WATERLOO – Millions of BlackBerry users stared forlornly at their wireless devices Monday wondering if a) they’ve been fired; b) that no one loves them enough to send an e-mail any more; c) that their “IT department messed up again”; d) the end of the world was coming.
Actually, BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion suffered through an afternoon-long server glitch that cut off e-mail service to millions in North America on Monday. While SMS and phone functionality was intact, the “infernal buzzing gadget” as we call ours here, went mercifully silent for most yesterday after lunch.
In a note to customers, RIM called it a “critical” outage – and it cut the virtual tether for at least a few hours anyway.
BlackBerry e-mail service was back up and running Monday evening and RIM told Associated Press that no messages were lost. It affected customers on any of the wireless companies who sell the devices.
