Letters

BlackBerry Blues

Overpaid SESers might want to take their BlackBerrys on vacation (BlackBerry Jam, Nov. 1, 2004). But I believe, and most mental heath experts agree with me, that vacation is time to rest and refresh away from the office. I know of no government employees who are so important that they cannot be away from the office for a few weeks without the government or their agency coming to a halt.

A BlackBerry is a good tool, but if misused can cause family and heath problems that cannot be fixed.

The real story on the BlackBerry article by Alina Tugend, at least what I took to be the message, was that a personal digital assistant can come to rule your life. That is an interesting and valid point.

But in reality, it was not thoroughly or thoughtfully developed. I came away with the feeling that the true purpose was to tout PDAs as invaluable tools, and the BlackBerry as the preeminent and "coolest" brand available. We call this advertising, ordinarily. Ms. Tugend did mention that there are other PDAs, but without mentioning a single competing product.

One intriguing but unexplained or undeveloped comment was that only the BlackBerry allows data to be sent on a network of satellites and servers different from those used by cell phones. Other than that, it would appear that wherever the term "BlackBerry" was used in the article, a better term would have been "PDA." Am I missing something here?

I have no dog in this fight. I have on my desk an ancient Palm, which I've never mastered. I've considered buying one more current for my office and personal use, as a growing number of my associates are using them. I would have enjoyed and maybe benefited from an article comparing different brands, prices and capabilities. I realize that was not the purpose of this article. I wonder what its purpose was?

Sharing the Blame

It is heartwarming to see that some of the crooks are being caught, even when the sentence is less than that deserved (Toll Rises in Procurement Scandal, Nov. 1, 2004). The sad part of this is the current administration must take the blame for the crooks that were put in by a prior administration. The current administration should look at lots of the other appointments for potential problems.

Degrees of Uncertainty

I was astonished by the statement in "Cold Comfort," (December 2004), that "Employers should keep offices at a steady temperature of 75 degrees for best results" until I read more closely that the author used data gathered in Orlando, Fla. People in Orlando are accustomed to warmer temperatures. In Ohio, 75 degrees is OK in the summer when people tend to wear lighter clothing. But in the winter, when we wear clothing appropriate to the season and the temperatures outside, 75 degrees is uncomfortably warm.