BBM for all! This has been touted as the death of BlackBerry devices especially in Nigeria. You’ve seen the jokes, the graphics and what not. But is it really?
I’ve been using a BlackBerry Torch 9800 since May 2012. My admiration for BlackBerry was borne basically due to its productivity tools. I’m a student by the way, so keep that in perspective.
At the time, I needed push e-mail for correspondence with my lecturer who sent lecture notes, and tutorial outlines via e-mail. They were in .docx, .ppt, .xls & .pdf formats (varying document formats). I didn’t have a computer at the time and going to cybercafés wasn’t economic. The delays in receiving lecture notes, cost of printing/photocopying made it inconvenient for me.
Within days of receiving my BlackBerry, I had Docs2go installed, push e-mail and the cheapest internet access (the Etisalat BB Complete plan, had unlimited internet access at just N1,500 then. A steal). I also got lots of reading material in .pdf format for almost all courses. I studied using my phone, a textbook, a calculator and a notepad. My colleague could only open his .pdf file from e-mail on his iPhone 4s. I could do so offline, send via BlueTooth and e-mail.
A couple months later, I was on Industrial Training. My designated duties included report writing, measurement of data and supervision of sub-contractors. I’m a Civil Engineering student by the way. Docs2Go was ever so handy here. I could create files in Excel on the go, take pictures of problematic areas, and e-mail draft reports from site to office quickly. This made me highly efficient and useful in the running of the site.
I am addicted to details and music and have issues seeing “unknown artist” in digital song details. The apps mTag and TagMNe sorted this issue out for me. My music library was the cause of envy for colleagues. Search lyrics, get song details, apply. That easy.
I had also wanted to start a blog, the WordPress app came in here. I registered my blog and wrote my first blog post “Mediocrity 1” while on site. Amazing. The keypad of my BlackBerry made it all so easy for me.
Yeah, I stopped downloading songs and started downloading albums. They came in .zip & .rar formats. Tough? I would surely need a computer. But no, I found Rock File Manager in the appworld. I decrypted both types of files on my mobile and began enjoying my music. I also encrypted and compressed my lecture notes folders and sent to colleagues. All on my BB Torch 1 (9800).
My phone got stolen, under threat of worse action, in December, 2012. I felt emasculated. I had BlackBerry Protect installed as well as GPS tracking. Could see the location for days. Couldn’t take risks though, with our money-minded police. The company I was on I.T. with replaced it a month later. Same BlackBerry Torch 9800. I was used to this device, loved it completely. On signing in to my BlackBerry Protect with my BlackBerry ID, my bookmarks, contacts, messages, calendar, tasks & memos (notes) were restored. I was elated. I had regular back-ups of my files (both phone memory and memory card) on my dad’s computer. Restoring them had me back to where I was before the robbery.
What more can I say? I may not have enough browser cache memory to load this post in my phone browser but I sent this and wrote all of it using my os6 BlackBerry Torch 1. Not breaking any sweat.
Also, I recently have been learning project management and I have MyTasks task management app working. There is a large variety of media apps which I do not need. All my productivity tools are however available to me within my cash constraints. (Etisalat BB complete plan now gives me 3Gb of data for N1000). Still cheaper than the alternatives, even the BB10. These are why my pre-BB10 blackberry is sufficient for me.
For a student with a small budget, need for information, there is no other device I’d recommend. We can talk about apps and tools which can help you optimise your old BlackBerry.
The phone may hang, battery power may be awful but for me, I’d always be a BlackBerry user. The keypad was made for me. Long live BlackBerry (w/ or w/out BBM).
Great read and like even Eric Smith of Google, BlackBerry’s are more than BBM only devices. Only problem is that your ilk are a niche group of people BlackBerry cannot survive on without its massive cuts and firing of staff to better manage a rapid decline.
I think it sucks that most consumers buy BlackBerry’s just for BBM, iPhones for just Instagram and that the latest games come out there first or android because of their Gmail and fail to use their devices to their full potential etc. Consumers are the bulk of society. prosumers like yourself are rare.
I’m wondering now that BB has migrated to BB10, have you tried it and are you able to replicate those scenarios like you would on OS7?
Sorry, l fail to see the correlation between the post title and it’s content.
He’s described his uses for a BlackBerry without BBM. I think it falls smack in-line with the title. I’m curious as to what you were expecting, so maybe we can do a post on that as well.
I was expecting an article focused on the bbm not “other things I do with my blackberry phone”
You’re on your own brov
hehe. Maybe you missed the question mark in the title. If you read it without that, I just might agree with you but with that, the post represents a response to a very valid question especially in the wake of BBM coming to other platforms.
Nah! I read it with a question mark which I thought the post would touch tge issue of owning a blackberry and skipping the bbm app. I didnt think it would be a post of other things I use my blackberry for and why I chose it
Excellent article! Though my blood is all Android ’nuff respect to you. 😉
Brilliant article, this mirrors my experience using a BlackBerry. I love the apple sub sha;)
Even as an Android evangelist who still believes legacy Blackberry devices have little or no place in the current mobile space, I can’t come up with one counter-argument to fault this article. It’s spot on! Now if only more Blackberry owners knew exactly what they have their devices for. You’d be (maybe not so) shocked to find how many Blackberry babes don’t even know their device can do a simple Google search
Article seems too eager to admit to piracy, but that’s neither here nor there.
I think the bottom line is that you’re addicted to the physical keyboard. I see no other reason why you’d put with the (self admitted) poor battery life, hanging and freezing. Abysmal battery life is the single biggest reason I’m seriously contemplating ditching BlackBerry for good.
Every single Productivity app the article mentioned has better alternatives on Google Play, for example. Unlimited data BIS is kinda hard to top, though.
I’ll disagree on the piracy tip. (if you are referring to music). Singles in Nigeria are mostly offered as free downloads and mostly have no artwork. There is also a chance he also rips his legally bought cds. So your conclusion is a bit hasty.
As for apps “better” is relative. Very. Some things work better for some people than others. Live and let live.