Why BlackBerry?

Here we go again, in a round-about adventure, the Coffee Table syle.

With BB, you're connected. You're logged in. You're IN the network.

With any other phone, you need to log-in to get connected.

At that juncture, BB is definitely the better option. But the problem is, it comes with a price. So, the question now: is it worth paying for BlackBerry service for such minor difference?

But on the other hand, if you use a normal phone and always 'log-in', you WILL be charged for data usage. And if you SMS like Instant Messaging and a big MMS user, at the end of the month, the amount could be MORE than paying for BB service.

Of course, if you live in Starbucks, there's no argument. The accumulation of money for BB services spent in a year is quite ridicioulous when you have WiFi and can be connected for free.

But from economics standpoint, someone IS paying for the WiFi. Be it in a form of coffee, fuel and time to drive to a WiFi point or monthly subscription. So, let's put the WiFi argument to the side and wait for the day when we can have WiFi signal emitting from our wrist-watch. So, in today's reality, to stay connected most of the time, we HAVE to use GPRS.

So, I guess, the cost of BB service is justifiable. But another question: Do we 'NEED' to be always 'connected'?

Tricky question. Mainly coz it's bounded by social norm. Still remember saying, "Bah, I don't need a cellphone, there's public phone all over."

So, to say we don't need to be "always connected" is a bit short-sighted. One day, we might have to swallow back our words. At the end of the day, human need and behavior are always bounded by social norm and economic power.

The social norm (or 'trend') in Malaysia is that the convenience of IM and e-mail in everyday life is slowly overtaking the limitations of SMS and MMS. VoIP too is catching on. All of these uses data network.

In the name of connectivity, people are already ditching their desktop for laptops to netbooks. The only logical trend is toward your cellphone. And that's where BB is already giving the solution.

But the wave will catch on only when the difference between 'stay connected' vs. 'need to log-in to be connected' will be of significance.