Last weekend, the trackpad of my BlackBerry Curve 3G began to malfunction, and inevitably I ended up sending it down to Lagos to be replaced. Coincidentally that same day, BlackBerry services in Europe, Africa, and Asia were interrupted due to a core switch failure within RIM’s infrastructure. This interruption made it impossible to receive email, BB messages and browse the web.
Though the Blackberry internet service is gradually being restored, I can’t help but be somewhat amused at what my state of mind would have been if my BlackBerry hadn’t developed a fault during this period.
Massive Frustration!
I’ve gradually got so addicted to the damn phone that I simply can’t imagine carrying it about without connection to the world for 2 days. It suddenly dawned on me that without BIS, BlackBerry devices are no different from generic cell phones that can only make and receive calls as well as send text messages.
In my honest opinion, I think it’s about time that the folks at RIM worked hard on an OS update that would enable BB devices to function even when their servers go down. Right now, only a select number of BlackBerry apps can function without BES/BIS. The important functions like Browsing, Email, BlackBerry, and Social Network Messaging are tied down to BIS/BES.
My mind is now set on getting a backup smartphone with a sexy, sturdy email client, but all the available ones aren’t Dual SIM enabled, and I don’t like the idea of carrying around 3 phones. To my fellow BlackBerry users, how did you all make it through the 2 days of BB darkness?