(Approx. 566 words)

Soft Hardware from Otterbox!
By Judy Lococo, Program Director, Kentucky-Indiana PCUG, Kentucky
www.kipcug.org
programs(at)kipcug.org
Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Fort Collins, CO is a charming college town.  I know, I’ve been there, done that and have the t-shirt.  You would not expect to find a lot of businesses prospering in this relatively quiet town that wasn’t geared towards students and faculty.  However, I have discovered one that is worth further investigation, as they have some products that seem to be extremely useful in today’s global mentality.

After having been awarded a new 8700 Blackberry by Ziff Davis for participating in a webinar, I finally found the time to switch the cell phone to this device, and synchronize it with all the contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, etc. that has glommed onto me from years of Outlook usage.  But the holster that came with it seemed to always dial home, whether I needed to or not.  It seems that unless the keypad was locked when inserted into the holster, some of the keys along the side of the keypad were depressed, thus ET was phoning home without realizing.    

Enter Otterbox, from Fort Collins (http://www.otterbox.com)!  They have cases for a lot of different toys we now consider indispensable.  They have products for the Blackberry, for the Treo, for the iPod Nano, for laptops, etc., so it would behoove all y’all (I had to do that at least once…) to see what is available for your gadget du jour.  Not only do these cases stop the phone home syndrome (poetic, isn’t it?), but they are also shock-resistant, water-resistant, dust-resistant, scratch-resistant, and offer protection against extreme elements.   The most significant discovery I have found is that you can use all the Blackberry features while it’s fully encased in the Otterbox, such as the track wheel, the keypad, the escape key, etc!  And when you need to recharge the unit itself, a small plug removes from the side of the case to allow access, so you don’t even have to remove the case for this veritably essential chore.  

The company is very user-friendly, and seems to be perfectly accommodating, to ensure that you are satisfied with their products.  The black and gray color isn’t the most flamboyant scheme, but it will go with almost any wardrobe choices you have, and doesn’t call attention to what you are doing.  The molded rubber and o-ring seals are a bit on the bulky side, but really do provide an unbelievable amount of protection, and transform a fairly delicate instrument into something a lot more usable and carefree.  The Blackberry itself is not skinny, so just a little more girth doesn’t deter me from believing this is an extremely essential accessory, especially for less than $130.00 US.

I am one of those people who think hardware is boring, as all it does is just sit there & blindly obey.  But these superb soft hardware enhancements, that actually do what they purport to, without a lot of glitz and hype, aren’t at all boring.  They are practically a necessity.

Now, if they could only find a way to protect you from leaving it on the seat in the taxi!  

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).