I love-hate my BlackBerry.
While I have been under the weather and doing much of nothing it has given me the chance to not only slow down but tinker around with my BlackBerry Storm. Since getting the smartphone I have had a love-hate relationship with it. Loving to hate it! Seriously, I contemplated several times exchanging it during the 30 day trial period. I didn’t. I almost did. I sort of bucked up and said to myself that I chose it and now I had to keep it like it or not. I fully expected to remain in the NOT catagory for a long time.
That is until I began investigating applications for it. I can Twitter with TwitterBerry. I can Facebook and use the BlackBerry for Facebook application. I can surf the net to find things when I am out and away from the house. I have my phonebook at my fingertips. I have music on the ready. Not to mention navigation systems w00t! for Google’s new FREE navigation utility! google mobile), Word and other document capabilities. A camera and a video camera.
Trying to list all the things I use it for in any given day is almost impossible. I am also guilty of taking for granted all the things I can do from my phone. From my phone. Do you realize what that means?
As a kid I would dream up all the cool things I wish I could do and now I can do those things. Not on a giant box but on my phone. My cell phone. A tiny device I can hold in the palm of my hand. I am still fascinated daily by modern technology.
While being under the weather I discovered Barnes & Noble’s eBook reader and eReader.com application. I was skeptic because I am considering an electronic book reader as tops on my Christmas list.
Side note here: I remain skeptical about the Kindle and the flaws I see with it and the proprietary way Amazon is trying to run things. It has left a bitter taste on my tongue and the Kindle is no longer holding a position high on my list. I don’t trust Sony either. I think I am falling in love with B&N’s Nook. This may be the item that tops my Christmas wish list.
Ahhhemmm. Where was I?
So, I downloaded not one but two book readers. As cheap as I am I searched through the free books on both sites and selected a couple of books for download. I started using some of the down time while waiting for Steven and Gracie at karate and dance classes to read. Gracie finishes homework while we wait for Steven and I read on my Blackberry. Steve watches a DVD while we wait for Gracie and I read.
I read books.
On my BlackBerry.
The text quality is far better than I ever imagined. The navigation is too easy – just a thumb press and the next page is instantly available. It really passes the time! Some evenings it seems as if I just got started and the entire hour is gone in a flash.
Now, don’t get me wrong. eBooks will never replace the real thing. There are some books that you must hold in your hands, inhale the scent of paper and run your fingers over the text. There are also books that you read once and move on and never look back. Not to mention the ones you have to force yourself to finish. Even a few that you never finish. Those are the once that get given away, donated to Goodwill, and sometimes tossed int he recycle bin.
One of my greatest weaknesses is old books. Something about old paper when you open you open the cover is like magic to me. It makes my stomach tingle and my fingers itch in anticipation of what I will discover as I make my way through the landscape of pages.
So, while I spent so much time hating my BB I am discovering that the more I use it, the more I discover what it is capable of, the more I stop trying to find ways to hate it I am actually learning to love it.
What?
What did you ask?
What am I reading on my Blackberry?
Well, right now, I have a free ebook from Barnes and Noble.
I wish I could tell you it was a classic novel or something educational. It’s not.
It’s a trashy romance novel.
** Morning update **
Steve woke up to burst pipes in the cellar at 3am. I had to find and emergency plumber. If it isn’t one thing its another. That chaching you hear is the sound of my Christmas budget quickly shrinking. Steve has a must-be-at-work kind of day today and he could only do so much before he had to go. :-/
My mother is a part time librarian, has been for years and years. When I was in my young teens I used to go with her on Saturday mornings and run the children’s section, it was in the cellar of the old library. I’ve always loved books, I’ve read since I was five. I have a hard time reading from a screen, I far prefer the written page, but e-readers can help pass the time, as you’ve found. I’ve had e-books on my iQue for years, I’ve reread books I loved as a child – it’s fun! The Secret Garden was my latest read.
My Garmin iQue is an outdated PDA, but it’s my brain, I’ve got everything in there, years of data (all backed up on the desktop). When it dies I’m going to have to get something like the Blackberry, or hopefully the Palm Pre – some of the Palm apps should import there, although I understand it’s a new platform for Palm.
Angie, I am too cheap to buy a Blackberry and then pay for all the apps, but I know how fun they can be. My children are on theirs all the time!
Hope the basement is dry by tonight!
I got a deal when I got my BB. Buy one get any other phone free. So Steve and I both got a new phone. He got an LG instead of a BB.
I only use free applications. I haven’t paid for one yet and probably never will.
The new Storm 2 comes with a 2 gb sd card – mine is the old one and I have a 8 gb card. I am upgrading to a 16gb card.
It is like having a laptop in your pocket when you are away from home.
My head would explode trying to learn anything new for a while. Except after 30 years I am in the market for a new crockpot. Any recommendations? (yes, I intend to actually cook, stop laughing)
Given that I don’t even text on my phone, I am beyond impressed by all the things you’re doing.
I just learned to text on my 9 year old Nokia ‘candy bar’, and suddenly I want one of these crackberrys. Seriously. I’m looking at LG because I have to keep T-Mobile – only provider that works in foothills.
I, too, have a crackberry. My husband snagged a two year agreement (almost expired now) for an unlimited data package on two phones. The total? Less than 100/month. I’m not much of a phone person, so I don’t use the actual TALK part very often.
However, I do use the mess out of FB for Blackberry, and work would be torture without the Pandora.com application.
I love the idea of the BN application, but am worried that I won’t be able to read the screen very well. My husband has tried to convert me to the Kindle (book purchasing is my only real shopping weakness), but I am afraid of jumping into that data pool.
There’s just nothing like holding a book and turning the pages…
Oh, you never fail to impress me and make me want to go ahead and try something that I have been afraid to try! My Christmas wish list has been a Kindle for the second year now. Price has been coming down on them so I have been learning patience…plus dh out of work helps teach patience. LOL Yes, nothing like a book in hand. I do have my “keepers”.
Good grief! How on earth did the pipes burst? You guys didn’t get much sleep did you? Hope all is well now?
You are so techno-savy! BTW – I am more than a little annoyed with Facebook right now. Since the new “enhancements”, I’ve learned I no longer get the Blog updates sent to my wall. I thought you were under the weather and taking a break, but I popped over here and see you’ve been posting and I’ve not been getting the updates posted on FB! Aaargghhhh. I’m working on a blog post right now – I’ll finish it this evening. I included making some of those egg ornaments and linked back to you. Please let me know if you see the blog posted on FB this afternoon. I suspect you won’t – but we’ll see.
I just got my first Blackberry (it’s not the storm, just the Curve) and the thing boggles my mind! I love and hate mine, the same as you do yours. I can’t imagine what your phone does though!
I’ve always been skeptical of the e-readers, but you made me want to try them out. I could read when I’m stuck in traffic! Or while I’m waiting on a friend!
I don’t have a blackberry but I want one!
I’m a big fan of my Palm phone. Palm OS and I get along great, and I can easily sync my phone with my MacBook. I had a Palm Tungsten E PDA for quite a few years until I got the phone, and I was able to transfer all of my programs over (lots of good free stuff from VersionTracker). I know quite a few people who have the Crackberry
, but I’ve managed to hold off so far. I might grab the Palm Pre next summer when we’re up for new phones…although it’s not the same OS, according to DH.
I’ve had a Kindle for over a year, and I’ll tell you the interesting thing that I noticed, and then read an article stating that it holds true for the *majority* of Kindle owners: I still buy as many “real” books as I did before. In no way does an e-reader supplant paper books–it just gives you more choices! I LOVE the convenience of being able to pretty much get anything you want, any time. I think the Nook looks great, too, and I’m sure you’ll love it.
I don’t really care that much about DRM issues on e-readers, because the way I use it is not as a “for keeps” library. I’m not building a library on my Kindle–it’s strictly a convenience and portability tool for me. I delete every book I read on my Kindle immediately after finishing (Amazon stores them on their site in perpetuity, so I guess if I ever want to re-load a book, I could, but it’s not a priority for me), anyway.
If I want to keep or share a book, I buy a shelf copy instead of an electronic copy. Cory Doctorow’s books are always available as free downloads, but I’ll be buying hard copies, to keep and share!