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It just goes to show just how much we depend on our smartphones for work and fun. Last week, the worldwide BlackBerry outage affected Jamaica for just over a day, and it also showed just how many smartphone users are really dumb.
Let's back up for a second and explore what happened. Part of the reason that BlackBerry is so popular is because it's so secure and part of the reason BlackBerry is so secure is because it uses a private network to move data (your email, browsing history and instant messages).
As it happened, one computer in the RIM network failed. This is not normally a problem, RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, has thousands of computers (which it calls servers) all around the world to back up the data flow if one crashes. Unfortunately, when all the data from the crashed server hit the data in the new server, the doubled up data caused the new server to crash; and so on.
The failure 'cascaded' around the world leading to longer outages in Europe than in North America. Here in Jamaica, we were out for about a day and half. Quite frankly, a day and half too long!
But, we are smart right? We know exactly how to fix the problem! We send a broadcast message over BBM with some nonsensical number and that will make BB work again. Right? Wrong!
People, please. Take a moment to read what you are sending and then think about it. A BlackBerry Broadcast Message is just that, a message. It can't make BBM work by forwarding to all your contacts. It can't make new icons magically appear. It can't prevent all your contacts from disappearing. After all, it's just a message.
Next thing. You had to register your phone with a number and an email address. But you really believe that RIM is trying to reach you, not directly, but through your BB contacts with a 'real' message? Come on! I deleted so many people from my BB just this past week. People I thought were smart, but weren't.
Anyway, let's move on. Literally. Let's say you are tired of the multiple outages that BlackBerry has experienced recently and you're ready to switch to a new platform. What are your options?
Well, all the buzz right now is about the iPhone 4S running iOS5. Don't let all the pretty letters and numbers fool you. Whether 3GS, 4 or 4S, all iPhones are cool and run iOS5.
Then there is growing in popularity Android platform with scores of phones from which to choose. I think Windows Phone 7 is going to make waves and don't yet count out the Nokia based Symbian, several of which are still available.
Regardless of the platform, more than emailing and browsing, we love messaging on the BlackBerry. Don't worry, iOS users have iMessage. Across multiple platforms there is the hugely popular WhatsApp (which I highly recommend). Both give you real time notifications of when messages are delivered or read and work with data rather than SMS to save you money.
There are other messaging options like Chat Plus, IMO, Palringo, eBuddy and Live Profile and don't forget the forgotten classics like ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger and Google Talk. These work well too over data.
Even with all those options, I bet you won't be changing from BlackBerry. It's still the most prevalent smartphone in Jamaica; all three telecoms have invested heavily in the platform and offer a range of handset models.
And, outages are becoming more commonplace and less of a nuisance. Remember the PlayStation Network outage that lasted for months, or the Amazon Web outage that laid dormant hundreds of sites including FourSquare? My point being, we were not all that outraged about the outage.
Perhaps that's why local providers are yet to announce any real compensation package for BB users who were affected. Because for true crackberry addicts, it seems restoration is far more important than compensation.
Tech Fix: Steve said, "I don't have an external hard drive, is it practical to back up my entire computer to the cloud?"
Tech Glitch: Not just practical, in some ways, recommended. Forget privacy concerns for a minute, regardless of the scope of a natural disaster in Jamaica, the cloud would have all your info. The local telecoms all provide the service but if you are foreign minded, check out Carbonite as a good option.
Got a tech glitch, get your tech fix at: techiteasy@carlettedeleon.com. Listen to Tech Time on FAME 95 FM each Tuesday morning at 8 and watch Tech Live on RETV each Saturday afternoon at 5:30.
