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BlackBerrys: So Easy A Caveman Could Do It

There's a reason why Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices posted strong results in an enterprise survey. They work. They're simple to use. And they don't throw their users into an existential identity crisis.

I don't know about anyone else, but I find those Geico.com commercials featuring cavemen to be humorous. Whoever thought them up must have been fans of the old Saturday Night Live Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer skits with Phil Hartman. Either way, RIM could almost adopt them as their own.

The first time I was assigned a BlackBerry was a couple of years ago. After the IT administrator walked me through the enterprise activation, everything else was a snap. RIM makes them so intuitive to use that anyone can figure them out in about 5 minutes. Including cavemen. Aside from delivering an unending stream of e-mails to your hip, they also run a host of third-party applications that let enterprise workers be productive when out in the field. So, it's no big surprise that enterprise professionals rank them highly.

I have to take exception with one aspect of the survey, though. The study mentions that BlackBerrys and smartphones made by other manufacturers haven't penetrated the rank and file employees too well. It goes on to say that BlackBerrys remain the working tools of C-level types, as well as IT workers and sales staff.

My question is, why would the rank and file need one? If they're not mobile workers, if they remain at their desks from 9-5 every Monday through Friday, there's no apparent financial or business incentive to be gained by providing them with 24/7 access to their e-mail.

RIM and its competitors man not have convinced every enterprise employee on earth to use smartphones yet, but I don't think they need to.

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