Friday, August 24, 2012

Life post Blackberry


Ha! So I finally gave up my much loved and treasured blackberry.

It’s been almost 3 whole weeks since I have started using my new Nokia E-5 phone. It’s not basic, but it is not a very advanced phone either. It is fuss free, battery life is efficient and so it’s fits my requirement perfectly. Ever since I bought the phone, I have been thinking about writing about my switch from blackberry. Here it is :

1.    I am completely hand’s free:
Since blackberry is so prompt enough to deliver Emails and BBM’s , you kind of never give your fingers and hands a good rest. I no longer pull out my phone, browse emails (thought I have installed Gmail on my phone, just in case) or I no longer have to worry about ‘what if I miss an important email or bbm?’ . My phone comfortably sits on my desk and troubles me only when an sms or phone call comes.

2.    I have started looking at things around me :
Well, it’s not that I have been an absolute type A kind of an addict of blackberry, but I must admit that lately I used to browse mails and bbm’s even while I was walking , waiting in a queue, inside the lift, while travelling to work. Now I have more time to look at things around me and that’s quite nice.

3.    Have you ever come across someone who is constantly looking at their blackberry while talking or listening to others? Well, now I do not have to be that person.

4.    I am actually finding time to read : With no pressure or access to emails all the time, I am back with my books. Now with a dedicated time to access emails and chat with friends, I think I am more productive.

5.    Social Networking? Now I know why technology and social networking goes hand in hand. Earlier, my ‘friends’  and me on GTalk and BBM used to chat frequently, and I somewhere confused it with ‘friendship’. But after my last message on BBM to ‘friends’ hardly anyone has bothered to keep in touch (minus some lovely real friends) through an email or a simple SMS or phone call. What does it show?

My interpretation is that it just shows that because you are not accessible through a particular gadget like blackberry or platform like BBM , they are no longer interested in taking that extra step. Actually this is an irony of most social networks, and it is about time we (means those who are very active on SN sites) started rethinking about social networking as a medium of communication with ‘friends’.

It’s time to ask ourselves how many birthdays do we remember without Facebook reminding us? How many friend’s phone numbers do we know by heart? How many of us really know what our outer circle of friends are upto, if there is not social networking sites or bbm updates?

I think watching the green light in front of friend’s names on GTalk or seeing their photos on FB or updates on BBM gives us a false idea that we are in touch with them.

But this does not hold true for me.  I think that is the biggest lesson I have learnt in these three weeks.

The fact is , phones are just phones, and social networking or internet on phone is for convenience and emergency, not to keep your friendships or relationships alive.

So that’s my three week update about my life post blackberry.

Would you give up your fancy-social network connected-3G internet enabled phone??

-    Amruta

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