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Palm-size pager taking over from the laptop
By Martin Bentham, Social Affairs Correspondent

A NEW email pager device which is already starting to replace the laptop computer for thousands of Americans and Canadians is to be launched in Britain.

The tiny handheld gadget, called the BlackBerry and made by a Canadian firm Research in Motion, allows users to receive and send full emails, rather than the abbreviated text messages available on mobiles.

It is only 4.5 by 3 inches, can be left switched on for 24 hours a day for a week before it needs recharging and is proving so popular in America that Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, has predicted that it will replace the laptop computer and mobile phone in the next few years.

The BlackBerry uses a wireless link to send and receive emails, enabling users to work, or chat, on the move. Among its famous owners in the US are Al Gore, the former Vice-President, and Bill Gates, the Microsoft tycoon.

The device has also become the "must have" gadget for workers on Wall Street. Goldman Sachs has predicted that such devices will soon become the "most critical piece of equipment" for executives, apart from the traditional office desktop computer. The bank said that the use of laptops in America was already declining as executives switched to the BlackBerry, and that the same fate was likely to befall the mobile phone.

The most famous BlackBerry incident occurred on the night of the US presidential elections last November. Mr Gore, the Democrat candidate, was about to concede defeat when he received a message on his BlackBerry from Donna Brazile, his campaign manager, telling him: "Never surrender. It's not over yet." Mr Gore responded by ringing George W. Bush to say that he was continuing to contest the result.

Initially, 175,000 BlackBerry pagers will be sold in Britain when the device, which will be operated in conjunction with British Telecom, is launched within the next few weeks. The cost is expected to be around £400.

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Answers

OK, 400 pounds is what, $550?

It sounds nice to have, but I'm always a little dubious when I hear claims that some New Economy something-or-other is going to replace what we're used to. The Internet did not replace bricks & mortar stores. E-mail won't replace voice conversations. and something with a tiny screen won't replace laptops with decent-sized screens. IMHO.

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

This is definely a wish, most americans like their home desktops. Thats why the tecks are having a problem.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2001