The Lure of Push Email and the Neutering of Blackberry
by Ewan Spence
For many businesspeople, the one indispensable bit of equipment they carry with them is their Blackberry Instant Messaging Device. Famed for it’s ability to keep you ‘always in touch; it has become a stable of American business life. And without it, many people feel as hobbled as Paul Sheldon in Misery; witness the fun and games when the server went out for 12 hours in early 2007.
A lot can be written about how useful having every email arrival alerted to you, making you able to react to circumstances. A lot can also be written on why you shouldn’t be checking and replying to email throughout the working day so you can get things done, but that’s a discussion for another time,
In every technology cycle (be it software or hardware) the change from a flagship item to a commodity doesn’t always mean that first mover advantage will continue to percolate down the change. What is of interest now is just how easy push email is becoming to implement by the end user. No longer is the option a Blackberry or nothing – the hardware is slowly being marginalised.
What’s important to most users isn’t how the messages get there; it’s that the messages have actually got there. With third party companies such as Dataviz promoting email sync packages, with Microsoft pushing Exchange support not only in Windows Mobile devices through the ability to use Active Sync over the air, but are also licensing this technology to other handset manufactures - notably Nokia, who are leveraging the Exchange / ActiveSync support in the E series Enterprise devices.
With a free hosted Exchange Server available to anyone who wants one at Mail2Web, and software to utilise the push mail features either in the firmware or available as a free download, instant push email is now available to anyone with a smartphone who wants it.
…and while that’s great news for the mobile ecosystems, it does mean Research in Motion have lost their killer feature. I hope that the devices continue to develop, but with very strong offerings (and market positions outside the US) the Microsoft and Symbian powered devices will prove a tough obstacle for any re-imagined Blackberry.
