A couple days ago, Blackberry users in North America couldn't access or send their emails. The failure of the push email service, which lets users access their messages wherever they are, lasted for about a day.

For such a massive failure, it's good to see RIM stepping up and making things workable within a day. Though cynics can say they're just protecting their bottom line. No service equals angry customers. Anger equals service contract cancellations and bad publicity, which of course equal less profit.

Even if we use a cynical perspective, it's easy to see that our use of technology doesn't have to be a weak point. That's because aside from companies doing their best to maintain quality of service, truly productive people will always find a way to get the job done despite the limitations. If that report needs to be sent by 2 pm, there are other ways to do it aside from mobile email.

That's because smartphones and PDAs, including RIM's blackberries, are tools. And the failure of a tool never excuses the failure of a person, unless we're talking about apocalypse.