blackberry

A hand-held device which serves as a cellular phone, personal organizer, wireless Internet browser, speakerphone, long-range digital walkie-talkie, and mini-laptop which can send and receive email from just about anywhereThis status-game also extends to the hierarchies of corporate “roll-out” of BlackBerrys –to the issues of who has one and who doesn’t. Becoming part of the BlackBerry tier, however, brings its own status-anxieties: now your boss knows you have a BlackBerry, he or she will be expecting you to use it properly,i.e. instantly, constantly. Here’s how reporter Janine Gibson captured this: The “tiered roll out” … common to every organization that gives BlackBerrys to its staff means that anyone who is likely to send you an email at 11pm or at the weekend is senior to you. And they know you’ve got a BlackBerry. If you don’t respond swiftly then you don’t care enough to check. Over a period of weeks, this can result in two symptoms:paranoia and obsessively speedy reactions. The culture of the company you work for has already changed at “higher tiers” without you realizing, and now you are part of it.