Every morning my day starts with my Blackberry’s alarm clock waking me up. I then pick it up, hit the snooze feature and try to get an hour more of sleep. Sadly, my Blackberry only allows me to have a ten minuet respite before it starts ringing again. Then I stare at it like a child that is waking his parents up for waffles, too early on a Sunday morning. As I pull myself together and reach over to stop the ringing, I see all the notifications from, my email address, my calendar, and Facebook. I know it is time to start my day. By the time I have brushed my teeth and I am entering the shower. I have checked all my emails and caught up on all the drama and nonsense which is my Facebook existence. As I sit in the tub, responding to my emails and Facebook correspondences, I notice how much I get done with my Blackberry on a daily basis. I check email, social networks, news of all kinds, I know my exact GPS location whilst I shower, everything and anything I need to know or get done, is at my finger tips. Oh yeah, I can even use it to make phone calls, what a nifty feature that is.

As I sat responding to all my text messages and other things, I started to make comparisons to other computers, and PDA devices I have owned in the past. My first comparison was my very first computer, a Commodore 64. Don’t judge me it was the early 80’s and the Commodore 64 was at the time, the pinnacle in home computing. I started to do some research to make a proper comparison and stopped once I realized that my Blackberry is far superior in every way. The Commodore 64 had 64k of ram and my Blackberry has 94mb of on board ram. Also it has a 225 MHz processor, my Commodore 64 have a measly, if not paltry 1.02 MHz. That being said let’s move forward to my first Compaq desktop computer.

My Compaq had a whopping 166 MHz processor, 16mb of ram and 3gig hard drive. This was 1996 or 1997. That system cost me a couple thousand dollars at the time and caused much mayhem in my home between my ex wife and me, it was truly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Still though my Blackberry defeats it easily, and to be honest, it crushes the thing. My Blackberry has a four gig micro SD card as well. I could easily install a 16 GB micro SD card in it, if I so choose to. That to me would be overkill, how many videos, songs, documents, apps, games etc, does one need? Not as many as one thinks, I am sure about that.

I also once owned a Palm Pilot in 1999. It was handy but had a green screen reminiscent from the old days of computers. It kept notes, addresses, names, phone numbers etc but, let’s face it; even then it was sort of annoying. With having to learn to write in Palms own alphabet, it was a tad silly. Backwards squiggly line and a dot meant the letter  D or, a forwards slash and two quick dots was, um whatever it was, it was annoying, so let’s move past this dinosaur of a device and journey forward, to the future! Um, by the way, we still do not have flying cars, we have not gone to Mars (2001 a Space Odyssey, anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Ferris Bueller?) Nor have we gone to Mars to see Jupiter become a second sun (2010 A Space Odyssey) and though entertaining, Soviet Russia is already gone. How could they not see this coming but, I digress, onward and forward!

Now, I have had many different computers since, that my Blackberry can’t compete with but, it does sync with them and play nice. So then again, it is powerful enough to keep my entire life together and organized. It plays nice with my other components at home and at my workspace. I can even print pictures directly to my HP Photosmart premium printer, via Bluetooth. I am sorry to say but, that is downright sexy to me. I have had girlfriends that couldn’t get along with my other female friends but, my Blackberry wants to play nice with everything and everyone, it can also be used as a telephone, amazing. I think I may be in love with my Blackberry. Its ok, I know it is not good to love ones possessions but, let’s be honest here. It gets along with my devices at home, it gets along with my friends devices via blue tooth, text messages, emails, Facebook, USB, telephone and I can go on and on! I think I should throw it a party or something, to just give it the recognition it deserves. Oh, did I mention that I can via Bluetooth or USB connect to my laptop and use it to tether an internet connection! Told you it is sexy! I wonder if it would like a Blackberry themed party. I am pondering if it would like to be registered at some electronics store? Ok, I am being ridiculous; maybe a Best Buy gift card will suffice.

My Blackberry also helps in all my domestic relationships as well too, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how. You see my older children love to text message and send me goofy pictures and call me at all hours of the day. So it helps us remain close no matter where I am in the country or, around town. It reminds me of dates I have made with my significant other and anniversaries as well. It keeps the peace in my life and for that I am very thankful, thank you Blackberry! XO Now back to business, there will be no tom foolery or loafing here Mr., Mrs., or Ms. Blackberry! I don’t know its sex or sexual preference because I respect its privacy.

I keep text notes, edit word documents, excel docs, audio notes, organize my schedule, send faxes, and look over PDF’s, I am able to email and forward my resume and headshots, and write and post blogs from it. It is in truth my mobile office in every way. I am truly at the mercy of this device! It even syncs with my Google account so I lose no information what so ever! My God! This thing has me in it hands and at its mercy! I am in the Blackberry Matrix and I have to say I am grateful!

By the way, for those of you reading this, if you’re going to use your Blackberry or any other PDA device in the shower, as I often do, here is my little secret. Now, I do not recommend this at all, nor is it the opinion of anyone else here at Dads on Tech but, I place my Blackberry in a zip lock baggy before I get into the shower. I make sure to remove all the air from it, seal it up tight and leave it on a table next to my shower, so I can hear it. Pathetic, I know but, it is and has become a necessary evil in my life.

At night, when I am out on the town traveling around to perform or meet with my agent or manager, it helps me find my way around and even suggests places for us to meet. It allows me to go over my notes and new material and be ready to perform. When I travel around the country, it is my GPS device, giving me turn by turn directions in such places as Minnesota, Oregon, Los Angeles, Florida, and Maryland etc. It also helps me find food, gas, movies, museums, art galleries, bathrooms, and even lets me know which places to avoid. All in all my Blackberry and me are the best friends we could be! Yeah that’s right I sampled a My Buddy commercial! Hey if president Obama can get elected by sampling a line from Nickelodeons Bob The Builder (can we fix it? Yes we can!) I can sample a toy commercials theme song.

Till Next time

Mark Anthony Ramirez

Resident Evil Comedian @ Dads on Tech.