My five year old wails from the back seat as we hum along from our great San Diego vacation back to our Sin City home.

“MOOOMMMY! Can I have your phone? I wanna play games.”

At the doctor’s office, my son discovers the doctor’s rolling stool is a great way to practice his Superman skills. I need to intercede before our trip becomes more than just a check for swine flu.

“Hey Doodle, wanna watch Elmo?”

It is 4:30 a.m. at the Salt Lake City airport. I am waiting for the Southwest ticket counter to open so I can check in for my flight home. Not enough down time to warrant a laptop session on the cold linoleum. I pull out my iPhone and do an obligatory scan of my email, deleting obsolete news feeds and marketing crap sent in the wee hours of the night. Then I move over to Tweetdeck to see how my east coast Interweb friends are faring this lovely morning. Someone’s sick. Others are regaling in the joys of the last workday before a holiday weekend. Another is remembering that today her new son reaches the age that her previous child passed away.

I reflect on how much of my life revolves around this little pink-shelled device with its touch screen full of happy apps that entertain me and my kids, keep track of my appointments and friends, stores my grocery list, and allows me to flash the kids’ latest pictures and videos to any unsuspecting stranger who unwittingly asks about my brood.

My smartphone is a lifeline. It is the Vaseline that allows me to squeeze just a little more into my life, juggle one more ball, and try to make a few more people (including me) happy.

Kathy Buckworth shares her love for her smartphone in her latest book, The Blackberry Diaries. While we come from different countries and prefer different devices, we both agree that our devices have been a bane and blessing.

We can get more done and (usually) keep the work and family plates spinning without a major crash, but our smartphones can also become an often humorous distraction. She writes in the opening of her book:

As a thoroughly Modern Mother, what I love most about my BlackBerry smartphone is that it allows me to maintain the façade of a dedicted writer, knowledgeable public speaker, and little known but professionally made-up television personality while simultaneously living the perilous life of a harried, time-starved, harassed, and generally cranky mom. Some of my best career wins have been communicated to me over my BlackBerry smartphone, in less than ideal circumstances. To whit: the call I took from my agent, letting me know that I was being offered a book deal…came when I was standing in line at the grocery store buying lice shampoo. I had to pretend not to care about the grossed out look on the cashier’s face (as she simultaneously scanned my purchase and backed up a good 14 inches so as to not be infested) while also wanting to grab her and yell, “I have a book deal! You should care!” I’m sure she thought I was insane – some crazy woman grinning and bouncing on her feet at the prospect of delousing as an afternoon’s entertainment.

The book continues on with many giggles and snickers of familiarity throughout. Her general premise focuses on how her smartphone has become her fifth child – constantly buzzing and demanding her attention, becoming the a point of admittedly false status-filled pride, an opportunity to excuse herself from uncomfortable situations and unpleasant commitments and more. Some of the parallels were quite cute and others seemed a bit labored.

My favorite (or should that be favourite since Kathy’s Canadian?) sections were the stories she told about her own challenges in parenting her four kids.  Her tales of (not-so-kid free) hangover recovery, the perils of children’s clothing design, and determining the right punishment for her son who needed some lessons in responsibility had me chuckling so loud that my kids wondered what I was reading (and my daughter was inherently fascinated because the cover is pink).

To be honest, The BlackBerry Diaries is not the best parent humor book I’ve ever read, but is certainly a fun read worth that you can easily clear on your next flight (because you have to read SOMETHING when they cut off the wifi access, right?). These days we could all use a good laugh and setting your eyes on something other than a screen is probably a good thing.

I am a die-hard MacGirl. I’ve repeatedly professed my love for nearly all things Apple. So, when the nice folks Weber Shandwick asked me to be a part of their promotion project for Kathy Buckworth’s new book, The Blackberry Diaries, I fully disclosed my blood type – I bleed Bondi Blue.

They were okay with it. They still wanted to send me two of their latest model, the Blackberry Tour – one to review and keep and one to give away to one of my readers.

This was not my first experience with the BlackBerry. I recently retired my second Curve earlier this year when I finally bridged over to the iPhone (my former employer’s email server would only support BB).

So, here’s a quick side-by-side on the two devices.

1. Both are pretty darn pretty. Do you like them long and lean or more square with a wider grip? They both are very nice looking phones. If fingerprints gross you out, don’t get an iPhone. If the thought of what’s stuck in those BB keys gives you the willies, then opt for a solid surface.

2. Keyboard is key. If you like the feel of true keys and a full keyboard under your fingertips, the Tour is great. Some folks (present company included) are still struggling with the eye/hand coordination required with the iPhone’s touchpad – even with the horizontal option. The cramp on my pinky finger from typing makes me feel like a 90-year-old British woman who has drank her 10 millionth cup of tea (littlest digit daintily and fully extended, of course). Switching back and forth between devices is a challenge. Like swapping between my office PC and personal MacBook Air, it takes my brain and hands a few minutes to adjust to the difference.

3. Track vs. Touch. (I may be dating myself here.) Remember the old commercial for Ocean Spray or Bartyles and James where an elderly Maine farmer is asked for directions proclaims “You can’t get there from here!”? Well, that’s kind of how I feel about the BB’s trackball technology. I see where I want to go, but getting there means I have to scroll over multiple icons and get myself to stop at the right place. It takes some adjusting and finesse, but after a little frustration, you get there. That’s not to say that the iPhone touch screen is not without its issues. Yes, bouncing back and forth between apps is much easier, but just try and move that cursor around text to edit or insert your comment before a retweet in Tweetdeck. Talk about total PITA. (I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, so if you have suggestions, please enlighten me in the comments. This is driving me nutso.)

4. General user friendliness. When I picked up the Tour, the general layout was fairly intuitive. Mail – okay. Phone functions…easy. Finding Brickbreaker and other essentials for surviving a crowded waiting room at Boo’s dance school…okay. The app store functions were a little confusing. I downloaded Twitterberry (I was off Twitter for three daylight hours. EEGADS! Someone might notice I’m gone!!! Ha!) and it took me a little while to figure out where the app had landed and how to get it where I wanted it on my desktop. The iPhone was not challenge-free either. Setting things up there was a bit more challenging given the hard drive size and USB port limitations on the MacBook Air and my lack of a wireless network at home. Loading a few thousand songs from an external hard drive through the Air and into the iPhone was painfully long. I’m talking a full day for the initial upload. The issue was really with my choice for the very sexy and portable air – not so much with the iPhone, though.

5. Apps, apps and more apps. The Apple cult following is developing apps at lightning speed. The App store is well organized and easily searchable for free and paid options. It does get a bit frustrating to have to upload some sizable games sophisticated shopping list software through my MacBook Air and then transfer it. The BB App store is fine, but seems a little more limited. As the BB following grows, more apps will be built, although I suspect you’ll find fewer free apps there than the Apple option.

6. Say cheese. Both the BB Tour and the iPhone are equipped with still and video camera options. Both still cameras are good for close up portraits of people and things standing still. Catching a shot of my two-year-old whirlwind at the park was a challenge for both models. He either ran out of frame before the aperture opened or my attempt to press the shutter button moved the PDA, creating a nasty blur. Video is easy to use on both as well and image and audio quality are nice as well. I believe you need an extra data card for the BB Tour, lest you bog it down with shots of your dog singing the Star Spangled Banner (who doesn’t have that?).

The Bottom Line: Please don’t mistake my review for a “hate” on the BB. I think the BB Tour is a great smartphone for some people. It’s really a matter of personal taste and preference. If you want a good, solid phone with a nice user interface a full push-button keyboard and a trackpad, the BB Tour is a great option and Verizon (the network I tested it on) worked great in Vegas. If you’re a Mac Geek, have tiny stick fingers that can dance around a touch screen like a dancer in the Bolshoi ballet and love the apps, go with the iPhone. Some people are city kids, some are country folk. Some people love exotic foods and others crave the familiar comfort of home. It’s really a personal preference thing. So, I’m keeping my iPhone and giving the Tour to a good home – a BB user who’s old Pearl went to BB heaven from a little too much lovin’.

Thanks again to the folks at RIM and Verizon for the chance to play with their phones and make some other folks REALLY happy. Come back tomorrow for a recap of The Blackberry Diaries event and a review of the book.