Well, it appears we all survived last week’s Blackberry outage. I only found it a minor inconvenience as I was trying to set up a last minute breakfast meeting late in the evening of the outage. But I resorted to the good “old fashioned” cell phone to get it done. The outage certainly got a lot of press last week. As a matter of fact, USA Today called me the morning after the outage and interviewed me for an article they were doing (BlackBerry outage exposes RIM's 'soft underbelly'.)
The article called me a “self described Blackberry Addict” though I certainly don’t recall describing myself that way. Anyway, the whole flap got me to thinking about the divide between people who feel the need to stay in constant contact, and those who don’t. There appears to be some animosity between the two groups. I have already admitted (as reported last week in USA Today) that I am a member of the staying connected group. However, even though I stay pretty much connected, I have never taken a call or answered an E-Mail during dinner, or during church, or in the middle of a conversation. I check my messages every now and then just to keep on top of what’s going on with my business associates, clients, and friends.
I suspect part of the animosity aimed directly at the perpetually connected comes from a pattern of semi-rude behavior. I bet it comes from spouses, significant others, friends, and family who have been interrupted mid-sentence by a ringing cell phone, or a newly arrived instant message, and I certainly can’t say that I blame them,
So as a member of the perpetually connected contingent (sometimes known as the “Crackberry Addicts”) I would like to rally my compatriots to IM politely, to E-Mail appropriately, and talk tactfully on your cells. It is possible to stay connected to your network AND stay connected to the people in the room with you….
Randy Bancino
Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.
The article called me a “self described Blackberry Addict” though I certainly don’t recall describing myself that way. Anyway, the whole flap got me to thinking about the divide between people who feel the need to stay in constant contact, and those who don’t. There appears to be some animosity between the two groups. I have already admitted (as reported last week in USA Today) that I am a member of the staying connected group. However, even though I stay pretty much connected, I have never taken a call or answered an E-Mail during dinner, or during church, or in the middle of a conversation. I check my messages every now and then just to keep on top of what’s going on with my business associates, clients, and friends.
I suspect part of the animosity aimed directly at the perpetually connected comes from a pattern of semi-rude behavior. I bet it comes from spouses, significant others, friends, and family who have been interrupted mid-sentence by a ringing cell phone, or a newly arrived instant message, and I certainly can’t say that I blame them,
So as a member of the perpetually connected contingent (sometimes known as the “Crackberry Addicts”) I would like to rally my compatriots to IM politely, to E-Mail appropriately, and talk tactfully on your cells. It is possible to stay connected to your network AND stay connected to the people in the room with you….
Randy Bancino
Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.
