Blackberry addiction - a sign of email replacing from text messages?

Posted: 13 February 2009

A recent study, published to coincide with Living TV show Rehab, and reported by Mobileshop.com, has found that people in Britain list the humble Blackberry as one of their biggest addictions. This in itself is an interesting trend, but is it a hint of a deeper trend running underneath it? Is the success of the Blackberry range of mobile phones a sign that emails are taking over from text messages as the general population's method of choice for communication?

Before that question can be answered, it's necessary to take a look at the history of the Blackberry mobile phone, to see exactly where these email devices came from, and to take a look at where the Blackberry device is going.

The story of the Blackberry is one of the great success stories in the mobile phone arena. Their history, though, began in the world of business phones, where email is the most common form of communication between members of the workforce. Originally designed as a simple email machine, with a mediocre phone built in, Blackberry mobile phones gained a large foothold in the business market, a trend that continues to this day. It often seems that every professional carries a Blackberry phone, and their ubiquitous nature can be put down, predominantly, to one fact: throughout their whole lifespan, Blackberry mobile phones have provided the best email access of any mobile phone.

The reason for that is a technology called 'push email'. On the myriad phones that let you send and receive emails, most of them will have a send/receive button, which you press for the phone to download your emails. That's pull email. Push email is what the Blackberry range of devices specialise in, and that involves the email's immediately coming through to your phone, without you having to download them. How it does it is outside the scope of this article, suffice to say that receiving emails on a Blackberry device is exactly like receiving text messages on any mobile phone: it just arrives at your phone without you have to lift a finger.

That simple fact is the major reason for the success of Blackberry mobile phones, and why people become so addicted to them. But there's another factor that's elevated them from the status of business drones to highly sought after consumer devices. The design of Blackberry mobile phones and their perceived 'coolness' has grown exponentially, to the point where Blackberry devices are now seen as some of the coolest phones a person can own.

Two recent Blackberry mobile phones spotlight that design shift better than any other. The first is the Blackberry Bold, a phone that took a QWERTY format, and made it desirable, with features such as a leather-effect battery cover, and metal accents round the edges of the phone.

However, the main handsets that is an indicator of where Blackberry mobile phones are going is the touch-enabled Blackberry Storm, the first touchscreen Blackberry to hit the market. Its design is both sleek and functional, combining smooth lines and a unique screen that moves as the user presses down, simulating the action of a real, physical button, leading to such features as the virtual keyboard on the Blackberry Storm feeling like a real keyboard to type on. The simple fact that the Blackberry Storm is one of the most anticipated mobile phones to be released is testament to the immense popularity that Blackberry mobile phones now have in the marketplace. They've successfully made the transition from business devices, to must-have consumer items.

And so, we return to our original question. The rise of the Blackberry has been an unstoppable process, and Blackberry users, including the most famous, President Barack Obama, always state that they couldn't manage without one, now. But with the rise of mobile email, does it actually signal the end for text messages?

In truth, Blackberry mobile phones and the email they provide, are just the tip of the iceberg. Email is growing in popularity, but the user base for text messaging in the UK alone is enormous. In 2008, a study carried out by the Mobile Data Association suggested that in the UK, around 217 million text messages are sent every day, leading to a figure of around 6.5 billion text messages sent in a month, in the UK alone. The text message, a feature that really is everywhere, has been embraced by almost everyone who uses mobile phones, young and old alike, and although mobile email is on the rise, and will continue to grow more popular, it simply can't match the ubiquity of the humble text message. They're cheap (usually free, depending on tariff), they're incredibly easy to send, and an entire texting culture has grown up, with shorthand forms of words, known as 'txt spk', often being second nature to people away from their phones.

In conclusion, despite mobile email in general, and Blackberry mobile phones in particular, gaining in popularity every day, it will never replace the text message. The rise of the Blackberry mobile phone, with its incredible email service, has been phenomenal, but nothing can match the rise of the text message...