Let me first start by saying I’m not a fan of the iPhone. And it’s not that I’m a BlackBerry Addict due to my love loss for the iPhone. It’s that I have always equated the BlackBerry to “Business”. Before I owned my first BlackBerry, whenever I saw someone typing on one I wondered what their job was. And when I got my first BlackBerry, the 8700g, I felt as if I had to justify the purchase. Not for the price, but for what the device was. Buying a BlackBerry was like entering an exclusive club, and having to prove I knew the secret handshake to the powers that be. That I belonged.

 That 8700g became the hub of the small business I started. I remember many a time needing to Google directions to a venue, or find the nearest place that served burgers while on tour. Being able to e-mail, or chat on AIM while in the backseat of a car… you missed nothing.

It was during those times that I realized how powerful a BlackBerry was. It was literally my Personal Assistant.  In the three-years that have passed, I moved from the 8700g to the 8320, and now the 8900. With each upgrade, it was as if I had hired a more capable, more intelligent, more gifted Personal Assistant to be at my side. In the simplest form, my BlackBerry has made my life easier.

I’ve converted my girlfriend, who is the proud new owner of a BlackBerry. We talk daily via BlackBerry Messenger throughout our work day -- using BBM instead of texts means a lower cell phone bill each month. But above the monetary bonus, syncing our Calendar appointments with one another means we can keep better track of the things we are doing together.A BlackBerry makes our lives easier; both individually, but more importantly as a couple. 

No more does the Personal Assistant come out more than when traveling. I use only my BlackBerry for an alarm clock when in a hotel. I don’t trust the hotel alarm clock. Never have. And it’s not like I don’t know how to operate an alarm clock new to me; I am most definitely an electronics nerd. It’s purely the trust I have for my BlackBerry. Car rides, from evenings out to weekends away, are more enjoyable as an audio cable plugged from my BlackBerry to my car’s radio allows GPS Navigation to provide turn-by-turn through the speakers, over streaming music coming from my Pandora radio station. A BlackBerry can make any vehicle feel like a luxury vehicle, with all the conveniences at arm’s length. I’m never without my BlackBerry.

I don’t really remember what it was like when I owned a “cell phone”. I’m glad I don’t have to.

 -- Keith Stoeckeler

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

keithstoeckeler.com