The Story of the RedBerry

Howard H. Thaw writes "In my youniverse -- where I increasingly get to chose the devices I want, the services I need and customize them to my own specifications and standards - RIM offered me the BlackBerry device I wanted and needed - but that still only got me part of the way. Here's the story of my RedBerry, I hope it will inspire your own. According to Mathew Ingram, tech writer for the Globe and Mail in his column entitled Pimp Your Device this may very well be the world's only triple-coated and glazed Ferrari-red BlackBerry."

other DIY mods?

[yagu]

Okay, this is really cool! Can anyone point me to some DIY article that shows how to get a computer desktop or tower case other than beige?

</sarcasm>

FTA: There isn't a meeting that goes by - or a tradeshow, or media interview that someone doesn't salivate over my Red BlackBerry. As they brush their fingers over the glossy coat, there's a moment of hesitation before the inevitable question emerges: where did you ever get that from? And so the conversation goes.... Apparently I wasn't in any of the same meetings.

This isn't even not a story (apologies to Peter Woit).

Lame

[nEoN nOoDlE]

that's the stupidest article I've ever read. I'll save everyone a few minutes of their lives and summarize.

-People drool over my red blackberry
-I'm a free thinker and everyone else is an idiot
-I got a car paintjob on a blackberry case

I was thinking that the article was going to be about China's response [infoworld.com] to the blackberry but instead ot was just an idiot who discovered simple modding.

Re:Lame

[CodeMonkey22]

You beat me to it! I was going to say the same thing, but post this story [theglobeandmail.com] instead.
I say we blame scuttlemonkey for letting this slip through the cracks.
Bad (scuttle)monkey!

Re:Lame

[Praedon]

I have to admit.. I feel as though I lost about 10 I.Q. Points... You know, about 40 other stories were probably submitted about the time this came in... and for some god aweful reason, this was picked best out of all of them... I want my money back.

Re:Lame

[chris_eineke]

an idiot who discovered simple modding.

Wait, hold on! HOLD ON! I am confused now.

One slashdot (and engineering mantra) is: KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. And then you go on ragging on that guy for doing a "simple mod?"

Who the fuck are you? The Hypocrit?

Re:Lame

[MyLongNickName]

He painted a blackberry. And then he makes it sound like he is uber cool. If he were 21, I might be mildly amused. He is old enough to be a 21 year old's grandfather.

There is nothing amazing about this. It is not useful. It is not even cool in a geek kind of way. Superficial in the "look, mine is flashier than yours" without any added functionality, and without any real work on his end.

Next week: I will show how I modded my tennis shoes with drywall compound when I was doing my weekend house project.

Re:Lame

[OECD]

And then he makes it sound like he is uber cool. If he were 21, I might be mildly amused. He is old enough to be a 21 year old's grandfather.

Well, to be fair, I'm more impressed that Gramps is modding his crackberry than I would be by his grandson.

Not that this warrants a spot on slashdot, though. Next up, CowboyNeal mods his jeans with a ballpoint pen!

Re:Lame

[larry bagina]

nah, cowboi kneel modded his shorts brown and yellow.

Re:Lame

[Praedon]

Nah, Next week we will show you how to put the style back into your life with different colors of arthritis deep heating rub.And if thats not enough, we then show you how to mod/pimp your mobile scooter, so you will be the talk of the senior citizens home. (I am by far really a nice person, and I respect my elders, but some of these comments actually have a point about this article.)

Re:Lame

[thsths]

> -People drool over my red blackberry
> -I'm a free thinker and everyone else is an idiot
> -I got a car paintjob on a blackberry case

You forgot: "I have a midlife crises, and I want to make this perfectly clear."

This is sorta cool...

[ThinkingInBinary]

Sure, like the first few comments said, the writeup wasn't that amazing, and there's nothing that special about doing this. But it's still cool, nonetheless. As far as I know, nobody else has done this to a BlackBerry. If I were ever to get a BlackBerry, I would want it to be in a color other than black or navy blue. Perhaps RIM will take a hint and offer a choice of colors. (But all the corportate IT depts will buy the black ones, saying it's cheaper and easier to get the default color.)

*sigh*

[Skreems]

I had a clear vision of what I wanted: a shiny, triple-coated and glazed, Ferrari Red BlackBerry that would accessorize my personality.
-article

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking red-glazed blackberry.
-Tyler Durden

Re:*sigh*

[MyLongNickName]

Sadly, he probably is. Superficial people are impressed with sperficial things. People identify themselves rather quickly.

See? I have already identified myself as a jaded, cynical old man.

Its simple

[CrazyJim1]

You're just all jealous.(jk)

tacky

[painkillr]

looks like crap, but i guess he's happy enough

-1 Troll

[NosTROLLdamus]

Was this article posted on purpose to make everyone upset?

I thought this was about China's "Redberry"

[profet]

Silly me thinking this was actually an interesting article about China's Redberry platform. [infoworld.com]

LAME!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay, like everybody else I thought:

1. China's blackberry... that's an article I'd like to read!
2. No wait.. some powerful tech writer convinced RIM to custom-make him a blackberry with a red finish.. who is this guy, and how come I've never heard of him?

But... no it's some MOUTH BREATHER who painted his blackberry red and wrote a TWO FUCKING PAGE ARTICLE about it. Can I have the last 5 minutes of my life back please?

The quotes are entertaining though:

you can't miss me coming, with the unmistakable Ferrari-Red BlackBerry in the holster on my side. Why? Because I can!

Motherfucker's got a HOLSTER! BackDaFuckUp!

set out to create my own personalized, customized, [series of 1], non-conformist anything but Black or Blue Berry.

Nothing says non-conformist like a blackberry!

Pimp-my-ride, step-aside - there's a new Berry in town!

Yes, I am definitely getting the fuck out of your way, Mr. Awesome! (whispering) damn, with a blackberry like that, can you imagine how big his cock is? (/whispering)

There are rewards to loyalty. Mine just happens to be shiny and red. I probably broke every rule in the book, but now I have the BlackBerry I want, cherish and enjoy, each and every day... And for everyone that asks, I say "Credendo Vides" - Believing is Seeing.

Seriously, is this guy for real? I sense a motivational speaking career in the making...

"RedBerry"?

[Amerist]

He should have just called it the StrawBerry.

Re:"RedBerry"?

[stripe42]

Hahaha. Thanks, that made me laugh.

Re:"RedBerry"?

[dragondm]

Amusingly enough, when RIM was developing the device, it was infact, origionally named the 'Strawberry' ('coz of the shape of the keyboard, you see. The keys looked like seeds on a strawberry)
I think it was going to be red too. Then some marketroid decided that 'straw' sounded too much like 'slow' (?!!) and it was changed to Blackberry.

Boring...

[msuzio]

Sorry, I'm just not impressed by some dude who basically used his pull and contacts to get a nice toy. I mean, he didn't do any of this himself! He used the old-boys network to get his keen "mod". I'm not even saying he didn't get those contacts for a good reason -- if anyone frequented my business for 20 years, I'd hook them up too. But this is so irrelevant as /. material.

If we substitute "how I got some nice free golf clubs" for "Redberry", that would be about the same result, and just as boring.

Oh,

Gamecube

[CableModemSniper]

Does this mean I can submit my friends and mine gamecube to slashdot? It's got a two tone paint job and the controller ports have hotrod flames. We also changed the power led's color.

Lame

[acidrain69]

Boring. Lame. He modded a case. An easy one at that.

Here I thought this was going to be an article about the REAL redberry, China's rip off of the blackberry.

This is not newsworthy. Someone paints a case and thinks it is special. Well I have the only briefcase PC configured a certain way, because I built it. Put me on front page slashdot! I'm so damn special.

This guy couldn't even be bothered to get the equipment or learn to do it himself. He had to go to a body shop and have them do it.

Now it's my turn!

[brucewestfall]

If this guy can get a slashdottish number of people to visit his page because someone else painted his Blackberry, I can repeat what has already been said - WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!! Just how did this get submitted? I would much rather be lured to a page about cold fusion or Bigfoot. THOSE would at least be entertaining! But no, I had to read the whole STUPID thing, HOPING there was real substance...and now, this guy will be bragging about how 'Popular' the story was! Ahhh... Thanks for letting me vent.

WTF? Is slashdot going the way of Digg now?

[marcushnk]

What the hell is /. doing posting a lame arsed blog about a guy that made his PDA shiny red.

Someone point me to the /. replacement please, as this place is going to hell in a hand-basket.

Re:WTF? Is slashdot going the way of Digg now?

[velocipenguin]

http://www.digg.com/ [digg.com] :D

The real story here...

[barzok]

is that he got about $150 (maybe more) in free paint and labor out of a car dealer.

Errr.

[thelonestranger]

"Howard is co-founder and COO of Iotum Corporation, an emerging technology company based in Ottawa that is helping to redefine the web by "Bringing Relevance to Communications"

Because a red blackberry is oh so relevant and emerging.

"I probably broke every rule in the book"

Oh yeah, he's a real badass. Wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley would you?