I was at my daughter's swim team banquet the other night and my BlackBerry saved my life.

No, I didn't receive any important client e-mails or text messages. I wasn't working on a last-minute estimate for that client who wants us to upgrade their computer system next week. There were no emergency service calls.

I played BrickBreaker on my BlackBerry. For three solid hours. It got me through the coach's endless speeches, the multiple awards designed not to let anyone feel left out, and the excruciatingly unfunny "gag" gifts given by students to their teammates. I'll never have that Sunday night back. But I did make it to level 25 and a personal all-time-high points total. So the evening wasn't a total loss.

That night, BrickBreaker was my killer BlackBerry app. But most of the time I'm using my Research In Motion BlackBerry for work. It's been a pretty amazing tool that helps me run my small business. There are other great BlackBerry apps -- aside from BrickBreaker -- that I think most small business owners should be using. And like many of the meaningless awards given out at the banquet ("Best Attitude?" Really?), there are some useless apps for the BlackBerry that small business owners should, like a high school sports banquet, avoid if possible.

For example, I don't find minioffice apps such as the eOffice Mobile Suite or Documents To Go productive at all. It's not that they don't work as advertised. They do. But I've never been successful thumbing my way through a Word doc or Excel analysis on a two-inch screen. In fact, the editor for this column asked me if I know of anyone who actually uses and/or likes these applications. I can honestly say no. I've downloaded these programs and used them maybe once or twice...