New York – The BlackBerry – once a status symbol for many, has since become a source of shame and public humiliation for those who still own and use one.
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In an interview with the New York Times (http://bit.ly/PCoPQt), Rachel Crosby, a sales representative from Los Angeles said of her BlackBerry, “I’m ashamed of it. I want to take a bat to it. You can’t do anything with it. You’re supposed to, but it’s all a big lie.” She admits to hiding her BlackBerry under her iPad at meetings lest clients think less of her.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) reported a net loss of $753 million in the first half of 2012, and has narrowly hung on to its five percent share of the smartphone market. Just three years ago, RIM commanded 50 percent of the same market.
Major companies, including Yahoo and Goldman Sachs, have replaced employee BlackBerrys with iPhones and Androids. Even the White House, which had remained loyal to the BlackBerry out of security concerns, has been converting to the iPhone.
BlackBerry customers are frequently subjected to ridicule and mocking from iPhone or Android users. Los Angeles-based musician Craig Robert Smith said there is a perception that BlackBerry users are akin to those who still use MySpace and AOL Instant Messenger to chat online.
Victoria Gossage said she recently asked a concierge while at a work retreat if the hotel had an extra cell phone charger. “First he said, ‘Sure,’” Gossage said. “Then he saw my phone and – in this disgusted tone – said, ‘Oh, no, no, not for that.’ You get used to that kind of rejection,” she added.
Still, RIM has a few loyal customers left. One 32-year-old investor said he uses the BlackBerry by choice because of its physical keyboard, explaining he cannot type e-mails on touch-screen phones. He said he does not understand what all the iPhone hype is about.
But for Nick Mindel, eight years with BlackBerry was enough. He is now on the wait list for the iPhone 5. Once it arrives, he said, “I’m considering removing my BlackBerry battery, pouring in cement, and using the BlackBerry as an actual paperweight.”
People need to grow up.
got a iphone &android;
How did our parents and grandparents ever survive without an iPhone or Blackberry? It’s puzzling to me….
This is a textbook example of what happens if your company does not keep up with the times. Seven or eight years ago, everyone had the 7200-series Blackberrys, the big black ones with the buttons and the black and white screen. Blackberry wouldn’t change with the new Smartphone technology and now they’re on the verge of bankruptcy.
Blackberry is the most effective business and productivity tool. Premiers for instant contact by email, text and BMS.
Iphone is a nice toy to surf the web.
So ridiculous. Anyone out there so embarassed with your Blackberry I’ll be happy to take it off your hands, and when you tire of your Samsung Galaxy S3 or iphone I’ll take that too.
Such a stupid childish article..it was rither written by a hater or someone who gets paid by apple if you go through the comments on the NY times website you will see most people love their blackberry for what it does and like me the rest of them arn’t ashamed and I don’t get what’s there to be ashamed about. Is it a shame to be wearing an old but good jacket? Is it a shame to drive a 1950 car in good condition? It makes it ever more valuable. Me and the rest of blackberry users aren’t like the rest of iSheeps that follow the mainstreem. Let’s face fact iphone isn’t as convenient as a blackberry. For phone text and email and the occasional web browser the blackberry tops the iphone. Blackberry does what a phone is supposed to do while iphone does everything besides being a solid communication device. And btw iphone maps suck.. so will that person in the article still carry a big map with their iphone? I guess so.
public phones on the street are still the best,go figure….
A mishugineh velt…
rejection? ridiculed? its a freaking phone, lordi lord!!
all this may change when bb10 is released.
thats so true!, i was always wondering why the americans stick to blackberry as opposed to the europeans 2 years ago there were no bb’s in europ!!! Finally the americans gave up in the phone that they so believed in and really does not have anything
Non-sense I phone is terrible for emails.
Blackberry is the most effective business and productivity tool. Premiers for instant contact by email, text and BMS.
Iphone is a nice toy to surf the web.
Whatever, Blackberry, Blueberry, Boysenberry… Nothing comes close to what Android can do, including that silly useless device with the cult following, the iPhone.
Oddly, BlackBerries are still all the rage here. But then again, the locals also drink Pepsi.
silly people. a person who is mature will buy what he needs, not what the brainless public thinks is ‘cool’.
How sick is this mentality. Perhaps that is why Yeshiva people should not read the news.
nobody has come out with a comparative medium to blackberry messenger. whatsapp is suposed to be similar but nah!!
oh, and that story of the charger….probably not true. who cares what phone another person has? btw, android and bb have the same universal charger, as do all other phones. why can’t apple use the same one.
I was thinking of getting one of these things. Dot hey come with a Shabbos mode?
I only was stating what would appear to be the reality, not about how you should conduct yourself. Regardless of how I act, I never want to be lying to myself. Act in accordance with your conscience. It is not illegal anywhere to listen to the radio or a shiur in your car as far as I am aware though some places do have laws regarding the use of devices like cell phones etc. If you think it is a shayla, then ask one.