Crackberry Withdrawal

Blackberry users around the world are simultaneously suffering from withdrawal as e-mail and messaging service glitches have entered into day two. The disruptions in service have affected people in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. So far, the United States and Canada have not been affected in the latest technical difficulties.

The disruptions began yesterday and continued today even after RIM announced this morning that the problems were resolved. Hours later the company offered an explanation for the continuing problems. A core switch failure within the company’s own infrastructure is to blame.

RIM has been losing its status as the corporate e-mail service of choice to other smart phones, in particular, the iPhone. The recent problems are not helping.

Social media today provides a number of outlets for consumers to voice their frustrations and for companies to communicate with customers. Blackberry’s latest disruptions have provided lots of buzz on Twitter and other internet blogs.

Phone companies sent out tweets about the issue:

TMobileUKhelp“Hi there Peeps, For all of our Blackberry users, please see here for updates regarding BBM issues today: http://cot.ag/r6di96 Thanks :-)”

Blackberry even took to its Twitter account to communicate with consumers:

BlackBerry“Message delays were caused by a core switch failure in RIM's infrastructure. Now being resolved. Sorry for inconvenience.”

Tweets referencing the iPhone:

esmeeworld“seriously why is my blackberry service still not working . want an iphone now grrrrrr.”

NickManghum“So I'm eligible for an upgrade to an iphone, but I don't think I can turn my back on blackberry...it just wouldn't be right! #iheartbbm”

Gally_7“Just ordered the new iPhone 4s , blackberry another person down .. #teamiphone”

Many Blackberry customers have tweeted about the rivalry between the iPhone and Blackberry, some expressing their interest in switching over.

The desperate tweets from Blackberry users reveal just how much people really identify themselves as either Blackberry or iPhone users. They also reveal how much we rely on e-mail and messaging services. Two days of disruptions have left many people questioning their loyalty to Blackberry.

Do you think we rely too much on our smart phones?

Are you a Blackberry or an iPhone user? Would you ever switch over?