The TV game show phrase is acquiring a new meaning, with young urban Indians deciding who to communicate and bond with depending on the gizmos and services they use. Blackberry Messenger and Apple's new chat feature are, besides making SMSing redundant, creating technological communities that are set apart by the services their loyalists swear by. Sowmya Rajaram tries making sense of technology inbreeding
The TV game show phrase is acquiring a new meaning, with young urban Indians deciding who to communicate and bond with depending on the gizmos and services they use. Blackberry Messenger and Apple's new chat feature are, besides making SMSing redundant, creating technological communities that are set apart by the services their loyalists swear by. Sowmya Rajaram tries making sense of technology inbreeding
Best friends Rahul Nanda and Adrian D'souza haven't SMSed each other in over a month. Calls have reduced to a trickle in the last three weeks. It's not what you think. The fallout of a pow wow over divided loyalties over the FIFA World Cup, is not exactly the reason. It's just that BBM has taken over their lives. And friendship. 
Rahul and Adrian laugh over a joke sent to them over BBM. Texting and
calling have become redundant for the duo, who now communicate almost
entirely over BBM. The plan to meet at Candies, one of Bandra's most popular
cafes, was also made over BBM. PIC/ Vikas Munipalle
For the uninitiated, BBM stands for Blackberry Messenger, Blackberry's instant messaging feature. Get with it, fuddy-duddies.u00a0
When George W Bush made his infamous "if you are not with us, you are against us" speech in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks... on the World Trade Centre in New York, he didn't know he was gifting technological communities a fitting phrase.
iLove
Don't believe us? Check this out. Loyal fans of Apple, a brand long known for the extreme allegiance and insularity that characterises its products and faithful users, now has a dating site exclusively for Apple users.
Called Cupidtino, the dating site was launched simultaneously with the iPhone 4, and professes to help you find love among similar fruit lovers.
Call it snobbery or what you will, but site founder Mel Sampath believes diehard 'Machearts' often have common creative professions, and not to forget, terminology that is the stuff of lovely-dovey texts exchanged over iPhones. Calling these "fundamental enough reasons for two people to meet and fall in love", Sampath has launched what may be the first formal clique of geeks in love with white Apples, although it still has to get any official endorsement from Apple itself.
And if that's not enough, the site runs only on Apple products -- the iPhone, iPad and Safari browsers.
Somewhere, we hear Steve Jobs chuckling in delight.
Thumb buddies
He is not alone. The popularity of BBM, we are sure, has head honchos at RIM (Research in Motion) laughing all the way to the bank. After all, it's not every day that a service shows a 500 per cent jump in usage in one year, says Satchit Gayakwad, RIM India spokesperson.
It's not difficult to see why. "I believe consumers look for convenience at a cost, rather than the need to belong to a brand. When that convenience epitomises service, it rubs off on the brand, and that's exactly what has happened with Blackberry," says Rammohan Sundaram, founder, CEO and MD, NetworkPlay.in.
Gayakwad agrees. "It's live and it's in real time. Humans are social by default, so when a tool that enhances social ability and interaction comes along, we are quick to latch on to it. That's why BBM is wildly popular."
That's probably why Nokia, that ubiquitous, honorary cell phone company that most Indian users still continue to patronise, has jumped the bandwagon too.
In April this year, it launched its own Instant Messaging (IM) client that allows you to hook up as many as 10 email accounts and toggle between them to chat with friends independent of their devices, as well as a Nokia-to-Nokia chat client called Ovi.
Aimed at people who do not have an email account and would rather check mail over the phone, Ovi lets you create an email account in three easy steps, then chat, in real time, with another Nokia user. No minimising and maximising multiple chat windows here; simply sign into different accounts and toggle between them to keep in touch.
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Communities within communities
Clearly, if you are not part of one tech community, you are not cool. Avid BBM user and marketing professional Shilpa Shah has stopped texting non-Blackberry users almost entirely. "I can't be bothered to text them and wait for a response. I just call them. With BBM, information can be delivered quickly, and kept to-the-point."
Shah, who has been using a Blackberry for three years, doesn't think she'll change her brand. "BBM has made life simple, and technically, at no extra cost." The numbers speak for themselves. She says her texts have now reduced to between 100 and 150 a month, from 1,000 to 1,200.
Globally too, BBM has found about 20 million users. What's next? Matrimonial websites that conduct weddings over BBM and Ovi chat? We wouldn't be surprised.
Famous followers
Obama was addicted too
blackberry got its biggest endorsement when US President Barack Obama's 'battle' to keep his beloved handset with him even as he prepared to take office, made national headlines. "I'm still clinging to my Blackberry. They are going to pry it out of my hands," the then-President-elect had said, of the attempt to get him to surrender the device because of legal and security concerns. Presidential aides even spoke of the Blackberry addict's crisp, to-the-point emails sent from the device at odd times like 3 am, and his penchant for keeping up to date with the latest news and blog postings.
Apparently, 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland was so desperate to get his hands on the iPhone 3GS before it launched, that he walked into an Apple store in New York to try and convince the manager to get one ahead of time.
The handbook
Blackberry and Apple terminology for dummies
>>Alias: A small file that links to another item on the Mac hard disk, such as a folder, document, or application. When you double-click an alias, you open the original item.
>>Darwin: This is the core operating system on which Mac OS X is based. It is an open source software.
>>iCal: This is Apple's calendar application that comes with Mac OS X. It lets you create multiple calendars and sync them with other people.
>>Push Email: Always-on email that's delivered immediately over a Blackberry, like an incoming phone call.
>>BES: The full form of BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It is a powerful, secure email system that works with full wireless email.
The flipside
Technologically advanced communities devalue social interaction
"Although tech communities may give people a sense of ownership and belonging, they are devaluing social interaction. The hallmark of a highly technologically evolved society is that people become asocial and shy away from personal or emotional interaction," says ex sociology professor Nandini Sardesai.
They should be willing to pay for their protection
"In a social environment, it's important to guard user information. Consumers need to understand what best suits them, and how hooked they are to the social information highway. If they feel they can't live without it, they should be willing to pay for their protection. Else they can always go without it, right?,"
says Rammohan Sundaram, Founder, CEO and MD, NetworkPlay.in, about the privacy fallout of these technologies
The trend forecast
Wireless Internet will be big
"I believe firmly that data and related services through wireless Internet and Wi-Fi will become the next big thing in India with regards to communication. We are already seeing tremendous traction from Reliance Industries, who have now committed $4 billion in investments towards this cause."
Rammohan Sundaram, founder, CEO and MD, NetworkPlay.in.
Time is ripe for VOIP
"Applications that let you subvert the network service provider will be really big soon. I think the time is also ripe for an indigenous Voice Over Service Protocol (VOIP) service that, once again, lets you subvert the operator network, the way Skype does."
Sameer Pitalwalla, technologist
What makes it oh-so popular?
The cost-saving involved, as well as the threaded conversation mechanism, is what has made BBM popular. Plus, people need to belong to a cult that has a language of its own; the way Harley Davidson loyalists feel. Apple too, has a history of actually encouraging that sense of the brand as a symbol of your lifestyle.
Sameer Pitalwalla, Technologist, on the psychology behind tech snobbery and consumer cliques
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