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For hard-core PC geeks, the ultimate in personalization is a "mod" or modified PC case — one that has been painted and tricked out to look like it belongs in Blade Runner, for example, or in the video game Half-Life 2. Some take the same impulse — personalization — and apply it to other devices in their lives.

In Howard Thaw's case, it was his trusty BlackBerry handheld. Why have just a black (or blue) 'Berry, he wondered. Why not something a little more colourful? "I just happen to see and like things in very vivid colours," says Thaw, a serial entrepreneur who is co-founder and chief operating officer of Ottawa-based Iotum, a telecom technology startup. Within weeks of getting his BlackBerry in June of 2004, he says he was already thinking about ways to personalize and customize it.

"Growing up, my father used to remind me that when the whole world is jumping up and down — stand still!" he says. "Everyone in the world was parading around with basic-black and boring-blue devices... that's simply not me."

After some thought, the technology executive decided what kind of mod was called for. I had a clear vision of what I wanted," he says. "A shiny, triple-coated and glazed, Ferrari red BlackBerry." So Thaw's wife suggested taking his handheld to his local automotive dealer, where the family have been loyal customers for 20 years, to see if anyone there had any ideas.

Thaw says he explained his "vision of bringing [my BlackBerry] to life with a first-class body-shop makeover" to the head of service and the mechanics in charge of the body shop. At first they were skeptical, he says, but they soon warmed to the challenge to "pimp my BlackBerry." They talked about colour and decided to use bumper paint to make the coating extra resilient. A few days later, the dealer called — the new "RedBerry" was ready. Better still, he had decided not to charge Thaw for the job, in recognition of his loyalty as a customer. And now he has a unique calling card when he goes to trade shows and interviews.

"There isn't a meeting that goes by that someone doesn't salivate over my red BlackBerry," he says. — Mathew Ingram