That’s right folks, I finally turned over to the Dark Side – I activated BlackBerry Connect on my Dopod 838Pro.
Was it due to my Managing Director’s constant nagging for the past two years? Partly.
Was it due to my business / personal needs? Partly.
Well, the fact is, I’ve been coping well for the past 2 years without a BlackBerry because I check my emails whenever I can (if I’m not sleeping at 2 a.m. in the morning, I’ll be checking my emails). However, there are times when I can’t get access to the Internet or the VPN server (for work), especially when I’m travelling or on the road, it can get difficult for work. Interestingly, I still reply more emails than most BlackBerry carrying staff who usually stays put in Singapore only.
However, in view of the potential in increasing productivity and an upcoming role change, I foresee a renew need to get my emails promptly (the burden of greater responsibilities) so I ‘cave in’ and got it activated.
So why not a BlackBerry Phone? Well for starters, I run tons of stuff off my Dopod 838Pro (E.g. Skype, a GPS) as well as write articles (well, the draft) with the OfficeMobile that comes with it so it does not make sense for me to swap it. (besides, the Dopod 838Pro is not really a phone, it’s a mini mini PC).
I do get asked alot on why I did not ‘upgrade’ to a new PDA phone (especially when the company policies state that they will pay for it). Well for starters, the Dopod 838Pro still serves me well. I bought the gadget in 2007 (more than 2 years ago) at SGD $1200, now at that time, the price of a decent netbook is lower, that’s how expensive this little ‘brick’ cost me (I paid it with my own money).
Over the years, the Dopod 838Pro has not only served me well but far exceeded my ‘usage capabilities’, for example, I almost never use the MP3 and MP4 player, video cam etc. In other words, its still ‘current’ for me, besides, it is bulid like a ‘tank’. I’ve dropped it several times from ‘great heights’ and aside from some scratches, it’s still working very well. Granted there are lots of new models with tons of fancy (and cool) features, the question I always ask myself is – “Do I need this feature?” (and this rule of thumb will serve you well when you evaluate healthcare informatics solution). Another good reason is Green Computing (need I say more?).
So am I not worried that I’d end up checking my emails even more often and hence, spending whatever little time (that is left) on unstoppable incoming emails? Well, the good thing about the BlackBerry Connect is that as with all applications running off WindowsMobile, it can be turned off, try doing that with a BlackBerry Phone 🙂
P.S. Turning the BlackBerry Connect does drain the battery out pretty fast. Ah well, one can’t have it all 🙂
BinaryHealthCare (BNHC) 