Blackout? BlackBerry to the rescue

The last dying gasps of Hurricane Ike were strong enough last week to knock out power here in Ohio for four days. As a confirmed electricity and Internet addict, I found the thought of going cold turkey (and warm beer) terrifying. Thankfully, I had my Blackberry to nurse me through this crisis.

How did I use Research in Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) gem? E-mail is a given. I was able to keep up with the normal flow of jokes, funny video links, cat photos, and occasional work-related messages. I had loaded the new AOL Messenger for Blackberry a few days before, which worked flawlessly, so I could also keep in contact with our writing team by IM.

I'd already uploaded a nice playlist of tunes, which helped fill the silent hours. The mobile portal for YouTube offered video entertainment if I wished, although the connect speed wasn't as fast as I would have liked. I kept up with the news via the web browser and the electronic version of WSJ.

I also used the screen as a flashlight. The most interesting use, though, was as an e-book reader. I can't go to sleep without reading for an hour in bed beforehand, and my flashlight-and-book routine didn't work so well. The alternative? I bought a novel (Running Blind by Lee Child) from MobiPocket and read it on my phone screen. With a blue background and white text, I found the text very readable and less tiring on my eyes. Nothing like snuggling down in bed with a good phone.

Now if I could only get my BBerry to do laundry, chill beer and write blog posts, I would never fear a power outage again.