Bye Bye Blackberry?

calidan · Dec 4, 2005, 01:23 AM

OTTAWA--What if your BlackBerry screen went dark?

To executives like Douglas Steenland of Northwest Airlines, the idea of doing business without a BlackBerry is about as appealing as reverting to rotary dial phones and Telex machines.

"It's the proverbial blessing and curse," Steenland said of his BlackBerry, which sends e-mail messages wirelessly. "It's a blessing because it liberates you from the office. It's a curse because there's no escape."

That is why there was so much anxiety throughout corporate America over this week's news that a long-running patent infringement battle between the maker of BlackBerry, Research in Motion, and NTP, a tiny patent holding company, might cause a service shutdown, perhaps within a month.

Indeed, the prospect of life without BlackBerries is so frightening to Northwest--a heavy user if ever there was one--that the airline immediately demanded a conference call with RIM executives and one is scheduled for Tuesday.

"Everybody here hopes that somebody else will fix the problem," said Andrea Newman, Northwest's senior vice president for government relations. "But no one really knows what the problem is or what it will take to fix it."

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Read More / Source: News.com

Dec 4, 2005, 01:23 AM	#1
calidan Frozen in Carbonite Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 1,409 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Bye Bye Blackberry? OTTAWA--What if your BlackBerry screen went dark? To executives like Douglas Steenland of Northwest Airlines, the idea of doing business without a BlackBerry is about as appealing as reverting to rotary dial phones and Telex machines. "It's the proverbial blessing and curse," Steenland said of his BlackBerry, which sends e-mail messages wirelessly. "It's a blessing because it liberates you from the office. It's a curse because there's no escape." That is why there was so much anxiety throughout corporate America over this week's news that a long-running patent infringement battle between the maker of BlackBerry, Research in Motion, and NTP, a tiny patent holding company, might cause a service shutdown, perhaps within a month. Indeed, the prospect of life without BlackBerries is so frightening to Northwest--a heavy user if ever there was one--that the airline immediately demanded a conference call with RIM executives and one is scheduled for Tuesday. "Everybody here hopes that somebody else will fix the problem," said Andrea Newman, Northwest's senior vice president for government relations. "But no one really knows what the problem is or what it will take to fix it." ____________ Read More / Source: News.com __________________ Steam Community :: ID :: calidan "Don't try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie.... Study computers instead." - Jackie Chan