British garbage collectors to get 1,500 BlackBerrys
First it was the rozzers, now British bin men are getting BlackBerrys as part of their job equipment pack. Biffa, a private garbage collection firm responsible for cleaning up 25 local authorities around the UK, has agreed a £1.7 million ($2.44 million) deal with Vodafone for the provision of some 1,500 BlackBerry handsets along with dongles and 3G data cards. This somewhat curious capital investment has been made in order to allow drivers to download maps, collect data from customers, liaise with head office, and even take photos where necessary. The RIM phones will also allow Biffa to track its trucks' locations -- an option that's sure to get plenty of use, considering how much Brits love to keep an eye on things.
























Makes me want to go "dumpster diving".......
@Slygathor
I'd rather not....
@Slygathor
Who can do your BBM?
Contact your mates for you?
Shake the plastic bag and do the twisty thingy too?
THE GARBAGE MAN!!
Yes the garbage man can!
@Prospero ROTFL. Cute.
@Slygathor
When I read the headline I thought it meant garbage collectors found BlackBerries...like, in the garbage. This makes more sense though.
@Slygathor
Wow, this will totally revolutionize the garbage collecting industry!!!
@commenter7
They did a trial using iPhones but they guys just put them straight into the dumpsters.
@mr88
"British garbage collectors to get 1,500 BlackBerrys" sounds to you like they FOUND 1,500 Blackberrys?
Is 88 your IQ?
Cheers,
John
Ooohh. That hurt. After all, as bin men, their judgment should absolutely be trusted.
@mr88 Haha, me and you both :) I immediately imagined that someone accidentally dumped 1500 blackberries shipment into garbage :)
@JohnnyDiggMe
"Is 88 your IQ?"
You say that like it's a bad thing.
@Prospero
The garbage man can, 'cause he's takin' out the trash and making the world smell GOOOOOD
"Dustbin men" over here.
@Timmmmmm
What in Earth is garbage? Do you Americans mean rubbish?
@Timmmmmm
It's RUBBISH you fools !
Omg the title made me read that a total of 1500 Blackberrys were found in trash cans...
binman 1: omg totally didnt pick up number 10s bins what a mess twitpic/wer32
binman 2: ewww omfg lol what a mess
TAKE MY BIN BAGS NAOW!!! >< stop playing with your phones!
Not to sound like a Nokia fanboy, but couldn't they have got some S60 handset with free navigation and saved a few quid? They're not going to be synchronising business lunches on exchange servers.
@sockatume How would you know that?
hang on £1.7M/1500 = £1133 per BB. Sounds expensive to me! (:
@Marko
"...along with dongles and 3G data cards"
And I assume that includes minutes and texts in advance.
@Marko Maybe TCO. Including a couple of years of service and lots of support.
@Karnak still too much for a crappy blackberry (;
@Marko
I guess their main intention was to locate their garbage trucks when necessary. To equip all of them with GPS trackers alone would probalby have cost almost the same. So they thought, "What the hell, let's get some BBs instead."
'The RIM phones will also allow Biffa to track its trucks' locations '
This is why.
@Bomberman
Yeah, when Biffa think their on their rounds they are out joy riding and doing burn-outs!
"British garbage collectors to get 1,500 BlackBerrys"
... after people throw them away and get iPhones.
@TinWard
Complete idiot.
@hikeskool I didn't know BlackBerry users were so sensitive to a little humor. You see recently there was the following news article:
http://technology.globalthoughtz.com/index.php/bankers-worldwide-begin-the-switch-to-iphone007/
So if bankers throw them away then the bin-men pick them up.
This is just what British bin men need.
Like they don't have enough reasons to "forget" to take away your rubbish, because you have more than the correct number of bags in a bin or because it's two feet further away from the kerb than it should be and it means they have to walk two feet extra.
Next they'll be going on strike because they didn't get iPhones.
From now on, the Blackberry is a 'Garbage Phone'..
@marook
After all, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
It seems like a big investment at first, but it probably isn't even the cost of two garbage trucks.
I wonder if it will pay off for Biffa. I am sure it will for Vodafone.
BIN MEN DONT NEED TECHNOLOGY!!!
They can BBM eachother :P
I for one suspect another unwarranted round of corporate snooping.
How long before they're using this great tech to email photos of 'non compliant bins' back to HQ for summary fining by the council?
A friend of mine got a warning letter for not rinsing her baked bean cans properly before putting them in the recycling. I appreciate the need to recycle properly but really this has all the wrong effects.
I am paying taxes for Bin men to have Blackberrys! Why do they need them???
@tommoi Biffa are a private rubbish collection company so no tax goes there. Besides...all our taxes are just getting thrown into the black hole we call our budget deficit...never to be seen again. Good times.
@tommoi
Actually it makes great sense to have the people that directly impact you life to be able to quickly log, track, and fix your complaints.
Its like when a local DOT organization allows people to SMS or Twitter where road works needs to be done. By turning the most populous rung in the chain of command into more effective customer service employees you can maximize improving the quality of your service.
Considering the alternative is to spend 30min on hold to talk to a customer service drone in India everytime you have an issue it's a pretty good idea.
When I first saw this post I thought someone was throwing away 1500 Blackberries!
Nice to see my taxes are spent on some other waste of time rubbish. What does a bin man need a BB for ? Incase he needs to ask what to do with the rubbish ? How hard can the job be. I love the fact my taxes are through the roof and this is what it goes on.
@Si5084
"Biffa, a private garbage collection firm"
A legitimate target would be the school system. All that money and you still can't read an Engadget blurb!
Why not E72s?
I love that there's a Helio Ocean box in the bin too mixed in with the Blackberries. I will always have a special place in my heart for Helio. If Sprint wasn't shutting down their network on May 25, 2010, I wouldn't have switched from my Ocean 2 phone to the DROID Incredible. Helio's Ultimate Inbox was that good!