So I’ve been using BlackBerry and the BlackBerry OS for over 4 years, which equals over 1,460 days of BlackBerry and the BlackBerry operating system and I can say confidently that I love it more today than ever before.
First off I want to say that I am writing this whole article from the BlackBerry PlayBook running RIMs newest creation, the PlayBook Tablet OS, so why not start there. RIM has always been a company of choice, I have the Choice to load my music onto my tablet anyway I want. Whether it’s through their desktop software or just plain old drag and drop, I truly can do it the way I would like. Along with loading the music the way that suits my use case the best, I also have the choice as to uploading any media I create on my PlayBook to the location I want. If I chose YouTube I have no limitations as I have a full flash-enabled browser to upload that file the way I want and when I want, not having to wait for a Wifi connection, I can just Bluetooth tether with any capable smartphone.
Now, being the busy guy I am, notifications are a must for me and the system that has been in place since almost day one is going to knock the socks off most others that have yet to see the light of day. First off notifications on my BlackBerry smartphone are ingenious! They have never interrupted my workflow and they are designed to let me look or respond to them when I want, no annoying pop ups, just seamless integration into the core of the operating system. The best example is when I’m playing a game or tagging a song using Shazam and I get a text message; what happens you ask? Well, my LED notification system goes into action letting me know that I have a message and I hear a discreet sound or buzz coming from my BlackBerry and the best part is Shazam is still able to tag that song because it wasn’t interrupted in any way, cool eh.
Something that hasn’t been in the BlackBerry operating system since day one but has at least been integrated for past few years is the ability for developers to create applications that can talk to each other and work together to make my life easier. For example, take an application like Poynt, one that got its start on the BlackBerry platform. With Poynt I am able to book a restaurant or movie ticket from the app, but it doesn’t stop there. Poynt will now add that dinner reservation or movie ticket into my calendar and message list and give me directions so I never forget when or where I have to be at. Poynt isn’t the only application that does this, there are truly thousands of Super Apps on the BlackBerry platform.
This platform continues to astonish me everyday giving me new ways to complete tasks or just relax and communicate with my friends and family. Coming off the topic of Super Apps, the next thing that works seamlessly is Twitter integration in the BlackBerry OS. Say you’ve just taken that photo of your family member, pet, or just something funny you saw while walking down the road. Sharing it with your Twitter followers is as simple as hitting menu and send to Twitter, a feature that once again has been there since the first Twitter app for BlackBerry, a reason I love this device and it’s operating system.
Communication is a huge part of the BlackBerry ecosystem, from the ultra secure and free push email (with any email provider) to the best instant messaging system found on every BlackBerry, the one that pioneered it all… BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). This is something that RIM put into place in the early years and has built a HUGE infrastructure behind to make it as robust as a messaging system can be, one that handles millions of messages every week. I just can’t type enough about how BBM IS the BEST implementation of instant messaging out there. Think about being able to spend half the amount of your other smartphone using friends on your monthly bill because carriers are able to let you use things like BBM, FaceBook, Twitter and not have to sell you a full data plan! Not only can they do that, but traveling over around the world will cost you less than using things like MSN or other messaging services because your BlackBerry compresses the data, saving you money. While all this talk about being an industry leader in instant messaging and saving you money on your monthly bill would be worthless if the system didn’t work. Let me tell you that just like other parts of the BlackBerry OS, BBM just works, and there’s a reason most of the top fortune 500 companies use BlackBerry and the BBM system, think about it.
This is where I will wind down my thoughts on how I feel about BlackBerry from the last 1,460 days of use, and while I will admit I’ve used other smartphones while having a BlackBerry, I have always used my BlackBerry for my personal device and I am proud to say that I am 100% BlackBerry as of last week and I couldn’t feel better. BlackBerry just works, from instant messaging to free push email and remote backup and wipe the BlackBerry system is here and is stronger than ever.
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