iPhone – Yoojin Cho

One of the easiest and the best way for me to interact with REAL British people while abroad was through my internship, or as they call it over there, “work experience.”

During the second phase of BU’s Study Abroad Program, I had the opportunity to work at etv media group where I met some awesome people and learned a lot about the life of a small digital agency.

(www.etv.tv)

Just to clarify – since there really isn’t one simple word to describe the company, as a digital agency, etv takes on numerous projects involving new media, which can range anywhere from websites to TV shows to iPhone apps.

And as a work experience, I worked in various departments, thereby learning about different stages of a project.

My first big duty in February involved a lot of office work – sitting in front of a computer (unfortunately PC), researching, making calls, etc. to find the perfect news cutting agency to replace the current one.

I honestly don’t know much about the behind-the-scenes details of American PR agencies, but many marketing & PR firms in England employ news cutting services to track any articles or clips that mention the company name or its production/projects.

Obviously, what a useful service! Every morning, an e-mail with a list of all the stories or packages mentioning “etv” waited for me in my inbox. Then I got to read all about what people thought about our production. Neat!

To supplement my major, broadcast journalism, I also found myself in the middle of a studio where etv produced Thomas Cook TV. Unfortunately, I joined the company as Thomas Cook traveling agency decided to cancel its television shows, but I still found more than enough time to play with AVID equipments, autocue (prompter) and studio sets.

(How cute! Right?)

Once in a while, I would also visit the bigger studio in Battersea to watch the production of Gala Bingo – a live, late-night bingo show.

Yes, apparently people all over the UK can participate via web, and players do win quite a bit of money. I suppose it’s equivalent to Wheel of Fortune over on this side of the Atlantic?

Well, more importantly, Battersea is where I encountered the stress of a live production for the first time. Now I of course know and understand the significance of accuracy and punctuality, thanks to my current internship. Back then, however, I had no clue.

Moreover, the advanced technology of green-screen also amazed me endlessly. No need to design backdrops or mess with heavy sets. Simply program everything on your computer and drop the picture behind the presenter.

Toward the end of my work-experience period, I began to get more involved on web & iPhone projects, such as “Visit Britain” iPhone app, Harvey Nichols iPhone app and the come back of “Footballers’ Wives” in social gaming form.

Some technical details of constructing an app and building a website went completely over my head. Nonetheless, I’m happy I had an exposure to many different kinds of new (social) media.

I’m glad my role as an intern went above and beyond simply making copies, scanning documents or bringing coffee (actually, tea in this situation). Certainly I was sad to leave since I made great friends and had a fantastic time.

If you’re an avid smartphone user, we all know, at point or another, you sat down in front of your computer, looked up every single technology-related blog and contemplated, “iPhone? Or BlackBerry?”

(Photo Courtesy of another WordPress blogger, theophilusLondon)

Yes, Yes. It IS a tough decision – probably the trickiest decision EVER. Since BlackBerry Pearl, BB has been around a bit longer, but thanks to Apple’s wonderful reputation and my personal obsession with my MacBook Pro, iPhone is just as desirable.

Last month, due to my BB Pearl’s unexpected death – more precisely, battery gave out, I found myself in the midst of confusion, anxiety, nervousness and indecisiveness.

Do I take this chance to upgrade to iPhone? Or do I stick with BB?

Let’s skip to the end: I upgraded to… dun dun dun… BLACKBERRY CURVE, and I love it.

Why in the world did I stick with BlackBerry? Well… for many reasons.

1. I’m never leaving the Family Plan: Hello, I’m currently NOT paying for my phone, and because my family has been with Verizon for such a long time, I received my BB Curve fo’FREE. Additionally, we get 20% discount on accessories – yes, I already decked my phone out with a screen protector and a cover.

2. I do love BBM’ing: iPhone doesn’t have “IPM,” does it? Only BB has its own messaging tool. With the unlimited data plan that I already have, messaging my friends is easy, fast and free.

3. BB has Apps, too: While I do envy my friends who have the coolest games and one of those “shake the phone to decide where you want to eat” apps, my BB has allowed me to download plenty of decent apps. So far I have downloaded news apps (TIME & AP), food apps (Poynt – a lot like Yelp, Flixster – moves, Groceries & SparkRecipes) and other tools (tip calculator & games). They do just what I need them to do, and I’m perfectly content with them.

4. Touch screen still freaks me out: Maybe “freaks me out” isn’t exactly the phrase I need here, but it’s a similar idea. Gross finger prints, oil from your skin, residue, etc. Yuck! Plus, I like buttons on BB.

5. Even though BB is not an Apple product, it still syncs without a problem with my computer: I would have sprinted to the Apple store and picked up the new iPhone 4G, but that’s not the case. BB loves MacBook Pro just as much as I do.

6. Verizon tends to get better service than AT&T: I may be taking this debate to Verizon vs. AT&T level, but regardless, in my experience, my BB’s reception even in the woods of Maine is stellar.

7. TrackPAD not TrackBALL: The new Curve comes with a touch-pad, not the cute little ball, which makes it easier to scroll through web pages and to actually click without rolling the cursor to who-knows-where. Moreover, only a small portion of the phone suffers from fingerprints, not the entire screen. One downside? Much harder to play Brick Breaker. (Grrrrrrrr).

8. Sentimental Value: I’ve had a BB since freshman year in college. After spending almost three years together, it’s tough to separate myself from my lovely phone.

Now I have a 2-year contract on my BB. Do I still get a bit jealous when people walk around with the 4G? Yes. Does that mean I’ll abandon my BB that easily? Nope.