Everything but the Kitchen Sync

The Blackberry Desktop Manager (BDM) has become my enemy, even as my new BlackBerry Curve has become my best friend. With my MPX220 Smartphone I used to be able to just walk NEAR the office and Bluetooth would sync to outlook - hands off automatically. If there were conflicts, my sync rules would handle them. I could be a good 30′ away and all was good. I have pulled up IN MY CAR outside my office and sync’d without getting out via Bluetooth and driven away. No kidding. I realize I could buy sync-over-web, but this has worked really well for me.

It really was sweet. But now, the BDM will not allow such luxuries. Not because of the hardware itself (it has far better bluetooth range than the MPX220 in fact) but because of problems (for me) in the user interface (UI) design on the BDM.

First issue….BDM’s designers have decided that they need to ignore the connection options chosen by users in the Windows Bluetooth control panels. Just because I have selected “do not confirm bluetooth connections” doesn’t mean they have to actually LISTEN to that setting choice, right? BDM ignores these settings and proceeds to confirm every attempted connection by my Curve. Showstopper for proximity syncing. Gotta click “OK” to continue. Physical Presence Required #1.

Second issue…The confirmation box at the end that boasts “Desktop Manager Synchronized Outlook for you!” kills further synchronizations and locks up my blackberry in the “Connected to Desktop” screen (as long as you’re in bluetooth range.) You mu st walk to the damn computer and dismiss it before the sync can happen again. Just release the connection and give the status another way!

The point of the Blackberry was to improve our productivity not to force us to admire the success of your software! Physical Presence Required #2. Proximity sync showstopper #2.

The hardware is sweet. The handheld software has been sweet. But Research in Motion should be ALL OVER the Desktop Manager team to fix these inexcusable Gaffes.

I’ll be psyched if someone can tell me that I’m doing something fundamentally wrong. You’ll get link love galore and I’ll have happy-day-yes.

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