it's funny, the things that change.

I've only had the Blackberry Pearl 8130 for a few months. Upon purchasing it, I seriously wondered exactly how the conversation played out when the first engineer proposed the QWERTY keyboard on a mobile phone. How many people in the world could accurately recall the originally designated number for each letter on the standard telephone keypad and how would that affect businesses that advertise their telephone number as text?

Photo: Tech2

If I operate 1-800-FLOWERS, at what point do I begin to redirect my marketing to Blackberry [and all smartphone/alternative keyboard] users? It seems, at least to me, that it would be a major concern of mine if the name by which my company is known is no longer a contact, as it was [very clearly] designed to be. Granted, anyone who uses a Blackberry or any other internet-capable phone is certainly knowledgeable enough to point their browser to a page that features the contact number, or even order online, but the roadblock still exits -- or maybe 'detour' is more accurate.
It's pretty fascinating though to sit and watch such a long-standing business practice become instantly obsolete. I'm certain I wouldn't feel that way if I had invested millions of dollars to market my telephone number and name as one, but I haven't, so I do.