textually.org: The shame and social estrangement of using a Blackberry

October 16, 2012

The shame and social estrangement of using a Blackberry

Rachel Crosby speaks about her BlackBerry phone the way someone might speak of an embarrassing relative. The New York Times reports.

“I’m ashamed of it,” said Ms. Crosby, a Los Angeles sales representative who said she had stopped pulling out her BlackBerry at cocktail parties and conferences. In meetings, she says she hides her BlackBerry beneath her iPad for fear clients will see it and judge her.

Research in Motion may still be successful selling BlackBerrys in countries like India and Indonesia, but in the United States the company is clinging to less than 5 percent of the smartphone market — down from a dominating 50 percent just three years ago.