So, Blackberry users: How are things?

[wfooshee]

RIM is experiencing some - issues - in their system, which are spreading around the globe. My boss called me this morning complaining about his phone hasn't gotten an email in hours, and I explained the situation to him. I'm still supposed to fix it, if I can. I asked for a ticket to England, and was denied.

Apparently a core switch in England failed sometime Monday, the failover didn't happen, and a data backlog began, swamping their network in Europe, spreading quickly to Asia and Africa. Was supposed to be fixed by this morning, but now users in the Americas are seeing problems. Apparently the phone works, but data doesn't. Some people report texting OK, some report not.

Right on the heels of Apple's new intros, timing couldn't have been worse for RIM. Have to say, though, never having been a fan of Blackberries, I wouldn't be surprised if folks start leaving in bigger droves than already happening.

 

[Moglet]

People over here are very, very annoyed. Lots of young girls have been complaining about "ME BBM ENT WORKING, MAN!" and various business users are annoyed as they could be losing money.

They've really dropped the ball on this one!

 

[skylinefx]

Just shows you how we rely on technology...
Haha! I have an advert at the bottom of the page advertising a Blackberry... 'Only £15 per month, calls, text, and Blackberry messenger'!

 

[boiltheocean]

People over here are very, very annoyed. Lots of young girls have been complaining about "ME BBM ENT WORKING, MAN!"

Listening to the radio at work they had girls phoning in, Chantelle said "It's well bad what's happened init, now me and mates can't talk on BBM no more. I've only had my bRACKberry(that's actually how she said it, because she's from the hood) for like 3 weeks enit and I don't want it no more cus it don't work."

 

[Jondot]

People over here are very, very annoyed. Lots of young girls have been complaining about "ME BBM ENT WORKING, MAN!" and various business users are annoyed as they could be losing money.

They've really dropped the ball on this one!

Listening to the radio at work they had girls phoning in, Chantelle said "It's well bad what's happened init, now me and mates can't talk on BBM no more. I've only had my bRACKberry(that's actually how she said it, because she's from the hood) for like 3 weeks enit and I don't want it no more cus it don't work."

Have RIM thought about using their devices to lure these people somewhere? I'm thinking a sort of... big hole in the ground. Or somewhere with English textbooks.

 

[Joel]

Everyone's complaining about bbm not working over here in Canuckistan. My blackberry isn't working for any network stuff, (Facebook, Twitter, BBM), BBM has worked sporadically throughout the day, but both texting and calling has been fine so it doesn't matter to me. However, there could not have been a worse time for RIM's networks to fail, just brutal timing.

 

[bergauk]

Have RIM thought about using their devices to lure these people somewhere? I'm thinking a sort of... big hole in the ground. Or somewhere with English textbooks.

^ And Americans are the ones that butcher English.

 

[Moglet]

Listening to the radio at work they had girls phoning in, Chantelle said "It's well bad what's happened init, now me and mates can't talk on BBM no more. I've only had my bRACKberry(that's actually how she said it, because she's from the hood) for like 3 weeks enit and I don't want it no more cus it don't work."

Radio 1 had the best one I've heard so far:

"It woz mah burf-day, like, 2 weeks ago? And I got dis phone, yeah? An I'm payin' £42 a munf, yeah, and it don't work? I can't go online an I can't go on mah BBM? I won't buy annuva"

 

[wfooshee]

This has exposed the basic weakness of RIM's system. Unlike other phones, Blackberry devices don't access your mail server or other Internet server directly, they must connect to RIM's network first, and from there RIM goes out and gets whatever it is you're asking the phone to do, and brings it to the phone.

Not only are you dependant on your cellular provider, as with any phone, but you are dependant on RIM's network, wherever you are in the world. I can think of no real reason for it to be that way, other than being entrenched in their earlier technology.

The first Blackberries weren't phones, after all, they were email devices. Only. Keyboard and a text screen, maybe 4 or 5 lines, I don't recall. When they added phone capability, they kept their own email access network, and that's developed into the nightmare they have today.

You're the IT guy at a law firm with 20 attorneys, you go out and buy 20 Droids or iPhones. You configure them with your Exchange server's public URL, the attorneys' login names and passwords, and they work. Mail, calendars, contacts, wirelessly synced.

Another guy at another firm buys Blackberries, because his attorneys have been using them for years and don't realize anything else exists. They get their Blackberries, and the only thing they can do wirelessly is email. To sync calendar and contacts they have to connect to their PCs. Unless you buy more software, like Blackberry Enterprise Server.

OK, for smaller companies BES is now actually in a free version, but it's still something you have to set up somewhere, make adjustments to Exchange to accomodate, and configure each user on, in addition to the Exchange configuration, and then the user has to activate the service on their phone, which takes about 20 minutes.

And RIM wonders why they can't hold on to users?????

 

[Dennisch]

Really, the downtime should last a bit longer, because my girlfriend seems to be a lot happier now her sisters can't moan all day against her.

 

[homeforsummer]

I posted it on facebook and I shall post it again here, though not as an image as there's a naughty word in the small print at the bottom... http://livesniffpetrol.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/SPAD_FlatEarthphone.jpg

From Sniffpetrol

 

[DaxCobra]

Was I the only one who laughed when I heard Blackberry's manufacturer company name?...

 

[E28]

My dad has a blackberry, and he is just slightly annoyed. At his work everyone emails each other with Blackberries, and that isn't working. He wants to have a look at the company figures, that doesn't work.

Pretty ridiculous. Still, gives his work another reason for him to get an iPhone.

 

[Moglet]

Was I the only one who laughed when I heard Blackberry's manufacturer company name?...

No! I giggled a little when I heard it on the news, especially as the newsreaders always seem to pronounce it really prominently!

 

[daan]

 

[bass264]

This has exposed the basic weakness of RIM's system. Unlike other phones, Blackberry devices don't access your mail server or other Internet server directly, they must connect to RIM's network first, and from there RIM goes out and gets whatever it is you're asking the phone to do, and brings it to the phone.

Not only are you dependant on your cellular provider, as with any phone, but you are dependant on RIM's network, wherever you are in the world. I can think of no real reason for it to be that way, other than being entrenched in their earlier technology.

The first Blackberries weren't phones, after all, they were email devices. Only. Keyboard and a text screen, maybe 4 or 5 lines, I don't recall. When they added phone capability, they kept their own email access network, and that's developed into the nightmare they have today.

You're the IT guy at a law firm with 20 attorneys, you go out and buy 20 Droids or iPhones. You configure them with your Exchange server's public URL, the attorneys' login names and passwords, and they work. Mail, calendars, contacts, wirelessly synced.

Another guy at another firm buys Blackberries, because his attorneys have been using them for years and don't realize anything else exists. They get their Blackberries, and the only thing they can do wirelessly is email. To sync calendar and contacts they have to connect to their PCs. Unless you buy more software, like Blackberry Enterprise Server.

OK, for smaller companies BES is now actually in a free version, but it's still something you have to set up somewhere, make adjustments to Exchange to accomodate, and configure each user on, in addition to the Exchange configuration, and then the user has to activate the service on their phone, which takes about 20 minutes.

And RIM wonders why they can't hold on to users?????

The only real benefit of this is that everything you access through your blackberry that requires connecting to RIM's network is that it encrypts everything you do, which is why Blackberry's are banned in the UAE, because the government couldn't intercept or eavesdrop data accessed from Blackberry smartphones.

 

[wfooshee]

The only real benefit of this is that everything you access through your blackberry that requires connecting to RIM's network is that it encrypts everything you do, which is why Blackberry's are banned in the UAE, because the government couldn't intercept or eavesdrop data accessed from Blackberry smartphones.

So is your Exchange sync on your iPhone or Android, as long as your server has a valid certificate installed. So general browsing isn't encrypted; so what?