I was flipping through radio stations last night in the car, and managed to catch some of a BBC World Service show called Culture Shock. I tuned in at the end of a report on augmented cognition, which sounds a little freaky. Anyhow, they had on a “trendwatcher” to discuss it and a few other things, and he somehow worked BlackBerrys into the conversation. The devices used to carry a certain cachet — as in, “Ooh, look, I have a BlackBerry, because I’m a big shot” — but this guy said that people are increasingly shunning them, because they think carrying one now is a sign that you’re low enough on the totem pole that you have to be a slave to your email and constantly reachable by your superiors.
It sounds like the corporate world’s iteration of “that place isn’t cool, everybody goes there”, and if things are really playing out this way, it’s a bad sign for operators, RIM, device manufacturers and push email companies counting on the market to keep growing. On the other hand, there are lots more peons than upper management in the world. It’s sort of the opposite of what’s happened with mobile phones in genera. First they were generally status symbols for the wealthy and used by business big shots, and eventually they made their way into mainstream ubiquity — but those original adopters haven’t given them up.
Anyhow, my question is this — is anybody actually seeing this trend play out? I feel like I’m seeing more and more people using email devices all the time, so I think this guy’s prognostication is a bit premature. Equally possible is that he was just talking a load of BS, since he also said that mobile phones look like Star Trek communicators because all mobile phone designers watch Star Trek.
[tags]mobile, blackberry, push email[/tags]
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I am afraid he has a point about Star Trek, at least when it comes to clamshells.
Why do you think the first clamshell phone was called the StarTAC?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123950-page,2/article.html
And the first Windows Mobile clamshell phone is called the HTC StarTrek?
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Qtek-S8500-review-35509.shtml
So that means all phone designers are Trekkies? Seems like a pretty hasty generalization to me. (Also never mind that the clamshell design makes sense given the shape of the human head and placement of ears and mouth, while Star Trek communicators weren’t used as such)
It’s a simple culture issue.
In India, if you had a Blackberry, it shows you as someone in a well paying job.
Since England, from what I saw, is more about independence, and the need to turn technology into an enabler, rather than an ornament,… they prefer to only keep a blackberry if they need it, and would prefer to keep a normal phone, for when they don’t need it.
The article may have a point about the the Blackberry. I don’t know if you can make the argument for every other PDA other outthere, but maybe my following statement will support it. In tech schools young adults in college are raving about the Moto Q and they’re going out and purchasing them, but if you’re in school doesn’t that mean you’ll be in the market for a job, so you’re not really a big shot?
I also don’t perceive to get an extra attention when I pull out my Blackberry in public or at diner. The only attention is from my wife whe she saids the following “Put your gameboy away and focus on the family!”
In the US it’s very common to see mid-level and upper-level executives with Blackberries or email devices (the Treo is seen as a cooler device than the Blackberry, but the latter is more ubiquitous). Email-ready devices are a given among traveling, business-class people. They can’t rely on having to find a wi-fi hot spot to check something as basic as email.
[...] Suffice to say, Blackberry is a dead man walking. Incidentally, check out Carlo’s The Blackberry As an Anti Status Symbol. Carlo = hitting nail on head. Every time I see a poor sod glued to a 7,000 series Blackberry, I think ‘lower-middle-management’. Not good. 8000 series Blackberry, not as bad… [...]
Agree with the last post. I am in sales, and a smartphone (Treo, BlackBerry or Symbian OS) is essential to check email and access other office applications on the go. And let’s face it, everyone has a boss - even the CEO has to answer to the board and shareholders. Being able to be reached does not indicate you are a slave - how silly.
The guy from the article gets it: Phones are uncool.
Geek chic went out with bubble.
But what can you do? You’ve gotta have one.
And by definition most people aren’t cool, so the problem kind of goes away.
OK - I hear in Europe the “cool” thing is you put your phone down on the table during meetings to show you have a “status” mobile device. (You soon find out putting a mobile on vibrate and setting it down on the table disturbs everyone worse than a ring does!) I also hear it varies with audience whether an email-centric phone (eg smartphone) is “cool”.
Here in US many execs carry a Q or Treo, Blackberry etc for mobile email access. My boss runs our entire US operation and carries both a Q and a black Razr, which I assume he uses so he can talk without a headset while reading his email on the Q, and for more casual use like on weekends (while playing golf, etc).
Another thing - if you’re an athlete, show me how you carry a Q while running. Maybe you can carry a Blackberry Pearl, but not a Treo!
I think the Krzr shows designers are becoming sensitive to the idea that not everyone wants a phone which looks like it was made for Star Trek fans. Case in point: I avoided the Razr because I found it too cold-looking, too wide, and the keyboard was clumsy. Instead I’ve been pretty happy with a Moto V551, which happens to have almost identical functionality and interface. Of course I’ve added a number of shortcuts, sorted menus where I could, etc. to make it more usable. I don’t carry my phone in my pocket, however - I use a soft color-matched “holster” sleeve on my belt (rather than a click-in plastic one) which both looks better, and protects the phone if it falls off my belt.
[...] Suffice to say, Blackberry is a dead man walking. Incidentally, check out Carlo’s The Blackberry As an Anti Status Symbol. Carlo = hitting nail on head. Every time I see a poor sod glued to a 7,000 series Blackberry, I think ‘lower-middle-management’. Not good. 8000 series Blackberry, not as bad… [...]