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prospective mba
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 09:36
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Is acquiring a blackberry or email accessible phone necessary in bschool?
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 10:59
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prospective mba
Is acquiring a blackberry or email accessible phone necessary in bschool?
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not really, no, though its nice to have.
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 16:10
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I`m assuming the phone will need exchange support?
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 16:56
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Is acquiring a blackberry or email accessible phone necessary in bschool?

not really, no, though its nice to have.
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Rhyme, at Chicago would a Palm Centro work? I'm about to switch carriers and am looking to spend $100 or less for a PDA/Smartphone.
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 17:53
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An exchange capable phone is probably the best option in most cases. I actually get message faster wirelessly on my PDA than I do on my laptop, even when it is physically plugged into the network. Blackberries work as well, but users need to purchase some additional software (an enterprise license or something) and have the help desk register their devices. And I believe that many carriers charge more for blackberry data plans on top of normal internet access plans.

So either would work equally well, but an exchange capable windows mobile device would be cheaper. I have the Motorola Q9c and it's the best phone I've had in a while. I'm kind of a gadget freak, and I've had about a dozen different pda phones over the last couple of years, and this is the best by far. Of course, you should probably check with computing services at the school in question to see what platforms they support.

Regarding the question of whether it is necessary, the answer is no but it's really nice to have. I'm so attached I'd be lost without mine.
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 18:10
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I got a Blackberry Pearl for free :) and I know you can get it for less than $100. Its not as convenient as qwerty keyboarded BB but it is pretty convenient.

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Is acquiring a blackberry or email accessible phone necessary in bschool?

not really, no, though its nice to have.

Rhyme, at Chicago would a Palm Centro work? I'm about to switch carriers and am looking to spend $100 or less for a PDA/Smartphone.
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 18:47
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If you have a Nokia, then you can download and install mail for exchange - https://www.businesssoftware.nokia.com/m ... nloads.php

More appropriate for Internationals as the vast majority will have Nokias. USA is a strange market when it comes to phones ;)
I have it running on my N82, N95 and N81 (8GB) (i am a gadget freak too)


Likewise the same page gives you access to blackberry connect software for Nokia phones (E-Series devices).
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blackberry 22 Jan 2008, 23:42
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I haven't paid my own cell phone bill in at least 4 years. What's an email-enabled blackjack going to cost me in terms of service per month? I don't plan on buying a new phone unless I have to.
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 02:47
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That depends if you want push e-mail.

Totally unecessary to subscribe to a service unless it`s business critical. Pull e-mail should be good enough.
If it`s important, an SMS to check your e-mail is all that`s needed. Much cheaper in the long run.
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 07:00
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togafoot
That depends if you want push e-mail.

Totally unecessary to subscribe to a service unless it`s business critical. Pull e-mail should be good enough.
If it`s important, an SMS to check your e-mail is all that`s needed. Much cheaper in the long run.
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SMS to check email? I've never seen such service, and it would be ridiculously cost prohibitive here in the US methinks, most carriers dont' offer unlimited SMS for free... I think I pay $5 for 500 SMS a month.
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 12:48
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Being able to get email and respond to email based on the device (not web-based) is a major factor. In fact, I would say that it is the single most important thing to me. I would say that it is slightly ahead of actually functioning as a phone (if I had to carry a separate email-only device I would) and third would be the calendar features.

SMS based email, or SMS notifications for email wouldn't work. For a handheld to be effective, it must handle email seamlessly with my main computer. So if I reply to an email on my handheld, the record shows up on my main computer (possible through exchange and probably blackberry). I need to be able to access email when I'm offline (in a subway, on a plane, etc.) so web-based email, where you must log in an be connected to service just isn't that useful; and its slower as well.

As I hinted at above, once you know what it's really like, you never want to go back - they're not called crackberries for nothing. I guess it's kind of like a DVR. I never knew what I was missing, but since I started using it, it's really awkward to watch TV where it isn't available. When you get up to get a drink or go to the bathroom, you just automatically want to hit pause, and it just feels weird when you can't. Kind of the same feeling after you're exposed to getting and handling your email seemlessly.
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 13:48
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I haven't paid my own cell phone bill in at least 4 years. What's an email-enabled blackjack going to cost me in terms of service per month? I don't plan on buying a new phone unless I have to.
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Ever since I got a cell phone it was covered by my company. Its going to suck paying for it.
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 14:04
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I'm going to put off on the blackberry for as long as I can. I know how useful it is and how wonderful it'll be to have one. But I've also seen people glued to the BB, even while eating at a restaurant with their friends... that's bad. :shock:
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 19:59
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I think people are confusing what I am saying...

1) paying a service for Push e-mail is not worth it unless it is business critical.
2) Pull e-mail (like on your computer) is usually enough. In fact you can set up automatic retrieval on a lot of phones.
3) SMS only needed if the message is critical

All smartphones are capable of e-mail services. The blackberry connect sw install i posted allows a Nokia E-series phone to be used on a blackberry push e-mail service.

You will find v. cheap phones ( less than USD $50 unlocked) in EMEA and APAC with email capabilities as a standard.

The USA is a uniques market because the mobile operators (AT&T, Sprint etc.) have control of the market. A manufacturer usually has to make a deal with them to be able to supply their phone to the market. The rest of the world (except Japan which has a similar business model to the USA), are pretty much open.

The key thing with blackberries is their market positioning in the USA. The device itself is nothing spectacular. They garnered the market share through the introduction of push-email. Many devices are capable of this but now they have BRAND leverage in the business community.

Calendar functions are also standard in any smartphone, in fact compared to the phones i use (N82, N93i, N93, N95, N81 8GB), the blackberry lacks many features i often use.

In fact i would argue that it has less features than the Sony Ericsson P800 i used to use in 2002.
The key thing is whether you need a full QWERTY, or whether a bluetooth keyboard is preferred.
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blackberry 23 Jan 2008, 20:18
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NB: I'm not saying you shouldn't get a blackberry, but that you owe it to yourself to see what other options you have before you spend your $$$$
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blackberry 24 Jan 2008, 23:10
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kryzak
I'm going to put off on the blackberry for as long as I can. I know how useful it is and how wonderful it'll be to have one. But I've also seen people glued to the BB, even while eating at a restaurant with their friends... that's bad. :shock:
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Coming to school I used to look down on everyone who owned a phone which could do anything other than make and receive calls. I thought blackberries were the ultimate expression of 21st century slavery.

Fast forward 6 months, and I have smartphone (without e-mail, yet) which I sync to my outlook calendar and am considering getting e-mail capabilities. The main reason is that:

a) I'm unable to get updates on social events while away from home as most people tend to "blackberry" stuff such as: "afterparty at John's, apartment X", or "restaurant XYZ is closed, we are going to W instead" and need to call people to figure things out or be uninformed and waste lots of time.

b) People these days expect you to read e-mail fast. Unless you carry your laptop around, expect lots of follow up e-mails and several missed chances from being offline.

L.

b)
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blackberry 24 Jan 2008, 23:44
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good points L. oh boy... I'm going to be "enslaved" when I go to b-school... I've been resisting for so long :P
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blackberry 25 Jan 2008, 01:52
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for simple messages like that, people in Europe & Asia use text messaging :). You Americans are weird :twisted: :shock: :lol:

Anyhow, i forgot that the USA has poor access to a variety of smartphones. So i apologies.

You won't see me with a blackberry, because the devices i have are already capable of anything a blackberry can do + more :wink: (e.g. i use it as a camcorder)

https://hoi-sta.blogspot.com is my video blog (not b-school related) and all using mobile phones since Jan 2006 (2 years ago i had a phone capable of recording TV quality video)
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blackberry 25 Jan 2008, 07:15
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https://hoi-sta.blogspot.com is my video blog (not b-school related) and all using mobile phones since Jan 2006 (2 years ago i had a phone capable of recording TV quality video)
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You had a 3 CCD camera phone capable of recording at 480x720 at 30 fps that also didn't suffer from chroma subsampling?
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blackberry 25 Jan 2008, 08:12
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lepium

b) People these days expect you to read e-mail fast. Unless you carry your laptop around, expect lots of follow up e-mails and several missed chances from being offline.
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I will do just that. I mean, it's a business school WLAN should be omnipresent, no?
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