Autocorrect Off

I owned a BlackBerry during 2007. I loved it. Having finally realized that the phone was not the thing—email was—I wanted to be connected all the time. It was not pretty but it worked. It kept my contacts, my calendar and a few other things. I customized the alerts to make a simple Star Trek beep when notifications came in. And, like one of Pavlov’s dogs, I would bring it out whenever it chirped.

Then came the iPhone. My BlackBerry was quickly discarded and I had a new object of love. Indeed, I did not give that whole episode much emotional reflection until I read Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. The book made me realize what I, personally, and so many others owe BlackBerry. BlackBerry, or as it was known throughout most of its history, Research in Motion (RIM for short), pioneered the mobile data revolution...