Digital Dash

Call me Zomboss. I am neither human nor animal. But I used to accompany a human everywhere even in the mountains and even in bed. Neither am I a fictional character nor a historical figure. But I have been a great part in technology’s history—for I am one of man’s best products of ingenuity.

The good ol' days: When I was in tip top shape. Photo by Patrick Oliveros

Once upon a time, I was the smartest. Once upon a time, I had the most stars in reviews. Once upon a time, I was the most desired gadget of this blog’s owner.

And oh yes, I met her expectations. Before the netbook era and before tablets became man’s favorite object to swish-woosh-touch, I was one of the few you could “touch.” Before accelerometers and gyroscopes made it to simple devices for daily use, I stood out in the crowd.

But apparently, the trends have changed. Moore’s Law has pushed technological advancements. And I was pushed back and left behind until I had to retire:

So the quest for another smart phone for this blogger began. I saw her candidates: the iPhone, Samsung, BlackBerry and even my descendant whom I am very proud of: the Xperia.

But only one stood out. I knew how much she fancied my Qwerty keyboard, my Wi-Fi capability, my simple block form, and my ability to let her read her ebooks even when the lights are off.

Hence, she picked the BlackBerry.

Black-colored and simple, it looked like a typical handset with a Qwerty keyboard. Black and bland, but it outsmarted me.

I loathe every semiconductor that make up its genetic code. The BlackBerry made me look like a chimpanzee, while the black and bland thing looked like a Homo sapiens sapiens.

The Multi-tasker

Unlike me, this smart phone, which she dubbed StrawBerry, is really capable of doing what a “smart” gadget can really do: Perform multitasking well.

She can check her personal e-mail while Jon Schmidt plays in the background. She sends and receives Gtalk messages to family and friends while her phone alerts her of incoming SMS, too. She can connect to WLAN while she jots down quick notes.

She dragged and dropped Harry Potter movies and astonishing Jon Schmidt videos to the gadget when it was connected to her netbook, as if the phone was just a flash disk. But there’s more to the BlackBerry than its memory: It played her videos, too!

The Jack of All Apps

In addition to providing messaging and office applications, the smart phone blended well with her lifestyle. She got the chance to lay her hands on a GPS-enabled BlackBerry Bold, which allowed her to track her run training through a free application called Endomondo.

With a smorgasbord of applications, the BlackBerry offered her countless possibilities at her fingertips: a dictionary, PDF reader, a translator, a BlackBerry Protect app, expense tracker, and even a calorie counter. But its camera doesn’t provide digicam-quality images like yours truly.

BlackBerry means connectivity.

Wi-Fi-ready and Bluetooth-enabled, this handset seriously meant connectivity. However, the phone lacked an FM radio.

And that is just odd. A few years ago, a chipset that bundled FM radio and Bluetooth had been released. My feeble processor is wondering why RIM didn’t consider that. Perhaps it was meant for low-end phones or smaller-footprint devices.

Nonetheless, you won’t miss out on the latest news and music if you stay tuned in via Twitter, which can also be available to BlackBerry users through different Twitter apps.

Hence, to stay connected while allowing diversity of applications on-the-go, I must admit, cross me out of your list and consider BlackBerry. My maker doesn’t even have software upgrades of me anymore!

But if you want quality images, don’t rely on us, smart phones. Consider a DSLR.