Question about Blackberry and the riots

They say that the rioters used Blackberry messenger to coordinate. I don't own one but from what I know, those devices aren't cheap--cost several hundreds of pounds and more for contracts. So are they really unemployed and destitute youths (and not all look youths)? Or is there some different background amongst them? How can they own Blackberrys and yet behave in the manner of poor, disgruntled youths?

They also have generous text limits and are free when using BBM to send messages to other BlackBerrys. In fact they are a much cheaper than Iphones or HTC mobiles which is why poorer kids have them. The network also allows users a greater degree of anonymity than those relying on SMS. The latter is also why they are popular with politicians, business and government departments. Of course for people like me who grew up communicating from GPO call boxes in the days of button A and B they are still a frivolous luxury but then I loathe mobile phones and only carry one because my employer requires it.

Are they really poor or middle class? Surely owning a Blackberry doenst match an unemployed or low income worker/youth/student

It seems that the mobs contained people from a range of ages and backgrounds.

Even the poorest kids seem to have mobile phones so its no surprise many have Blackberry devices.

They will have to ask their elders how rioters communicated in 1981.

> In fact they are a much cheaper than Iphones or HTC mobiles which is
> why poorer kids have them.

"Poorer kids" go for cheaper phones rather than iPhones anyway and a bby
is more expensive than the generic txt/photo/mms/call models that are now
apparently the entry-level into the market.

(Not that "poorer kids" are the cause of the riots anyway but anyhow.)

> The network also allows users a greater degree of anonymity than those
> relying on SMS.

Nope. Blackberries have exactly the same amount of anonymity (or lack thereof)
as any SMS phone.

All the police have to do is request the records from the provider in either case.

It is , however, true that BBM users generally have no limits on the number of messages they can send within the internal Blackberry network to other Blackberry users. This is not always the case with texting from other mobile providers.In addition, BBM are by default scrambled using a global crypotographic key and directed through secured RIM servers which make external eavesdropping harder for people such as the police than for much conventional SMS traffic, though as you point out it can be easily deciphered at any time by BlackBerry themselves on behalf of the authorities. This is one of the reasons government departments and MPs have been big BlackBerry users.

Of course, the truth is that no sophisticated technology is required at all for riots to spread nationwide. The 1981 riots ran from the big cities to many smaller towns just as quickly as this weeks disturbances without a mobile phone, Twitter or Facebook account in sight.

There's a load of 8520's on ebay that you could probably get for around £25, after that all you'd need is a SIM card for the right network, or if you're lucky and get an unlocked phone, any old SIM card will do.

There are a few pay-as-you-go deals that offer a load of free or cheap data and if you shop around and get the right offers you can get a contract for under £10 per month that includes plenty of data.

Even at £50 up front and £10 per month it really isn't out of the reach of people on benefits.