For years I was someone who sneered at the BlackBerry. “Haha! CrackBerry!” I would say to friends who had them and I would flaunt my iPhone at them. “Check out my Apps Baby!” I chanted happily in iPhone world, completely entralled by my phone. Life was peachy in Apple town. Until upgrade day arrived and I find myself chatting to the friendly salesman in the phone shop.

 “It’s just like an iPhone” he’s saying brandishing the latest swanky BlackBerry at me. “It’s a touch screen Blackberry, an ‘as close to being an iPhone without actually being an iPhone plus the added features of being a BlackBerry’ BlackBerry”  I looked at ‘Dave’ (we’ll call him that as that’s what his name badge said), he looked decent enough. I wondered if it was time for me to grow up  and get a BlackBerry, a business persons communication device, the original business phone. While i’d teased anyone who had one, I’d never actually had a BlackBerry, so maybe it was time ot see what the fuss was about, I mean if it was just like an iPhone, I’d notice no difference, the transition would be easy and life would be peachier. Perhaps it was time to get some distance from Apple, I mean, as much as I liked to pretend, it didn’t really contribute to my 5 a day. It was time to see the world through different eyes, leave the cool ‘espresso and converse’ persona of the iPhone behind and embrace the BlackBerry. Yes I was game for it.

The first few days with my new ‘toy’ I was delighted, the outside world was forgotten as I switched applications (yes, I’m REFUSING to call them apps, they ain’t no apps) at the touch of the very useful mousetype key. The BB button became my best friend as I navigated the phone, the ‘go to’ button for all my needs. I became inundated with BBM pins, ‘add me!’ pinged up constantly. ‘Cool’ I thought, this phone is awesome.

A week later, the honeymoon period is over and doubts set in. Maybe this phone isn’t all I ever wanted from a phone. For a start the annoying red light becomes basically ANNOYING! I don’t want to be alerted to everything that is happenning in my life at prescisely the moment it happens, I can wait. I try to turn it off, employing the help of my on/off fella (an ex BB owner, now samsung, saying nuthin’) We think we succeed and then suddenly a day later, it’s back. Then the biggest blow hits me, my emails, my precious emails, my ‘need to be answered immediately’ mails, my work, my LIFE, (yes i’m hamming it up for the purposes of this blog) my ‘had NO problem coming through on my iPhone’ mails stop coming through, instead they sit on the main server. A quick trip back to the Phone Shop ( A owl) and a smiling ‘Dave’ tells me I need to synch the phone. ‘It’s not like an iPhone” I say and he smirks, ‘of course it’s not” and I want to throw it  at him. Instead I smile and knock over his display of phone covers. ‘Oops! Sorry!’ I say, my bottom lip protruding more than Bubba Gump as I leave the shop.

Then, despite thinking that all BB owners are Business Users, I find myself Living a Teenage Dream with the age range of a BB user being anyone from 11-21. Now, I’m not adverse to the company of the younger generation, (see on/off fella :D) BUT  I espected a slightly older crowd at BB.com. Instead I find myself at BB.com/teenmsndevice. I wonder if this is because BlackBerry in it’s haste to secure some users as everyone ran to iPhone delight a few years back handed out phones along side Jamie’s School Dinners, instead of keeping it’s exclusive business user persona. Clever marketing on BB’s part? Get the young crowd in early, brainwash them that iPhone is bad and BlackBerry is good? Or is it just a desperate sell out to keep some of the smartphone market? I dunno. I don’t care. I couldn’t care a less! The other annoying features of the BB are too many to name, it’s basically not my iPhone. Not what I was used too. Not the same.

Most times in life, your intuition is right. Mine never wanted a BlackBerry, it was happy with me being an iPhone girl. I acted on a whim and over-rode my intuition. But I’m committed now, I’m in it now and I’m trying not to look back in anger. I don’t know what the future holds for me and the BlackBerry. I think I wanted to escape the iPhone, and really I didn’t, I never realised I had it so good. I’m sad the BB wasn’t all the phone I thought it would be and I hope i stop comparing it to my iPhone. Though one day, 23 months and counting to be prescise, I’ll jump down off my high horse, grab a couple of espresso’s and do the walk of shame back to iPhone, in my converse. And the iPhone will welcome me back, as it always knew I would return, eventually.