Defending Blueberries

The Blackberry revolution has been amongst us for some time.

I work in shipping and I've noticed that shipping company executives have had them for quite a few years.

It's easy to spot as their eyes are always looking down at their little screens and the fingers are working feverishly, while you are trying to talk to them.

The makers are a US company called RIM (Research in Motion), founded by two U.S students in 1984. They specialised in wireless systems and started off making point-of-sale equipment before launching their first Blackberry product in 1999.

I used to send the design guys in the office into fits of laughter by absent mindedly referring to them as "blueberries".

Then it happened...

I got one.

The company I'm contracted to, announced that they are not happy having me trapseing around without them knowing where I am and how to get hold of me. Here, have one of these, they said.

I'm sure some of you don't know what I'm talking about.

What on earth is a Blackberry or a Blueberry, or whatever the hell it is.

Well the makers blurb says

"BlackBerry smartphones allow you to stay in touch with everything that matters to you while you’re on the go.

Email, phone, maps, organizer, applications, games, the Internet and more.

Some smartphones even include a media player and/or camera so you really have everything you need in one stylish device".

So, now you know. Mine even has a very good GPS with Blackberry maps.

The crew of the good ship Willawaw are already confirmed technofreaks and we are staunch supporters of the team Apple. 

We have an iPod Touch and an iPhone between us and think that the iPod touch screen user interface is the dogs doo-dahs.

Blackberry, in our humble opinion is not as good, but it IS bigger in the business world, so there you go - no wonder.

My problem is how to stop said piece of delicate and sophisticated electronics from getting damaged in my rough and tumble life.

Any phone that I use will get thrown around, dropped, etc.

Then, I discovered Otterbox.

Another US company (from Colorado I think), Otterbox make great, tough cases for phones, PDA's and the such like.

To cut a long blog short, I bought one - the Otterbox Defender, actually.

As you can see below, it protects your valuable iPod, Blackberry or whatever from rain, dust, impact and so on. It does this by surrounding it in three layers of protection.

I bought my Defender case from Ebay and fitted it today.

It took about 5 minutes and was simplicity itself. None of the original phone is exposed once it's fitted. The three layers of protection completely surround it.

Pro's:

* The phone is VERY protected by the case

* All the buttons still work through the silicon casing

* The audio quality through the case is good

* You don't have to take it out of the case ever - there is even a built in charge aperture

Con's

* The price - £25

* It's a bit clunky - fine if you like looking like a contender for a SWAT team

* The first layer doesn't lay completely flat on the screen (bubbles can be smoothed off with a credit card and some soapy water) 

 

In all, I'm very impressed. I can't speak for the iPod version, but my Blueberry one is good.

I just need to make sure I don't leave it somewhere now - no case in the world can protect against absent minded-ness.

Mind you, they do have a bright yellow and black version to make it harder to ignore !!!

Otterbox take advantage of all the latest technology and have a blog here:

http://www.otterbox.blogs.com/

You can also follow them on Twitter - @otterbox

After fitting the case, I sent them a twitter just thanking them for some info they had given me and confirming that I had made a purchase and all was well.

They replied via Twitter from Colorado, within 20 minutes.

Twitter does really work in business, as well as socially.