Legal Research

Blackberrys - the debate continues

By Elizabeth Ellis

Yesterday’s brief (approx. 3 hours) Blackberry outage prompted a lot of email traffic on a listserv I read. The debate seemed to be between those who thought that notwithstanding the occasional system-wide failure, Blackberrys were still the preferred mobile device for the legal community, and those who favoured some of the newer devices that have more features and functions. Interestingly, there wasn’t much traffic blaming RIM for the service disruption.

Blackberrys have been in the news a lot lately. There have been news stories about employers cuttting back on employee off-hour use. There was even a story about a hotel that offers a weekend program for those who are ready to retire their Blackberrys (but need some help to let go).

I wonder where mobile devices will be two years from now. My personal view is that it’s too late to turn back the clock - too many people are used to any-time email access. For me, this means that the occasional system-wide failure is an opportunity to enjoy some quiet time.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).