradigm shift from the pc situation where email is PULLED to you.
This makes a huge difference to our lives because email becomes more like SMS and is much more accessible. When people know you have a blackberry, they expect you to be more reachable.
Is this a good thing?
Having your phone buzz each time you have a new email marks a major difference in the way people deal with business information. It means there is literally no down time. You are always online and you always have the ability to answer emails on the go (the device has a qwerty keyboard which allows you to type like on a normal computer keyboard.
Wow! Email on the go!
Your phone continuously polls the email server and pulls the email down as soon as it reaches your email server – So you get email in real time to your phone. Of course, Blackberry pushes a copy of the email to your mobile devices. You still get the email on your pc when you get to sit down in front of it.
OK…
It has become an essential tool for business travellers because these days there are GPRS roaming agreements between most operators.
So for example, when a Vodacom customer gets off the plane at Heathrow and switches on his Blackberry, he immediately gets pushed the emails that have been sent to him while on the plane. Of course, he pays a premium for data roaming charges, which are charged by the kilobyte.
Is Data Roaming expensive?
Data roaming is quite expensive, yes – but time is money. The equation being that while that person spends an hour getting through customs and into a taxi/tube top get into town, he is “switched on” and working. Those 2 or 3 hours of downtime are a lot more expensive than the data charges.
Where can we get Blackberry in SA?
Vodacom now offer Blackberry and I’m sure you can find the package rates from them (see below).
Thanks Stoffle!! You have made it all make sense – now we can really enjoy those Blackberry TV ads.
Well off we went to the VODACOM BLACKBERRY site to check out the offers there and for more in depth info – we found three deals to share with you (by the way – when will MTN and CELL C catch a wake up?):
Get a BlackBerry 7100V at just R699 on a BlackBerry Email Plus Contract.
This offer is subject to the signing of an initial Vodacom 24 month BlackBerry Email Plus Contract, for a mailbox size of 10Mb. You pay the subscription of R199 per month, CLIP at R6.50 per month, AutoSIM at R3.30 per month and Itemised Billing at R21.85 per month
Offer valid 7 April 2005 to 6 May 2005.
Get a BlackBerry 7290 FREE on a BlackBerry Talk 100 Contract.
This offer is subject to the signing of an initial Vodacom 24 month BlackBerry Talk 100 Contract, for a mailbox size of 10Mb. You pay the subscription of R349 per month, CLIP at R6.50 per month, AutoSIM at R3.30 per month and Itemised Billing at R21.85 per month
Offer valid 7 April 2005 to 6 May 2005.
Get a BlackBerry 7290 FREE on a Weekend Everyday Contract when you purchase a BlackBerry Email service.
This offer is subject to the signing of an initial Vodacom 24 month Weekend Everyday Contract and the purchase of a BlackBerry Email service. You pay the subscription of R135 per month and BlackBerry Email of R159 per month.
Offer valid 7 April 2005 to 6 May 2005.
