Despite being considered by many as a developing country with roughly 50% of its people still living under poverty line, Indonesia also happens to be a haven for tech companies to introduce their newest gadgets. Nokia & RIM have been known to launch their latest handsets in Indonesia, even before they come out in their respective home countries.
This trend can be partially attributed to the "trendsetter" mentality of Indonesians, or to put it correctly, some of its richest people. They equalize having the latest gadgets as achieving high social status. Spotting a BlackBerry (BB) Torch when all your friends are still using Onyxes will give you bragging rights. Pulling out an iPad from your duffel bag to take notes in class will guarantee astonished looks from the cutest girls in campus. A good start to get you laid in no time.
That is all true and good. But how many of those gadgets have veered from their original intended use when they fall to the hands of Indonesians? BBs, which was initially designed to facilitate secure communication & data transfer between military personnels (and eventually, consultants and investment bankers), are now being used by middle-aged housewives to gossip, lonely husbands to cheat, and teenagers to chit-chat. iPads, designed more to surf the web, read e-books, watch videos, and listen to music, are now being manhandled by toddlers & kids playing Angry Birds.
The misuse does not end there. Probably the most blatant and utterly-unimaginable failure is where people (yes, I am still talking about our fellow Indonesians..) use BB handsets but never activate their BB service! They only use it to make calls, send text messages, and occasionally take snapshots. WoW. I have always believed that the only power BB has over the rest of the handset world is its BB Messenger (BBM) service. The rest of its features, other handsets can do much, much better. Nokia reigns in its ease of use. Apple & the Android phones beat the crap out of BB in terms of multimedia & range of applications. Personally, if those other brands can do BBM.... I would never want to use BB handsets due to their inferior features.
So back to the real issue. Why would these people use BB handsets but do not activate their BB service, which renders the handset useless, in my opinion? It's like shooting blank semen with no sperm in it. I can think of several reasons:
1. They received the handsets as gifts, did not know how to use them, and ended up using them as conventional cell phones,
2. They are too cheap to activate the BB service,
3. Not too many people in their friends network use BBM.
4. They fear the complexity of using BBM, and resort to use the handsets conventionally.
I have known 2 people with such condition, and I am confident there are more out there. They both belong to the above-50 age group, so maybe reasons #2 and 4 apply. All in all, they seem happy with their pattern of use.
Whatever the reason, we can confirm one thing: BB handsets in Indonesia is as much a status symbol as they are communication tools. As long as you hold a BB handset in your hand, activated or not, you can walk with more swagger, head up, chin up. And that girl on the next table is just a smile away from noticing you. And your brand new, shiny, luscious red BB Torch you bought on Valentine"s day.
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