Courtesy Wikipedia

you do NOT understand the ramifications of being issued a BlackBerry. Among other things, if you have one, your boss can Email, IM, call or SMS you 24/7 and expect you to reply. This wasn’t the case for me prior to being issued one as I always had the “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to call you back. My phone went dead” excuse and the “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to email you back, my DSL got cut today. You see, I was thrown in jail last night for drunk driving–whether or not I’m guilty is for the court to decide–and I used the money I’m supposed to pay my monthly DSL subscription with to post bail.” excuse.

Uh yeah, that’s Mikey for you, always sharing too much information without leaving out the occasional profanity or embarrassing self-deprecating revelation. In any case, the IT director of his company got wind of his sentiments and probably tattle-taled to the CEO, sharing a link to Mikey’s blog post through this email:

Can we please ensure we assign Mikey a primary and secondary BlackBerry? Did we already assign him a notebook with WWAN access? If not, let’s make sure gets one. Did we provide him with DSL access as well? Let’s make sure we have 24[-hour] access on this one.

Poor poor Mikey! Anyways, can I have your second Blackberry?

Crackberry: The irresistable force paradox

Post from: The Gadget Blog

For the US smartphone market, ChangeWave research has compiled some detailed, yet ultimately not surprising, data. The iPhone has reached the 11% mark. RIM, out of apparent desperation, has worked hard to push its Blackberries over the past year. Its share is now up to 42%.

The biggest loser according to ChangeWave is Palm. The former juggernaut enjoyed a significant 36% back in 2006. All that remains of that is a weak 14%, just 3 points above a new player that has been on the market for only a year:

“The real losers in this smart phone battle will most likely be the second-tier players, who could find themselves increasingly pushed to the sidelines as the two Goliaths battle for market dominance,” says Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing. That couldn’t be a reference to Palm, could it?

Looks like the Centro’s sales aren’t helping at all. (intomobile.com)

Post from: The Gadget Blog

Organizations must start to develop standards and guidelines for out-of-hours use of devices such as BlackBerrys and other remote working tools.

They must also explicitly state what is expected of employees who use these devices and whether their compensation includes out-of-hours access.

Sounds good right? Maybe not.

The rationale behind this is of course, the protection of the employees’ personal lives from the so-called Crackberry phenomenon. By making expectations clear, workers are freed from worrying about any unanswered mail as they try to enjoy their off-time.

But this could have a scary side-effect. Once employers start specifying how much attention employers should give their office gadgets away from the office, won’t this be a license for them to start imposing even more on the employee’s personal space?

In other words, won’t businesses start saying “hey, we’re giving you a raise, but you have to be available 24/7″? What’s to keep them from doing so (and getting away with it), as office politics and competition will force people to step up or lose opportunities for advancement?

But then again, it can be argued that employers who are willing to do this aren’t really worth working for—at any price. It’s still up to the employee whether or not they agree to a setup, if and when it becomes a reality. Hopefully, employers who respect the personal time of their most valuable assets may end up attracting the best and brightest talent, diminishing or even eliminating any incentive to request constant availability from employees.

Post from: The Gadget Blog