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Someone get this man a Valium! While I definitely understand your frustration, there’s no need for you to go and rip on the mother of all awesomeness in technology – the iPhone – by lumping it in with these inferior devices.

Shame on you.

It’s not just BlackBerries, it’s Treos, iPhones, and Sidekicks too. When I got my iPhone I laid out a few ground rules for myself.

1. I’d never use it during a meeting.
2. I’d never use it at dinner.
3. I’d never use it while having a conversation with someone.
4. I would never use it (or sparingly use it) at places like movie theatres, the grocery store, and public venues.
5. I don’t talk on the phone while in a store either, I think it’s rude.

Sorry, Shane, the iPhone is a just a dolled-up version of the same evil. If there’s one thing I do not drink, it’s the Apple Kool-Aid.

I kind of feel like Bill Joy after re-reading this.

I couldn’t put the utter worthlessness of these devices into better words myself.

This article made my day.

But don´t blame the Blackberry/iPhone/CommunicationGadgetXY for human affinity to addictive items.

The evil is not the device, it´s the minion using it. ;-)

What a breathe of fresh air! Walking around with your eyes buried in these things has become the new status symbol – “I’m wanted, why aren’t you? You are lower class scum with time to waste on petty things like talking to people and looking at nature.”

Your rant was the same one posted when iPod started plugging peoples ears to the reality around them. And the same one posted, er, written to the editor of the local paper (remember those), when the mobile phone found itself filtering through society. It was the same rant when the automobile came puffing over the hill terrifying the horses and scattering the chickens. It was the same rant…you get the point. Like any new technology, it takes awhile to figure out protocol.

Voice, email, and instant message distraction has nothing to do with the device and everything to do with our seeming inability to focus our attention on the true and lasting. Senders need to learn that if they want an instant response they should show up and chat face to face. All other forms of communication will result in some form of delay, controlled by the receiver, who, hopefully, understands that there is a time and place for everything.

Until we do figure out the protocol, the first righteous person who never reads another text message during church, never answers, much less places a call, while driving and never answers an IM while they are deep into another two and half minute YouTube marathon is welcome to lead the therapy session for the rest of us attention deficits.

Hilarious rant and so true too.

Worst story: Graveside at a funeral, casket being lowered, everyone weeping… yup a real estate agent’s mobile phone rings and she answers it, talking really loud. Minister had said “phones off out of respect for the dearly departed” but fools feel above the social norm.

Who else has a worst example story?

i was forced to get a BB for my new job (yes, as a consultant). i have to say my Curve is just a POS – reminds me of why PC’s are such garbage vs Macs…there is absolutely nothing intuitive about it, and quite frankly i don’t need every freakin’ email on the planet pushed to me instantly.

Blackberries don’t connect people, the drive them apart.
‘Don’t send me too personal messages as my secretary has to read all my e-mail to keep my blackberry clear’
‘I don’t see most text messages as they just disappear in the email which I delete in bulk if I’ve been at my PC’
‘I’d love to make a date but I’m holding my diary to my ear and I’m driving, so I don’t know if the date’s OK’

My company just bought me a blackberry. I will never use it. I told them I will never use it. They still bought it and handed it to me.

I’ve managed global organizations for a few years now, and if I put myself in a position where it was necessary to contact me for anything ‘anytime, anywhere’ for my department to function, I have failed. My job is to make sure my organization can do its job, even if I were to be involved in a horrible car wreck initiated by someone frantically grabbing at their blackberry to read about savings on viagra.

Sure, certain professions really need this kind of technology – business development, navy seals. Let them enjoy the stress of the positions they have chosen for themselves, and leave us the hell out of it.

My father is a very successful business man; a self-made millionaire, I can only hope to achieve half of what he has. He always tells me that the best way to deal with people is face-to-face. I never really bought that because I am a computer programmer by trade and love new gadgets. I was a blackberry addict for many years and clung to it for dear life in case I missed something super-important at work. Anyway, I noticed that I started losing my ability to speak to people in a polite manner. I had begun communicating orally in the same fashion as I would type a quick message to a buddy. Abbreviating my words instead of speaking in complete sentences became to disturbing to me. Also, ignoring or tuning out my loved ones because I was always looking at my device was upsetting to my wife especially.
I realized that this thing was controlling my every move and I hated it. I recently threw my blackberry device out and bought myself a regular cell phone. I felt like I had just been let out of prison. Anyway, ever since I blew my blackberry up in my old microwave (really cool); I noticed that my communication skills returned and now I am the CIO of my company. I guess my dad was right… making an effort to go and see people in an office or even calling them is way better than just pounding out a quick message. Now I offer the option to my employees whether or not they want to use a blackberry or not. Surprisingly, all of my nerds hang onto their bb devices.
What a bunch of nerds… oh wait… so am I