BlackBerry - another goodbye

When you think of a BlackBerry, you must think of a keyboard. In fact, the physical disk is not unique to BlackBerry. Other brands such as Motorola, Nokia and even Palm have launched mobile phone models with physical keyboards. However, only BlackBerry insists on the QWERTY format of the typewriter keyboard, which is also believed to be the reason why most users support it.

Some people say that the time when BlackBerry was declared dead was exactly fifteen years ago when Apple announced its new product, the iPhone, in 2007. Do you still remember what phone you used at that time? Before the launch of the iPhone, it was like a lifetime! These keywords can help your memory, big brother big water bottle, antenna (pull out the antenna to enhance reception when talking on the phone), black and white Mon, leather case. At that time, the three major brands were Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson, and each brand had a variety of models. Everyone had a meal and put a mobile phone on the stage. Ten people had ten different mobile phones, and there were few models.

I have no impression of my first mobile phone, because a mobile phone is still quite expensive, and its battery capacity is limited. So I should start using the mobile phone very late. At that time, money was spent on computer peripheral products, and products such as digital cameras and MP3 players began to be available, and all-weather Internet access became a reality, and only those who had installed Cable or DSL phone lines at home could enjoy this feature. kind of service.

The emergence of the iPhone was absolutely revolutionary. If you have seen the conference hosted by Steve Jobs at the time, you should remember that he emphasized three things: an iPod with a touch screen, a revolutionary mobile phone, and an Internet communication device. Then he told everyone that he did not mean three different products, but that one product has three functions! Even today, fifteen years later, we have not encountered such a revolutionary product.

During the period from the millennium to the time before the introduction of the iPhone, everyone's mobile phones were mainly used for telephone functions, and the functions of text messages and emails were sufficient. The biggest selling point of the BlackBerry, in addition to the physical keyboard, is the highly encrypted e-mail transmission, which is a defense-grade technology, so the business community and even politicians are willing to adopt it. At that time, the President of the United States, the Queen of the United Kingdom, and even the management of multinational companies, and even some international criminal groups, all used BlackBerry mobile phones to communicate for safety. At that time, many of my friends in Hong Kong owned a BlackBerry. Most of them did not choose to buy it themselves, but were arranged by the company for business use. Therefore, it can be seen that BlackBerry is the first choice for everyone in commercial applications. Perhaps because of this, in other areas, such as listening to songs and watching movies, and even games, they are far behind people.

When BlackBerry entered the market, it was just a pager, or commonly known as Call in Hong Kong. It was a one-way service at the time, only receiving. Basically someone wants to find you, call the paging center, leave a message or ask for a call back, the paging center then informs you, your pager will ring, so you call the paging center, the operator gives you a message, you Go find that person again. Later, advanced pagers had a small screen that could display text messages. The owner did not need to call the paging center, but it was always one-way communication, only receiving, not sending messages.

The brilliance of BlackBerry is that although it is also a pager, it can communicate in two directions. There is a keyboard on the fuselage, and you can type in text to reply (of course, it is only in English, and you can't have too many requirements). It is also why BlackBerry is obsessed with the keyboard. Many people think that this complex makes BlackBerry lag behind in the development of touch screens, and even the virtual keyboard is not good. And their own OS, because of security reasons, many third-party software is not interested in developing at all. When people's demand for email is getting lower and lower (replaced by instant messaging programs), the impact of various factors, and finally even making changes has been lost!

BlackBerry has always been a Canadian brand, so it has a certain number of fans in the country, and even if the iPhone is coming, they are still strong in local sales, and they still have a fighting force in the first few years of Apple's launch. The BlackBerry phone that I really chose to buy is the Torch model, which is a model with a hidden keyboard, and the keyboard can only be used when the phone is pushed away. If you've ever used a physical keyboard, the feel and accuracy are incomparable. I don't know if there are such competitions in other places, but in some cities in the United States and Canada, there are mobile typing competitions from time to time to test speed and yardstick. It's really admirable to see the contestants holding their phones in both hands, quickly moving their thumbs around and pressing Shift and Alt. The virtual keyboard is absolutely incomparable. At that time, emails and text messages were still daily affairs, and in Canada, it was basically all English, so I gradually got used to it and fell in love with the physical keyboard.

After that, I changed to other models once or twice. I used a Q10 before returning to Hong Kong, which was based on the original mobile phone. The keyboard is under the screen, the screen may be thinner, and there is a touch screen, so the one that looks like a mouse device. Trackpad can be canceled, making the whole machine light and convenient. Common programs such as Facebook and WhatsApp all have BlackBerry versions (BB10 at that time), and also supports handwritten Chinese input method, so it is very enough for me, especially when I go out. , because there is also a desk computer at home. The Z30, Passport and other big Mon models that followed didn't interest me.

Unfortunately, it all came to an end, and when those third-party software stopped developing the BlackBerry version, the phone was pretty much just phone and email, even if it still worked. My last BlackBerry was their first Priv running Android, which looked like any other long, boxy phone, with a touchscreen and a virtual keyboard, but pushed the screen away to see a physical keyboard. However, the design of this keyboard has been changed. It is not too difficult for users who are accustomed to the previous keyboard. The biggest flaw is that the keyboard area is slightly reduced. Press the wrong key. The phone is long, and when the screen is pushed up, it feels more heavy and light, and it is a bit awkward to balance it.

For me, because I came back to live in Hong Kong, I naturally used Chinese input for at least half of the time, so I simply used the virtual keyboard more, so the impact was limited. In fact, generally speaking, when you use your mobile phone on the road, you always read more and write less. This Priv is the last one officially produced by BlackBerry, and the subsequent KeyOne is only authorized to be manufactured by other companies. It has already happened, and there is no need to pursue it. As with other mobile phones, the battery life is getting worse and worse, some programs are getting slower and slower, and they have to be replaced. Later, the system was reset and reinstalled, and only a few necessary programs were installed, which could still be used for a while. As a deputy, it could still play a role, but it should only be a short time.

In fact, the three major brands in the mobile phone market at that time, even if not completely disappeared, are still lingering, and it is difficult to imagine that they can make a comeback. BlackBerry has become history, but the parent company Research In Motion is still alive, and they use the technology they are best at in system safety and apply it to cars. Today's cars have a variety of chips to assist operations, and driverless technology has matured, and the operation is even more error-free. It turns out that RIM's technology is already a leader in the industry, accounting for 75% of the market, and it has contracts with many major automakers.

Instead of sighing regrets and missing opportunities, it is better to open up a new path, turn a corner, and another new world!