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BlackBerry blackout?(San Antonio Express-News (KRT)) Dec. 27--So deep is the addiction that people call them "Crackberries." By offering instant e-mail communication in the palm of one's hand, the BlackBerry has become the latest electronic device that many business people say they just can't live without. But due to a high-profile patent suit, almost 3.7 million U.S. users now face the prospect of doing just that. The suit against BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has the potential to shut down the company's U.S. wireless e-mail service next year -- unless the suit is settled or the company prevails in court. RIM and its rival, NTP, have been in litigation for four years over patents for the popular device. BlackBerry users in San Antonio said they've been following the dispute, but few have made contingency plans in case their devices go black. Most said they're just hoping for a quick resolution so they can keep using the service -- something they've come to depend on in today's fast-paced, round-the-clock business environment. "You can't get caught using them in the courtrooms, but people do," attorney Phil Freeman said. "You've got to be 24/7 anymore, and certainly in a practice like mine, the BlackBerry's about the only convenient way to do it." Freeman said neither he nor colleagues at firm Jenkens & Gilchrist have made much effort to locate alternate devices. Like other BlackBerry users -- a group that includes politicians (President Bush among them), doctors, lawyers and CEOs -- Freeman doubts the patent dispute will end up shutting down the service. Though few industry observers think a shutdown is imminent, or even all that likely, a BlackBerry blackout would impact some of the nation's largest corporations. Here, for example, AT&T Inc., USAA and Toyota Motor Manufacturing officials all use the devices to stay in touch on the road. Officials with RIM, of Waterloo, Ontario, have met with larger customers and assured them that the service will most likely continue uninterrupted. But San Antonio users said they've had little news about the devices that hasn't come from the newspaper or the Internet. "I'm just convinced that's not going to happen," said Rob Finney, a San Antonio lawyer and BlackBerry user. "Too many people, from business leaders to political leaders, depend on these things." Finney, an attorney at Loeffler Tuggey Pauerstein Rosenthal, said he has made no attempt to locate other vendors providing a similar service. Although RIM faces competition from other portable gadgets such as Palm Inc.'s Treo, the BlackBerry has become practically synonymous with wireless e-mail. RIM last week said third-quarter profit rose 33 percent, beating analysts' estimates and soothing some shareholder concern about customer defections. Many users say they've taken a look at competing services and just aren't interested. The BlackBerry gets constant streams of e-mails, while others require users to log in each time they need to check messages. "It's fast and works in so many countries," said Frank Holmes, CEO of mutual fund firm U.S. Global Investors Inc. "I can whip out my BlackBerry in South Africa and send a message to one of my analysts here in San Antonio. It's just phenomenal. There's nothing else on the market quite like it." About 25 of San Antonio-based U.S. Global's analysts and top officers carry the devices. Even so, some corporate buyers are putting off their purchase of new wireless e-mail devices to see how the lawsuit plays out, analysts said. And competitors such as SEVEN Networks and Good Technology have said in recent weeks that the uncertainty about BlackBerry's future has boosted their sales. "It seems like we're looking at the kind of game that can be called at any time," Atlanta-based telecom analyst Jeff Kagan said. "If the game does get called, there will be quite a few people scrambling to find other options. Mobile e-mail is exploding, and it's not going to go away if BlackBerry goes away." Indeed, market research firm Yankee Group estimates that the number of U.S. wireless e-mail users will jump to 25 million by 2010, from 5 million. "If BlackBerry does go away, I suppose there are other devices we'd have to explore," attorney Freeman said. "It would almost be like not having a phone. It's essential anymore, an essential part of doing business." |