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Email on the move

Still on gadgets, yesterday I met my former boss, and we were talking about the Blackberry device which he was recently issued with (I think Simon also has one). He was last seen walking away from the MTR station where he was supposed to be going, engrossed in reading his latest emails on this toy. Frankly, it seemed like a horrible idea, and brought back bad memories of my previous job where I wasted a lot of time on emails – especially because he used to be my big boss and is still with that organization.

He claims that it is a great help because he can scan his emails on his way to work and deal with the most important ones before he arrives at the office. It also works all over the world, which means that he is never out of touch with what is going on. I suppose that if you really are a slave to email, then it’s better to have the latest technology, but I can’t help thinking that something’s wrong if your life is so dominated by email.

One boss who apparently managed without email is Bernie Ebbers of WorldCom, and according to The Economist (subscription required) he has therefore not left much evidence relating to the alleged fraud at the company.

Back to the gadget angle, I see that the new XDA II mobile phone (sold by O2 in the UK, and 1010 in Hong Kong) will include Blackberry technology. I have to admit that I do like the look of that device, but if I were to buy a new phone/PDA it would probably be the latest Handspring Treo.

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2 responses to “Email on the move”

  1. Simon avatar
    Simon

    I do have one and it does come in handy, although it is another invasion of privacy by the workplace. I can use it to check emails on the bus to and from work, and given many of my emails are going to London or New York, I can check it before I go to bed and deal with things that usually have a one day lag due to time zones.
    It’s only a matter of time before it becomes fully incorporated into mobiles.
    It strikes me as ironic that the head of WorldCom, a massive communications company, never used email. Unless he knew he shouldn’t use it…

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  2. Chris avatar
    Chris

    Email can be very useful when you are working across time zones, and in my previous job I could access email at home and hence respond more quickly.
    I agree that email and mobile phones can amount of an invasion of private space, but the tricky part is figuring out when that is really essential (not very often for most people) and when it is just for someone else’s convenience. Do people wait till the last minute because they expect that they can email someone and get an immediate response.

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