I remember a time when people used to frolic in the sunshine. Friends used to arrange to meet up and engage in the real world. Couples would break up face to face. This stuff still happens but with the advent of smart phones and social networking all these wonderful things are at an all time low. I've lived through a number of fads in my short life. Go Go's, Yo-Yo's, Pokemon Cards, Tamagotchi's etc. But there is a new; enduring fad that has gripped the "urban" population and it has a stranglehold that does not seem like loosening anytime soon. I am talking about the dreaded CrackBerry better known as the BlackBerry.
I don't hate the phone per se, its just the effect it has on people that really pisses me off. This has made me even more reluctant to join the craze. I was first introduced to the behavioural changing powers of the BlackBerry back in a chance encounter back in February of '09. Since I'm not a romantic I decided to have a valentine's day meal with my two good friends Ann Marie and Gloria. I hadn't see either of them in a while and was quite excited to spend some time with the both of them. However, Ann Marie's hands seemed to be super glued to this little black device that was making all manner of noises. She barely looked up the whole night, even to eat. It put a dampener on the whole evening. That was the beginning of my dislike for the BlackBerry. I have come to realise that this little device was in fact a dangerous disease in disguise, which has now spread to pandemic proportions. Where people once talked, they now BBM/ping each other. Where people once asked for each other's numbers, they now ask for their BB pins. These are just smaller symptoms of the actual real problem - which is the erosion of real interactions. Something Ms Christiana was talking of since last year. I thought it was all an exaggeration but now I see the light. How can I tell someone we need to catch up and they reply by asking if I have Skype? What happened to meeting at a bar or restaurant to meet up, you know in the real world. Why must we frequently interact on the digital plane?
Why is it that two people can be standing right next to each other but they won't open their god given mouths - no -talking is too 08. We're in 2010 now and BBM is the future of human communication. This might be good for espionage but not for freaking daily interactions. I cannot tell you how many people have inadvertently nearly walked in to me because they are walking with their heads down typing on their BB's. WTF is so important that you can't even watch where you are going? Neither can I tell you the amount of near fatal car crashes I have been in because one of my friends wants to ping and drive at the same time. Surely if talking on the phone is illegal then typing on should be too. Dave I hope you're reading. Get it sorted mate.
The look of shock horror I receive when a female asks for my pin and I have to respond by saying I don't have one. Its even worse when people assume you have one and when you don't, you're treated as some sort of social leper.
On a technical level the BlackBerry seems to be a sub par phone anyway. Its only major selling point seems to be the BlackBerry Messenger. The 3g connection and web browser are head bashingly slow even on the more powerful Bold. They seem to be prone to various hardware faults as well as the software malfunctions. How many times have you heard someone saying the track pad/ball has stopped working or all their contacts have mysteriously been erased when trying to update? I'm just sick of all of it. People are too connected now a days, how I miss the days when you were forced to deal with awkward moments instead of having an escape chute in the form of a BB. Everywhere I look people are assuming the position: hands clasped tightly round a black rectangular device, head lowered and eyes transfixed on the screen. On road, in a rave, at work, everywhere people are pinging which I'm sure most of which is mindless chatter anyway. The endless alerts and vibrations really jar me. Come on is it really worth having something that is as technically reliable as an old British Leyland automobile? Which when it starts faltering (and it definitely will) will leave you having withdrawal symptoms the same as a hardcore crack fiend?
What's even worse is when you try to engage in a conversation with someone that is completely engrossed in their BlackBerry. They don't even look up to reply to you. Like WTF happened to eye contact? The whole BB community also seems to be a playground for highly sexualised 20 somethings to engage in sordid interactions. It is like a mini and digital form of Ayia Napa.
I remember when BlackBerrys were the sole possesion of upwardly mobile business professionals. Lets return to those days. I'm more of an iphone man anyway.
Freedom from the disease that is the CrackBerry for all!
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