Once upon a time I was a die hard Blackberry user. Being in the newspaper industry for so many years, this beautiful little piece of technology was essential in keeping in touch with my bosses and staff alike 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When I left the business two years ago I decided to try and live without RIM’s highly addictive tool that was once a big part of my life. I even wrote a blog post about my life without a Blackberry when it first happened.
What I didn’t write about was the fact that this brand new life lasted exactly 10 days. I relapsed and ended up heading to my mobile provider to purchase a new unit to replace my personal cell phone. Life was good and I was once again at the mercy of my Crackberry addiction.
This Crackberry addiction lasted until about 6 months ago after a series of events eventually made me decide to move on. My wife cashed in some of her saving to treat me to an all inclusive vacation last January and before we headed down to Cuba for a week of fun and sun, I washed my Blackberry and destroyed it. Despite spending a week in a bag of rice while we were down south, I had to bury the damn thing in the backyard beside my beloved cat. Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit but that’s how much I loved that damn thing.
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My mobile provider wouldn’t budge on giving me an early upgrade so I purchased a used unit off of Ebay and once again the proud owner of a Blackberry. This replacement only lasted about 4 months when it started acting up. Still outside of my window for an inexpensive upgrade, I went to an iPhone and have used that every since.
While the iPhone has some benefits, including a killer Netflix and YouTube app that I use religiously, there are certain things I miss. The instant email connection and notification is something that I had become so accustomed to is not something I intend to set-up on my new smartphone. It took me a few weeks to break that particular addiction but I’m finally free of having to respond to emails the instant I receive them. The other thing I miss dramatically is the keyboard. I have become quite proficient using the iPhone’s touch screen keypad but nothing beats holding that little Blackberry in your hand and letting the words fly.
So like an alcoholic, I am here to proudly say I am free of my Crackberry addiction and it’s been 6 months since I last used.
Thanks for reading!