In Defense of My Blackberry

Last week when Steve Tucker and his wife Rachel were in New York for the 140 Characters Conference, Brian Nicklaus and I got together to show them around Manhattan. We were somewhere in Greenwich Village when Steve mentioned his surprise that I use a Blackberry, given my open source stance.

So, am I a hypocrite? I don't thinks so, and that's certainly not what Steve meant to imply. What I am is pragmatic with a purpose.

The fact is that I'm not intensely ideological about open source technology. It isn't my religion. I believe that open source makes sense for a lot of reasons, the most important of which is the general benefit to people.

Before Ubuntu came along, I wouldn't have seriously considered recommending GNU/Linux to the "average user." Now, though, even my mother uses it on her home computer. If user-friendly distros of GNU/Linux didn't exist, I'd have nothing much to say about people coping with Windows or shelling out a fortune for Apple products.

So, why do I use a Blackberry instead of an Android-based mobile device?

First, my contract isn't up yet on my Blackberry. I got the Blackberry when Android was still relatively new and I am not an early adopter of new technologies. Once my contract is up in a month or so, Android will certainly be an option.

Second, my Blackberry does what I want, and it does it well. All of my messages go into a single inbox. I can communicate freely and without hassle with this device.

Third, Blackberry devices are easy to troubleshoot.I discovered this while working for AT&T.

Essentially, my Blackberry services my purposes. It does what I want it to do, and it does it reliably. That's why I use it, and that's why any technology should be adopted: because it works.