i like the PING. i have it set so that even if my phone is on silent i still get the PING alert on BBM. it's easier than creating a whole new profile or exception.
In networking, the ping is the smallest TCP request and it should never be blocked by a firewall (port 7, if i remember)
It is used to diagnose connection problems and to estimate route performance.
Just as a unit circle is loved by mathematicians, the ping is very interesting to a computer geek especially on mobiles because of the aggressive bandwidth charges.
According to at least one vodafone staff, ping data does count against your fair usage quota. This means you are technically charged just to see if its technically possible to be charged!
You can't really annoy people because once you've actually PINGED someone you can't repeatedly keep doing it. In order to be able to ping the person again, they must have responded.
The ping is just like tapping someone's shoulder. It's kinda rude to just nail them with a question out of the gate if they're in the middle of something. And yes, you can ping repeatedly without a response, but there may be a wait time in between.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
Before Blackberries and networks the PING was used by sonar in submarines to see who was out there. If they got a reply back then they knew there was somebody or something out there and could then proceed with the appropriate action... communication, torpedo, or just slink silently on by... I can kinda see the parallel thinking with the Blackberry PING.