Recently I became the proud new owner of a Blackberry Storm— my first foray into the world of 3G phones. Despite the fact that it makes complete sense for me as a business owner and power internet and email user to combine phone technology with electronic communication, I still waited until my two year contract was up before I eagerly jumped ship from a terrible Optus subsidary service provider (Soul Communications – do not GO there!!!) over to Vodafone.
To get my Blackberry Storm for free (otherwise retailing at approx $800) I’ve gone onto another contract but with unlimited emails, text and internet access and a geneous phone cap plan I’m pretty confident it’s the plan for me. Features such as * Wireless Email, *Organizer, * Wireless Internet, * Phone, * Camera, * Video Recording, * Media player, * Built-in GPS, * Corporate Data Access, * SMS, * MMS also have me pretty sorted.
Anyway I was excited as can be to get my hands on my new Blackberry which I did around 10 days ago now. It made complete sense to get it right before I took a 10 day business/pleasure trip to New Zealand. In that way I could send emails to keep wheels turning and balls up in the air while I was away and also get a little used to it while I was away without the pressures of manic deadlines.
My first Blackberry experience was quite laughable and I don’t mind sharing. Perhaps if you or a person you know has had similar novice experiences with new technologies it’ll make you feel better.
So here I was, LOVING the fact I can get on Facebook and either check out what others are up to or update my own status via the new Blackberry phone, and I went to make a simple status update: ‘Yvette is…playing with her new Blackberry’.
The first attempt read:
“Yvette is…”
Eek — Yvette is nothing! That’s highly unlikely to EVER happen!
The next read:
“Yvette is O”
No, not ‘Om’; not ‘OhMiGod’ — just ‘O’. Bloody muppet. Not at all intentional of course (bloody fat figners on the intuitive keys built into the LCD screen I was cursing to my self)
The final:
“Yvette is loving her new Blackberry’ Whew!
And a couple of quick deletions of the prior two posts and my online reputation was ceremoniously redeemed with me cursing my fingers that suddenly seemed very fat when it came to dealings with the SurePressâ„¢ touch screen.
But that wasn’t the end of the struggle with the new technology. And all of this may come as a surprise to those of you who may consider me as very techie. The funny thing is that while I am very technical minded on some levels, when it comes to a few gadgets, including phones I really do struggle sometimes.
My theory on it is that it’s because I’m a Gen X/ Gen Y cusper. You see if I were purely a Gen X I may not have even bothered with the Blackberry. A nice looking, functional handheld phone with perhaps a few bells and whistles in the form of say a camera and Bluetooth might have been more than enough for me to handle. Sound familiar?
And if I were a Gen Y I probably would have been in the iPhone queue when they were realised in Australia or switching plans well before the expired just to get my hands on the Blackberry and playing with my phone non stop ever since I got it to get it all totally ’souped up’.
Instead I sit somewhere in the middle as a true cusper would. You see I’m techie enough to have taken the leap of faith into going 3G but I’m also phobic enough to have stalled a number of standard procedures like synching the phone with my Outlook (one of it’s main features), and getting all my old contacts off my old sim and on to my new phone which the sales rep in the phone shop was unable to complete for me and encouraged me to seek more help on (with hundreds of names, even with a bit of a cull the re-entering manually of them is totally out of the question).
I’m also struggling with blue tooth (never had a phone that offers this before) and getting my ring tone to be suitably ‘cool’ and ‘me’ and ‘non standard’ (never been one for common!) I hope to have a fav tune ringing out every time my phone goes within the next 24 hours.
I’m also planning to up the anti on my twittering regularity and figure my new piece of equipment will assist me in making this happen (as will my PA!)
On a TOTAL sideline, ever wondered how a mobile phone like mine ends up with the name of a wild berry fruit??
Like any product or service, it’s not just about creating the thing or conceiving the concept, there’s a LOT in a name. A previous blog post I wrote about why we love blank canvasses when it comes to branding goes into my spin on this in more detail. If you’re looking at creating a new product or product line, offering a new service, re-branding or establishing a brand, READ THIS BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING!!!!
But in essence the name has to be cool (but not too cool or exclusionary), marketable to both early adopters and a broader audience and catchy/memorable. The name also has to be protectable and by that I mean be able to be protected by various trademarks and copyright laws . The combination of these factors can present a challenge to say the least. I know. Just recently I’ve tried and I’m still on the brain storm buzz for a new company I’m looking at starting (stay tuned on that one).
But just in case you’re the type that doesn’t mind a little mindless trivia from time to time here’s a couple of interesting insights into names I’ve mentioned in this little ditty and how they came to be (taken from https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/267197/how_10_famous_technology_products_got_their_names?pp=3&fp=39&fpid=26195)
BlackBerry
Canada’s Research in Motion called on Lexicon Branding to help name its new wireless e-mail device in 2001. The consultancy pushed RIM founders away from the word “e-mail,” which research shows can raise blood pressure. Instead, they looked for a name that would evoke joy and somehow give feelings of peace. After someone made the connection that the small buttons on the device resembled a bunch of seeds, Lexicon’s team explored names like strawberry, melon and various vegetables before settling on blackberry – a word both pleasing and which evoked the black color of the device.
When cofounder Biz Stone saw the application that Jack Dorsey created in 2006 he was reminded of the way birds communicate: “Short bursts of information…Everyone is chirping, having a good time.” In response, Stone came up with “twttr,” and the group eventually added some vowels. It’s hard to think of a more evocative name in the tech world than twitter, but what began as what Stone described as “trivial” bursts of communication developed into a powerful means of networking, breaking news, and forum for the 44th US president’s campaign.