Turning My Life Over to a Blackberry

When my young boss offered several of us the chance to get a Blackberry, in a moment of weakness I said YES. Up until now I had sworn off all forms of PDA, preferring to keep phone numbers and my calendar in my head. I’m not sure if this was motivated by a desire not to turn my memory over to an electronic device or my aversion to operating techy things.

I was out for dinner with a friend last week when she asked me what my job title was. When I said "IT Specialist", she said, "You’ve got to be kidding. You don’t even know how to use your cell phone!" And how right she was. I am a damned good computer programmer, but hardware is another matter. I think it’s sort of like my lifelong aversion to driving a stick-shift car, which suddenly disappeared when we no longer had a car with an automatic transmission and I realized that I could do it.

Last week a technician delivered my new "toy" and gave me a 20-minute overview of all its functionality. I followed along, but after she left I had two immediate observations: it is really hard to hit those tiny little keys with your thumbs and I can’t get beyond keying in my password in terms of doing those things that I need to do with this device.

My part of the agreement in getting my Blackberry was that I agreed to use it pretty much all the time. Does this mean that my boss will be texting me at night? Will I be answering my Blackberry phone in Whole Foods along with everyone else who is speaking on a cell phone? I truly hope that nothing I do warrants needing to use it outside of office hours, but I did agree...

So this afternoon I am getting remedial Blackberry training. I have requested that a technician come and sit with me while I push the keys (if my thumbs can figure out how) and assure that I can make and answer phone calls, read and send e-mail messages, and check my calendar. I will feel good if I can just master this set of functions for now. Maybe next week I will explore the other 15 icons that pop up on the main screen.

I’m surrendering my mind to my Blackberry. God help me!