"Some users in EMEA are experiencing issues. We're investigating, and we apologize for any inconvenience." That was the explanation that BlackBerry gave to its clients after 6 hours of no service. Last Monday (10th October) Europe, Africa and Middle East lost their internet service and when the people tried to call their cell phone networks for explanation they were directed back to RIM, the company that provides the phones with the internet.
The problem started in London, when one of the switches that sends the information accidentally broke. On Tuesday the problem seemed to be solved, but at 3pm it was back. It spread to Canada and two hours later USA users were suffering the same problems too. The issue lasted three days, and fortunately on Thursday it was completely fixed.
As a BlackBerry user I have to accept that I was kind of upset with RIM, but I also realized during those 3 days how much attached to those devices we are. The world was almost paralyzed and everybody was complaining about the “disaster”. The problem lasted 3 days, and a lot of companies lost not only money but a lot of time since the Blackberry is one of their main instruments, so I can also understand the caliber of the issue, but as I have already said, it is sad that nowadays we cannot live without those types of communication.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15270955
On the one hand, the problem with the BB service is that it is hugely important in the day to day schematics of global and national companies, whilst also being a key factor in our social lives; companies would struggle and people could not work with the same without it. However, on the other hand I also think we should not be too dependant on technology and it´s evident that, as a global network of businesses and societies, companies and it´s inhabitants have been able to communicate thus far, albiet with less ease.
ReplyDeleteAs a Blackberry user I have been very worried last week about the problems of internet services that Blackberry's had but also because the problem persisted and could not be solved right away and took 3 days to fix it. I think this is just the beginning of the end of the Blackberry era and therefore i won´t take much time moving on to iphone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Lucia. We do not know how to live without internet in our lives 24hours a day. As a "BB" user, I realized that too. However, since we have internet in our computer it was not too bad for me, but I was completly dissapointed because we were paying for a service that we did not have for almost two days. I hope to be compensate for this, but we have to change our mind and no to depend on Internet or cell phones all the time.
ReplyDeleteI am also a Blackberry user and have also been affected by this problem. It's stunning how this tremendous company can be so affected by the failure of the server. I believe these kind of companies should be able to predict and get ahead of these problems. Some people even joked on these issues as if they were Steve Jobs last wish. It's true that they are now trying to compensate for these "technical issues" (ana) but it doesn't take away the blame at all, and like Rafa, there are thousands of people that can't deal with these issues and have already moved to the other side of the spectrum (iPhone). Like you, Lucia, i have also realized how attached and vulnerable we become towards these "Crackberrys" and how important they have become in our daily lifes.
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