As an outside sales person, I fought for years for a Blackberry. I never did get one. None of our 60+ sales force throughout the United States was ever given the one tool that could have made our lives so much easier. Then again, I was only given a laptop a few years ago.

When I actually went to my boss and asked for the specific reasons I was not allowed to have a Blackberry I was given these answers:

1. They cost $500! We can't have just anyone running around with such an expensive piece of equipment.

2. You'll have to be available and more responsive to your customers, and do you really want to have to do that?

3. When traveling, you can always stop at a coffee shop that has Wi-Fi, get a cup of coffee (not paid for by Bob's Hogs), and check your email on your laptop.

4. (After a meeting with my #1 customer where response time was the #1 reason they said they often went with us and actually suggested that I be given a Blackberry to increase our business with them) "First lets see the business increase, that I'll look into getting you a Blackberry." Huh?

I can't tell you the number of significant sales I've lost over the years because I was traveling and couldn't get to my email, or had to ridiculously ask my high profile customers to call me with a huge proposal instead of just being able to read the stupid thing online.

So, a week after almost our entire sales force was cut, I walked my ass into the local AT&T store to pick up a smart phone. No more crappy-ass Razr for me (man, I hated that thing). I immediately gravitated toward the Blackberry Pearl, but the double button typing immediately put me off. I checked out the Blackberry Curve, which I thought I wanted, until I saw the Blackjack II....

I debated for a few minutes until I saw the difference between the Blackberry and Blackjack browsers, and the ease in use. The Blackjack just feels more intuitive. I was able to take it home and set it up quickly. I was downloading applications, getting new ring tones, and customizing it immediately, something I've seen Blackberry users struggle with.

It holds up to 10 email accounts, I can use both Opera and IE to browse, Frinklin found Octrotalk for me so that I can use GChat in addition to texting...what more could I ask for?

Posted by: Ensie at 04:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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