BlackBerry 7100 - The Ultimate Mommy Device

I am the ecstatic new owner of a BlackBerry 7105t through T-Mobile. I crown thee "The Ultimate Mommy Device". It's a smaller version of the regular BlackBerry. The main difference is that the keyboard is not the full QWERTY, but has fewer keys. This allows it to be smaller than the traditional BlackBerries, and more importantly - type with one hand. The keys are in the familiar QWERTY ordering, but up to two letters are shared per key. The amazing thing is that the text recognition software lets you type just as if each key had one letter and figures out what you meant to type. It works beautifully! See demo. Unlike the old PDA-sized BlackBerry, the 7100 series is more the size of a large phone; it's just small enough to fit in your pocket. This device has had such an impact on my life, I'm referring to prior days as "before BlackBerry", or "BBB".

Why should such a "techie" device win the "mommy" crown? It's the one-handedness. As a mommy, I never seem to have two hands free. It allows me to stay on top of my email or look at my calendar or tasks while nursing, holding the baby, or pushing a stroller.

BBB, there were days that I just couldn't get around to sitting in front of my computer long enough to get through the day's email. I'm now turning those small snippets of time (let's face it, small snippets are all you get anymore) into productivity. I can now sit comfortably on the couch and hold HB while composing and sending email. Just breastfeeding time alone gives me 2 hours (4x30 min) for email per day! Within 2 days of getting it, I am completely caught up on the heinous backlog of email that has been accumulating since HB was born!

In my pre-mommy days, I was almost always in front of my computer and never missed reminders for important tasks or appointments. As a mommy, I was constantly missing the reminders. The BlackBerry gives me my reminders back! It syncs seamlessly with my calendar and task list in Outlook. I'm acting less like the "mommy brain" zombie that I have become. Seriously, this thing is taking pounds of stress off my shoulders.

Several times, BBB, I accidentally forgot my handwritten shopping list (that was sitting right on the table next to my keys!) and came home to realize that I had forgotten several key items. No more! Now the shopping list is right on my device. Today, I was at Target, pushing a cart, wiping drool from HB's cute little mouth, and scrolling through my shopping list with the other hand. Then I answered two emails while in line at the coffee shop while HB slept peacefully in her stroller.

Oh yeah! Did I mention that you can access Google maps on the BlackBerry?!? And all your pictures on Flickr! I am completely enamored!

P.S. The final kicker is that the T-mobile unlimited internet plans are quite reasonably priced.