Friday, September 30, 2005

Catching up on BlackBerry's redundancies

Recently I added a BlackBerry to my communications repertoire so that when I'm out and about, I still have access to critical emails. My BlackBerry is a phone as well as an email reader, so it can be a pretty helpful device. I have three frustrations with its operation, however, which I'll outline here:

(1) The spam filter isn't as sensitive as that with my normal Apple email program. So the sheer quantity of emails I receive on my BlackBerry is sometimes daunting.

(2) Unless I'm missing something in the instructions, I can delete only one message at a time on my BlackBerry. So as I scroll through a hundred or more emails, unless I'm willing to keep them on the machine for the time being, I'm individually deleting. Takes time.

(3) Even when I delete, of course, they're still in my regular computer email box, so I'll see them again. I knew this would be the case, and, fortunately, because of the spam filter on the computer, there aren't as many to deal with in my inbox as there was on the BlackBerry the first time.

Many of the non-critical emails I first see on the BlackBerry I postpone for action when I return to my computer. I'm a 10-finger typist, so "thumbing" on the BlackBerry is comparatively slow for me. And many of the emails I receive have attachments and/or links to web sites that are better viewed from the computer.

That means when I return - as I did today - having been away from my computer, I have a bit of a backlog.

I spent much of the day today catching up on email and phone calls that piled in during two days on a photo shoot. Maybe how busy I've been clouds my sense of irony - and my sense of humor - but a couple of things friends and colleagues have sent me had me shaking my head at the wonder of just how much time some have on their hands.

First example: Doug Brisotti sent along this website for a bogus company called "Huh"! I remember seeing it a year or more ago, but I hadn't thought of it since. Clever, sure, in an ironic sort of way. But the gag doesn't ring so harmoniously as we at BURRIS try to overcome a customer's concern over costs in the wake of being burned by his previous agency.

Next example comes from Beverly Flichman, who said this is a good reason for us to be happy not to be part of the New York ad scene. Go here to see "The Ad Conceptor," a kind of "Subservient Chicken" take-off for the creative industry.

Check out Huh! and The Ad Conceptor and let me know what YOU think.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

On the addition of the Blackberry to your communication tools ...

I distributed the following link to a few select colleagues who regularly use a portal email device (originally read in the May '05 issue of Inc Magazine): http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050501/ahanft.html

An excerpt:
Could it be that I am more addicted to you than ever? I check your screen when I should be doing other things, even when I'm deep in a conversation with someone else. Such is your allure that it justifies my rudeness. I don't care what people think anymore. In fact, I can't think of a single person in my life who has anything good to say about you. They all think we spend too much time together.

On recently seeing a regular Blackberry user in an airport restroom with more interest in email rather than the task at hand ... I emplore ... don't become a member of the dark side. In my opinion, a Blackberry is a great tool for people well-versed in effective electronic communication and customer service.

2:10 PM  

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