Why I Love My Blackberry

I have to agree with this: it's not a Blackberry itself that makes your life become out of control, it's a lack of self discipline. People who say it's the Blackberry's fault are probably the same ones that lack the self-discipline to charge only what they can pay off on their credit cards each month, spend less than they earn, etc.

Personally, I LOVE my Blackberry. Why? Because it makes me more productive -- both for work and personal purposes. It's a one-stop place for me to store everything -- calendar, memos, email, tasks, and phone. I have everything in one place. And it's a small place -- easily carried. If I need to see if I'm free on a certain date, it's available. If I need to see what tasks I need to accomplish, it's available. If I need to make a call, it's available. If I need to write a note, it's available. In other words, it makes me much more productive by having everything in one place and always with me. 

And if I don't want to be bothered with/by any of those things, I can turn it off. And yes, I have the ability to know if I have a new email and still have the willpower not to look at it if something else is more pressing/important.

Here's a random list of the specific ways I've used my Blackberry to make my life easier as well as other issues that make it user-friendly and a winner with me:

• I can check/respond to email whenever I have down-time. Specific times it's worked recently in this way: while waiting in a dentist's office, while standing in a grocery checkout line, while sitting at my kitchen table reviewing some bills, while waiting at a restaurant for friends to join me, while waiting for the church service to start (we get there early and my wife often disappears to talk to others), and so on. Whenever there is down-time, it's easy to check/respond.

• I use it to see all the comments made on this blog. They are all emailed to me, so I can see what's going on/being discussed at all times. This makes it very easy to stay on top of things that way.

• If there's an emergency with a customer or consumer, I see it right away and can respond immediately. And since the other executives at my company have Blackberrys, I can get in touch with them quickly.

• I don't have to turn on my computer to get an email. The other night my wife was on the phone with her sister and her sister wanted my wife to read a letter she received. Our home computer is down in my basement office, and I didn't want to go down, turn it on, wait for it to boot up (about five minutes), and check email. So we had her sister email it to my Blackberry, and she had it in 30 seconds -- and with no hassle. Sweet!

• It syncs easily with Outlook, which is key for me. I can put more substantial documents/memos in the Blackberry via Outlook (easier to type in this way) and thus always have them for reference.

• I use it to take notes. Granted, I can't do a lot since I'm not that fast and the keyboard is small, but I can certainly type in key thoughts from a business meeting, seminar, or sermon.

In the end, because the Blackberry makes me more productive, it saves me time, makes me a better employee (which helps me make the most of my greatest financial asset) and makes my quality of life much, much better. What's not to love?

A couple final questions:

• Anyone out there use a Blackberry? What do you like/dislike about it?

• I haven't started using additional applications you can get for your Blackberry, but I'm interested in doing so. Any great ones out there that you can recommend?

Comments

[Ryan @ Smarter Wealth]

I have a Blackjack, which is pretty much the Samsung version of the Blackberry. It does all of what you said. Has calendar, email, 3G internet etc.
However, I am not on a plan and do not have unlimited data so I do not use the internet much, I also don't receive that many emails so I only check them once a day (it doesn't have push email, only email where it checks for email every so often).
The only problem I find with mine is that the text editor isn't that great. I would prefer to have one with microsoft word instead of just a text editor.

[Jim]

The best additional application that I've used is Google Maps. It's great when you're looking for an address, or just trying to find where the closest drug store is. The newer version even has a somewhat GPS built in. I'm assuming it goes by what towers you're connecting to, but it can usually tell me within 1500 feet of where I am.

[WiseMoneyMatters]

This is actually the very reason I want to get an iPhone. I had the Blackberry for a little while and honestly didn't care for it all that much. I ended up getting the Treo. I guess I really like the control of the touch screen. I was playing with my friends iPhone the other day and it was incredible. It was like a perfect mix of the Blackberry and the Treo. It's simple like the Blackberry but has a touchscreen like the Treo (minus the stylus which gives it bonus points).

It also has all the apps in the world to help stay productive. Unfortunately like many other cool things, it also has enough apps to keep you very unproductive.

So far the big question for me is whether the cost is worth it.

[ekrabs]

I currently have a Treo, and I simply love it! I actually do all of my personal financing on it. It's my killer app. Can't beat it when it works so well.

[Bill]

Agree with Jim...Google Maps is the best...no need for a GPS in the rental car or any car with this, and best of all, it's free!

[conedude13]

What version of the bb do you have? I have the curve 8310, RED!

Agreed, Google Maps does rock! other apps i use on a regular basis:
-poynt: its in beta but works great! Location based, starting from your gps location and out, for movies, yellow pages and directions. Google maps covers me for directions and most of my yellow pages needs though.

-twitterberry: self explanatory what that can do.

-Weather Eye: (read twitterberry explanation)

- TV guide mobile, facebook, flickr uploader, and then just some games.

Be sure to check out http://blackberryforums.pinstack.com/downloads.php?catid=1 for most, if not all, of the apps i just gave. Great site for checking on when the latest version of the bb os is coming out! I have 4.5.0.52 and can watch youtube vids! Fun stuff, enjoy!

[CommRE]

-twitterberry: self explanatory what that can do.

Weather Eye I can figure out. No clue what "twitterberry" means. Does that mean I am hopelessly out of touch??

[fivecentnickel.com]

I have a Palm Centro with push mail support (software add-on), so it functions exactly like a Blackberry except that it also has the touch screen. This is a huge benefit to me, as I also have a little note taking program that lets me scribble down thoughts as fast as I can think. No need for the keyboard when I'm in a rush. The only thing that it lacks is built-in GPS support. Beyond that, I love it for pretty much all of the reasons that FMF outlined PLUS it doubles as a laptop modem in a pinch.

[conedude13]

twitterberry is a Twitter application for the blackberry. Some of the other financial blogs out there are on twitter, you should check it out.

http://twitter.com/fcn
http://www.fivecentnickel.com/

http://twitter.com/jdroth
http://www.fivecentnickel.com/

[conedude13]

"I have a Palm Centro with push mail support (software add-on), so it..."

Are their any good applications out there for palm? What do you have on it?

ps
just realized that fivecentnickel.com just posted above my post where i link to him and their twitter page! Crazyness!

[Pat]

My work offered me a Blackberry but I declined because I really have no use for it. They assumed I would want one because I am a network administrator. I just recently got my first cell phone (one year prepaid Tracfone) and I have made only a handful of calls with it. Maybe I am just an "unplugged" kind of person.

[Amy]

Love my BB. My husband has a Treo and I can't stand it! I think it's totally un-user-friendly. Often I try to make a simple phone call with his Treo and I can't figure out how to get the # I want from his contacts. My BB is *incredibly* user friendly. It's very intuative, esp. with the phone feature.
I also love Google maps. However, I disagree that it can replace an in-car nevagation system (GPS). It's dangerous to use the BB/Google maps while driving!! I used to do it, but now we have a GPS, and it's 1000% better. (Spend the $200 for one - it's completly worth it, even if you think you don't need it. They will soon by like cell phones - it will be hard to remember a time when everyone didn't have one.)

[fivecentnickel.com]

Conedude: I use LuancherX as a launcher replacement (very customizable), ChatterEmail for e-mail (supports push if your mailserver does, though it can be hard on the battery), DiddleBug for writing myself notes, DateBk5 (more powerful calendaring), USB Modem for phone-as-modem support (even without paying for PAM service), SplashID for passwords (syncs to my laptop), Kinoma player (the pro version) for youtube and stuff like that. I'm sure I'm leaving some things out, but that's a start.

Best of all, I pay $30/month for an unlimited data plan with free nights/weekends, 500 minutes, and unlimited texting. No crazy (recurring) Blackberry fees. And unlike Amy, I find the Palm OS to be incredibly user-friendly.

[Terry]

The key to using a BB or any other email syncing device is setting up your rules. Mine BB used to buzz for every email I received - wow that got annoying. To solve that problem I have specific rules that elevate a message to "level 1" - for example, if it is from my boss or my wife or maybe an important subject I want to keep up on. The rest of the emails come silently to the device and I can read them at my leisure. By doing this, I have significantly reduced the amount of wasted time looking at the device for every buzz.

[Cheska]

As an educator, I would love to get a Blackberry for the ease and convenience of having a cell and organizational tools in one place. I can't bring myself to purchase one though because of the monthly voice/data plan! I pay an average of $55/mo. with just a regular voice plan, and have recently updated with an employee discount that reduces it to $30/mo. Using the same discount, I could get the Blackberry for $100 and pay $90/mo. That's as cheap as it'll get, which isn't bad at all, but I'm trying to be frugal. What's better, sticking to $30/mo payment and getting a palm handheld with a one-time payment of $80-100, or upgrading to a blackberry and having to pay $90/mo?? Or would the benefits of having a blackberry more than make up for its monthly payment? Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[suzanne]

I just got my BB and LOVE it. I love having that info at the tip of my fingers. I unleashed a HUGE product for my business and this has allowed me stay on top of it flawlessly. For me, it was a wise business purchase.

[shadox]

Guys.... iPhone. Seriously. I just recently chucked my Treo for a new iPhone (which I got after the lines disappeared at the stores).

It's an awesome machine - pretty much everything you can do with a BB + your iPod, a GPS and a pretty darn good camera, plus a ton of personal finance applications, many of them free.

Yeah... the hype is true. Wish it had a longer battery life though...