Several weeks ago we purchased the Blackberry 7230. This calculator-sized device is popular in the States, but has only recently become available in New Zealand. In a nutshell, it is a mobile device that allows you to read and reply to emails wherever you are – in a taxi, an airport, a meeting (guilty). Given that I’ve had 9 trips to Auckland and Christchurch in the last three months the killer application for me was having access to email while travelling.

It didn’t take long for dependence to kick in. The trouble is that the “quirks” of any interface just become plain annoying when you use something all day, everyday. (Usability practitioners are forever cursed. We’re like a musician who goes to a gig and can’t help but notice every off note, slightly too early high hat). There are a number of problems at different interaction levels.

The biggest issue is that the Blackberry is an email retrieval and response tool, with a phone and calendar tacked on. This device convergence is no more apparent than with the latest breeds of mutant phones that are part camera, part music player and part super computer. Apparently, you can also use them to ring people. I don’t know if I’m 100% convinced that convergence is the way to go. Often devices that are designed for a single purpose are more elegant and ultimately more usable. The problem with the Blackberry is that it is a great email tool but a substandard phone. The number keys are small, you look and feel ridiculous holding the phone up to your ear, and it has very poor integration with the SIM cards that are normally used to store contacts on most mobile phones (which is especially annoying if you have 120+ numbers saved to your SIM card like I do).

At the hardware level, my biggest gripe is with the backlight button. Ironically this button, which presumably you would only use in the dark or in lowlight conditions, is very small and fiddly. This is a persistent problem as I fumble in the dark every morning when my 6:30am alarm goes off.

Then there are software problems: It is difficult to discern the difference between the icons used for text messages and emails. Scrolling through options in the home screen doesn’t wrap (returning to the first icon when you move past the last icon). All the text, voice and email messages you receive and send are lumped together in one great big list.

Don’t get me wrong, the Blackberry is a great tool. I love the way that it displays text messages as a threaded conversation. The QWERTY keyboard is allows me to type far faster than both my Palm and cellphone keypad. And the killer app, having email on the go, outweighs the clumsiness of the interface. I guess I’m just a classic early adopter – willing to put up with the idiosyncrasies of a new technology because the benefits outweigh the frustrations.

Trent