I will be honest and share something. I was really feeling down about the Blackberry brand as I am one of the Playbook downtrodden. Owning a Blackberry device though had started to feel like owning an automobile much like an Auburn Cord (google it). It is elegantly and logically created with an understated complexity that seems frozen in time but always a classic. You see, fate created the circumstance that brought Blackberry into my life. I was given one as a work phone and I was amazed at the ease at which I could accomplish everyday things. I was so impressed I got another Bold. Now things have slowly cooled between us. Every day I still looked at my phone and I saw the years of development and endless amount of detail that went into creating a hard working nearly indestructible phone. I also saw the frenetic mask that was crafted over the weakened Java runtime language to ensure that the faithful user could carry on and get things done.
Then I see my Playbook. In very much the same way you might view a failed relationship with someone you still love and care for I saw the enormous potential of what had been created and then was abandoned suddenly with no real closure. I felt betrayed in an odd way. I had tried to show my support for Blackberry by purchasing two Playbooks and I kept my aging Bold alive while I suffered through anxiety ridden decisions on what I should do next. Should I go back to my former love hate relationship with the outdoorsy flake from the great northwest who is trying really hard to show me they have changed and matured and really respects me now as a user? Should I start a new relationship with a stranger. You know the type. They seem suave and sophisticated but if you ask around they treat you like doormat and you put in all the effort in the relationship. I have heard they are great for a quickie though.
There is also that nordic type that seems to have started working out and really is a solid hopeful. No, I still felt like I was cheating when I thought of these others but time seemed to be running out.
Yes these are the flashier models now that pull your attention away and keep you amused even if only for a while. I will admit I had brief relationships with them as we met in dark secluded kiosks and they let me take them for a spin. Still I never felt complete, even afterwards. I felt so empty and used. So I stuck with my Blackberry as I watched them tear themselves apart and flail for attention like watching yourself in an automobile accident slowly, strangely headed towards the crash.
The fate changed my life once again. I had been fighting with Big Red to keep my unlimited plan for years but it was starting to wear on me. I needed a new phone and as a seldom employed novelist I had few options. I finally saw the exit from the relationship I had been looking for. They offered me a free phone if I, ahem, looked the other way and gave up my soul for a new two year agreement with data I could share like love or herpes. I was in a vulnerable state and they knew it. I clicked my dignity away much like a porn addled teenager at 3 AM anywhere in the world.
I waited nervously as I paced my virtual floor checking and rechecking the in transit information. The agony of forty eight hours without a new phone was excruciating. With all of this time to kill I started to reminisce about all of the great times I had with my Bold. The time when I first dropped it on pavement and my heart withered and pounded in my chest as I gingerly picked it up. I remember looking it over and feeling intense pain when I saw the small scuff on the upper corner and thought "NEVER AGAIN my friend". But it did happen again and every time my Bold just looked at me like "what's the problem, lets get something done". Those moments, however brief, cemented my bond with Blackberry as I have never had a phone take the abuse of my ever increasingly stressful life and come out like a Philly born prizefighter from a popular series of movies and say "Is that all ya got!" As I picked up my Bold over the next two days I used it like I always did but with a tinge of sadness as I knew this would be our last times together. I also faced reality and spent hours researching everything on my new phone so when it dropped on my porch I could wield like a ninja geek
Two days later the box arrived. It was much smaller than I imagined it would be. I took some time to open the package and I started to pore through the contents. I suddenly realized that the box was smaller because Big Red decided my loyalty upgrade was not to be and they showed me I was no longer anything more than a phone number. There was no case. Nor was there a car charger even. Just a phone and a bare bones wall charger and a tiny, tiny manual that treated me like I had awoken from a self induced come from the nineteen twenties and knew nothing of technology.
But there it was. My shiny new foreign made phone that smelled of possibilities. I know had 4G. I had more ram, a faster processor and access to a growing app collection. Yes now I had to admit my Bold was just too old to understand and compete in todays society. Yes now that I had this shiny new phone that was still so fast and waiting for me to learn its tricks and foibles my Bold was left to decay as its silicone heart became fragile and started to crack.
Still I had too much respect for my Bold and decided it deserved better so I carefully packed him away in it original packaging and placed it on a shelf after I extracted my information from it a final act of brutality. It never complained now did it fail me in this one last task. It was then that I decided that even though things had been strained between us I would always keep it around. You know like a friends with benefits phone. Just in case. As I started to whip through the super fast OS on my new phone I occasionally thought of how well the Bold fit my hand as I carried it with me everywhere. My Bold slipped into my pocket willingly or any small crevice as I started to treat it badly. Still like my best friend it always treated me well and did what i asked without question. This new phone was so big and flat. I had to get used to a touch screen again as well. And it just, well it did not feel right in my hand. It felt like it could slip out at any moment. Now that anxiety crept back in and I worried about my new phone.
A few days later fate intervened once again. As I began to relish all of the quickness and fluidity of my phone I also started to slip in my oversight of care of it. One morning I awoke early to write and I picked up my phone to check it for messages. Since I did not have a cradle like I had on my Bold I had it plugged in direct. As I picked it up the charge cord caught on something and the phone ripped out of my hands and hurtled violently towards the floor. My heart was beating so fiercely I started to feel faint. It bounced with a sickening thud and laid there with a black screen. Oh God what had I done? Once again I knelt down slowly and cradled my new phone and as I rose I inspected for damage. As I turned it around and flipped it I saw no damage of any kind. I was amazed. Perhaps I had found a new type of phone as durable as my Bold. I then tried to turn it on. It worked! Feeling euphoric and elated I danced happily in my mind that I was still in technological heaven.
At this point I knew I had moved past my relationship with my Bold and could be faithful with my new phone. I still kept my Bold as a symbol of those wonderful times we had and you know I am still a techo ***** and I always keep my options open.
Statistically most Blackberry users come back because they never feel complete without that Blackberry experience that created that wonderfully crafted workhorse I called my cellular companion for many years. Was I a heretic for retiring my Bold even before it failed me? Perhaps and you might be calling for a stoning right now or even a mild shunning but let me say one last thing.
My new phone is a better but different phone. I was able to start a new relationship with a phone that approached the simplistic beauty of my Bold. My new phone I am proud to say is a Z10. Long live Blackberry.
Then I see my Playbook. In very much the same way you might view a failed relationship with someone you still love and care for I saw the enormous potential of what had been created and then was abandoned suddenly with no real closure. I felt betrayed in an odd way. I had tried to show my support for Blackberry by purchasing two Playbooks and I kept my aging Bold alive while I suffered through anxiety ridden decisions on what I should do next. Should I go back to my former love hate relationship with the outdoorsy flake from the great northwest who is trying really hard to show me they have changed and matured and really respects me now as a user? Should I start a new relationship with a stranger. You know the type. They seem suave and sophisticated but if you ask around they treat you like doormat and you put in all the effort in the relationship. I have heard they are great for a quickie though.
There is also that nordic type that seems to have started working out and really is a solid hopeful. No, I still felt like I was cheating when I thought of these others but time seemed to be running out.
Yes these are the flashier models now that pull your attention away and keep you amused even if only for a while. I will admit I had brief relationships with them as we met in dark secluded kiosks and they let me take them for a spin. Still I never felt complete, even afterwards. I felt so empty and used. So I stuck with my Blackberry as I watched them tear themselves apart and flail for attention like watching yourself in an automobile accident slowly, strangely headed towards the crash.
The fate changed my life once again. I had been fighting with Big Red to keep my unlimited plan for years but it was starting to wear on me. I needed a new phone and as a seldom employed novelist I had few options. I finally saw the exit from the relationship I had been looking for. They offered me a free phone if I, ahem, looked the other way and gave up my soul for a new two year agreement with data I could share like love or herpes. I was in a vulnerable state and they knew it. I clicked my dignity away much like a porn addled teenager at 3 AM anywhere in the world.
I waited nervously as I paced my virtual floor checking and rechecking the in transit information. The agony of forty eight hours without a new phone was excruciating. With all of this time to kill I started to reminisce about all of the great times I had with my Bold. The time when I first dropped it on pavement and my heart withered and pounded in my chest as I gingerly picked it up. I remember looking it over and feeling intense pain when I saw the small scuff on the upper corner and thought "NEVER AGAIN my friend". But it did happen again and every time my Bold just looked at me like "what's the problem, lets get something done". Those moments, however brief, cemented my bond with Blackberry as I have never had a phone take the abuse of my ever increasingly stressful life and come out like a Philly born prizefighter from a popular series of movies and say "Is that all ya got!" As I picked up my Bold over the next two days I used it like I always did but with a tinge of sadness as I knew this would be our last times together. I also faced reality and spent hours researching everything on my new phone so when it dropped on my porch I could wield like a ninja geek
Two days later the box arrived. It was much smaller than I imagined it would be. I took some time to open the package and I started to pore through the contents. I suddenly realized that the box was smaller because Big Red decided my loyalty upgrade was not to be and they showed me I was no longer anything more than a phone number. There was no case. Nor was there a car charger even. Just a phone and a bare bones wall charger and a tiny, tiny manual that treated me like I had awoken from a self induced come from the nineteen twenties and knew nothing of technology.
But there it was. My shiny new foreign made phone that smelled of possibilities. I know had 4G. I had more ram, a faster processor and access to a growing app collection. Yes now I had to admit my Bold was just too old to understand and compete in todays society. Yes now that I had this shiny new phone that was still so fast and waiting for me to learn its tricks and foibles my Bold was left to decay as its silicone heart became fragile and started to crack.
Still I had too much respect for my Bold and decided it deserved better so I carefully packed him away in it original packaging and placed it on a shelf after I extracted my information from it a final act of brutality. It never complained now did it fail me in this one last task. It was then that I decided that even though things had been strained between us I would always keep it around. You know like a friends with benefits phone. Just in case. As I started to whip through the super fast OS on my new phone I occasionally thought of how well the Bold fit my hand as I carried it with me everywhere. My Bold slipped into my pocket willingly or any small crevice as I started to treat it badly. Still like my best friend it always treated me well and did what i asked without question. This new phone was so big and flat. I had to get used to a touch screen again as well. And it just, well it did not feel right in my hand. It felt like it could slip out at any moment. Now that anxiety crept back in and I worried about my new phone.
A few days later fate intervened once again. As I began to relish all of the quickness and fluidity of my phone I also started to slip in my oversight of care of it. One morning I awoke early to write and I picked up my phone to check it for messages. Since I did not have a cradle like I had on my Bold I had it plugged in direct. As I picked it up the charge cord caught on something and the phone ripped out of my hands and hurtled violently towards the floor. My heart was beating so fiercely I started to feel faint. It bounced with a sickening thud and laid there with a black screen. Oh God what had I done? Once again I knelt down slowly and cradled my new phone and as I rose I inspected for damage. As I turned it around and flipped it I saw no damage of any kind. I was amazed. Perhaps I had found a new type of phone as durable as my Bold. I then tried to turn it on. It worked! Feeling euphoric and elated I danced happily in my mind that I was still in technological heaven.
At this point I knew I had moved past my relationship with my Bold and could be faithful with my new phone. I still kept my Bold as a symbol of those wonderful times we had and you know I am still a techo ***** and I always keep my options open.
Statistically most Blackberry users come back because they never feel complete without that Blackberry experience that created that wonderfully crafted workhorse I called my cellular companion for many years. Was I a heretic for retiring my Bold even before it failed me? Perhaps and you might be calling for a stoning right now or even a mild shunning but let me say one last thing.
My new phone is a better but different phone. I was able to start a new relationship with a phone that approached the simplistic beauty of my Bold. My new phone I am proud to say is a Z10. Long live Blackberry.