Is BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) a "Killer App?"

Doctor friends always complain about those annoying people at a cocktail parties with the shoulder that hurts. As it turns out, being a Smartphone guru these days may actually be a larger target to annoy. My brother's (an anesthesiologist) favorite answer is, “You should see a doctor about that!” Unlike a doctor, the advice of a Smartphone geek like me carries no liability exposure, so I can't wiggle out of “Which Smartphone is be best for me?” so easily.

After cover what they like and hate about their current Smartphone, the conversations now always turns to apps. Apps have long been my passion, and, yes, way before “mobile apps.” In fact, I gave a speech to an MBA class some years ago about “Killer Apps” and the characteristic that put an app in that category. The acid test that undeniably make for a “Killer App” is… “Would you buy a particular piece of hardware for the purpose of running that app?” The second criteria is similar but subtly different: “If not for that app, would the utility you get from the hardware you purchased be significantly diminished?”

In a number of recent conversation about selecting a new Smartphone, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was listed as a favorite app. Since BBM relies on the unique BlackBerry 8 character PIN number and the BlackBerry NOC, it is not available on other Smartphones. This caught my attention because in many conversations, the BBM app was turned out to be the pivotal factor for why someone selected BlackBerry over iPhone. In one case, I asked a friend if he was still seeing the same girl. He replied, “it’s strange, once she got an iPhone, we didn’t chat like we did over BBM!” Which in and of itself could make for a good mental health blog entry.

So for those that are unfamiliar with BBM, essentially it is an instant messenger from any BlackBerry in the world to any other BlackBerry in the world free for no additional charge. That is, regardless of if you’re and enterprise user or using consumer Gmail user, you can connect via BBM. Unlike SMS text message, BBM operates like a peer-to-peer IM session. Users can exchange text messages, pictures, short voice notes, files, and even hold a conference (like a chat room). By far my favorite feature of BBM is the check mark with the little “D” denoting the message has been positively delivered to the recipient.

Also, in these frugal times, especially for international communication, BBM provides substantial cost savings over voice of SMS conversations.