Put away the Blackberry!

If you are in a position where you have to say, "I even annoy myself," you must really have a problem. That's what Milwaukee attorney Reince Priebus recently said in an interview with the Business Journal.

I love my gadgets too, but for many users of the Blackberry (often affectionately called a Crackberry) it is creating too many distractions at work and at play. It used to be that your clients called your office during regular business hours. You dealt with business issues then. Now clients, bosses, and co-workers have access to you practically 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And it's annoying.

Even more annoying? Someone whipping out their Blackberry while you're talking to them or in a meeting with them. Banging away on the mini-keyboard with their thumbs while you're trying to have a conversation is not exactly polite. It seems like we're going to need to teach people some manners when it comes to the Blackberry. Really... is any message so important that it can't wait another 15 minutes until we're done? The Business Journal's survey of 600 readers found that 48% think there should be a Blackberry ban for all business meetings.