The simplicity of mobility

I’ve been spending a lot of quality time with my BlackBerry this week. Although I’ve owned mobile devices powered by virtually every kind of pocketable operating system you can imagine, the stripped down simplicity of BlackBerry’s design philosophy is starting to win me over. A few observations:

It doesn’t do everything. It only claims to do some things – like push-based e-mail – really well.

Its battery won’t die by lunch if you forgot to plug it in overnight. That’s because it isn’t overloaded with every feature known to humankind.

It works well one-handed. I know this sounds silly, but when I’m juggling a 7-year-old’s booster seat and a wiggly puppy, I don’t have extra hands to play with a stylus or navigate a clunky interface.

It’s quick. Looking up an address is immediate. I don’t have to stand there for 30 seconds wondering if the device crashed again.

So by replacing my older wireless device that was practically bursting with features but couldn’t really manage anything all that well with one that chooses instead to focus on doing a few things exceptionally well, I’ve become much more adept at using the thing as a real business tool.

I can’t help but wonder if the simplicity of my newfound wireless buddy doesn’t also hold lessons for the other aspects of my business life. Simplicity…I think I need to mull that concept around a bit more.

What do you carry with you when you leave the office?