FRAMINGHAM – CrackBerry.com, a new Web site dedicated to users of the ubiquitous BlackBerry mobile devices, launched a contest last week that may be the ultimate catch-22 for addicts of the handheld systems.
A grand prize rehab vacation to a yet unnamed exotic location will be awarded on June 1 to a randomly selected user as part of a promotion to publicize the CrackBerry site, which launched last month. However, the winner can only accept the vacation if he first promises to take a first step in escaping the addiction — leaving the BlackBerry at home.
If the grand prize winner can’t let go of the BlackBerry, he can opt instead for US$2,000 worth of BlackBerry accessories to further feed his habit, said Kevin Michaluk, CEO of CrackBerry.com.
The site will also award prizes for the best BlackBerry addiction story posted on CrackBerry.com, he added. For example, one user recently noted that he recently dove deep into the ocean to retrieve his device after dropping it while fishing and later stopped to look for it after his infant daughter tossed it out of his car window on a freeway.
The site, which is geared toward BlackBerry “users and abusers,” includes a “crack team” of bloggers who provide BlackBerry news, rumors, reviews, tips and celebrity sightings, Michaluk said.
The site also includes a “13-step program” that promises to help in overcoming a BlackBerry addiction. The program calls for users to accept that “only greater power of wirelessness can restore us to sanity” and that “to turn our will and our lives over to the power of unconnectedness and eschew knowing if someone is mailing us at this very moment.”
Users also are advised to make face-to-face amends to all the persons they have harmed through rude, inconsiderate and pretentious use of the BlackBerry.
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