The Canadian manufacturer of the BlackBerry blamed a minor software upgrade for a systems outage that disrupted e-mail service to eight million BlackBerry owners in North America earlier this week.
Research in Motion, the manufacture of the Blackberry family of wireless email devices said the outage from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning was triggered by “the introduction of a new, non-critical system routine” designed to optimize the temporary memory on the computer systems that run the BlackBerry e-mail network.
BlackBerry users faced 10 long, data-starved hours after technical problems hit their cherished wireless email service. The blackout was grueling to many and revealed just how dependent so many people are on their pocket-sized electronic lifelines.
As BlackBerry users fear the next “incident,” BetUS.com, the largest and most successful sportsbook on the web, posted odds.
"The blackout really showed how dependent everyone is on technology,” stated BetUS.com spokesman Reed Richards. “For 10 hours people got to live a world without e-mail, Internet and cell phones, and they could not handle it.”
Analysts at BetUS.com posted the following odds on the BlackBerry blackout:
When will the next Blackberry/Rim national outage occur?
Before 11/30/07 – 2/1
After 11/30/07 – 1/3
Will any of the following be ousted/quit their Jobs at Research in Motion Ltd:
RIMM before 12/31/08
Michael Lazaridis (CEO) – 10/1
James L Balsillie (CEO) – 3/1
Dennis Kavelman (COO, CFI) – 3/1
