My BlackBerry

For most young guys and ladies in Nigeria now, BlackBerry or BB as it is popularly called is the in thing. Anyone who does not have a BB as his/her phone or one of his phones is definitely not there. Na real wa!

BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) since 1999. They are designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more. They are primarily known for their ability to send and receive (push) email and instant messages while maintaining a high level of security through on-device message encryption. Blackberry devices support a large variety of instant messaging features, including BlackBerry Messenger

Blackberry cell phones are unique in that some of them have many features such as: a speakerphone system, broadband EV-DO wireless data, EDGE high speed wireless data, trackball, Bluetooth, a full keyboard, a hands-free speaker and EDGE high speed data. BB comes equipped. For instance, you can use it to take pictures and then immediately upload them to the internet. It can also play mp3 files and videos to provide you with entertainment while you are on the go.

However, despite the advantages of BB, the phone is turning some of us to something else. Some of us are so addicted to BB that we have no respect for sacred places anymore. I was shocked when I honoured an invitation to a church sometime last year and saw that BB has swallowed some hearts. I found myself at the gallery and I was dumbfounded at the way the young ones who deliberately sat at the gallery were completely switched off from what was happening around them. Why? They were completely consumed in the pinging syndrome.

What is this? I said to myself. Some of these people were so cut off from what was happening in the Holy place because they had their air piece firmly tucked in their ears and their eyes so fixed on the small screen while the ten fingers were fully occupied on the keyboard of the BB. They were seated in that assembly but they were locked up in their world of fun.

BB in all respect is good but when abuse sets in, then there is a need to watch it. Sometimes, lectures in classes do not make any meaning to us once our BB is on. For some of us who are gainfully employed, time management seem to have been erased from our dictionary as we are now deeply engrossed in our BB chatting or pinging.

The one that is so appalling is lack of restraint on our parts when it comes to the inappropriate use of this device. A guy was so occupied with his BB while walking on a major road that he almost collided with a woman who was walking on the same path. The woman had to quickly clap to let the guy know that he was not on his bed.

Sometimes, it is so annoying when you need the attention of someone may be a friend, colleague etc to attend to a matter urgently and the person forgot because he or she was just pinging. Is pinging actually a time waster? I think you are in the best position to proffer an answer to that.

I don’t know how factual this is, but a man once asked his friend if one would be able to do an effective work on the scriptures if one is deeply involved in the use of BB.

Like we stated earlier, BB is good but we should not abuse it. Time is precious and it is money, we shouldn’t waste it through irrelevancies that we sometimes occupy ourselves with. Moreover, let’s honour God; the few hours we spend in His presence will not debar us of the pleasure of our phone if we know how to spend our time judiciously.

May I sound a note of warning to us that we are indeed very precious to God and all our loved ones? So, let us keep away from using our BB when we are driving or walking on a major road. We don’t want to lose anybody now. “All lovely things will have an ending. All lovely things will fade and die.” Conrad Aiken; U.S. poet and novelist.