Goodbye BlackBerry qwerty keyboard phone

Monday, 11 July 2016, 1:40 pm
Article: Digitl

At the New York Times Ian Austin writes:

...struggling Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry made a sharp detour from its history on Tuesday when it announced it was discontinuing the last phone to have the traditional version of the company’s iconic physical keyboard and trackpad.

BlackBerry keyboard phones were essential business tools back when most other so-called smartphones were toys. You could handle mail while on the move, write memos and short notes.

While a few journalists typed news reports using the tiny keys, the ergonomics bordered on criminal.

As everyone knows, BlackBerry fell from favour as Apple's iPhone and Android climbed to success. It's amazing the business has lasted this long, Nokia did not.

When, last year, BlackBerry returned to the keyboard design with the BlackBerry Classic phone, it was so retro I described it as a Steampunk phone.

BlackBerry claimed typing on a tiny keyboard was more productive than using a screen keyboard. My testing found that wasn't true. While it was satisfying to feel keys move, it did nothing for my writing speed. In fact, the tiny screen made me less productive.

This story was first posted at billbennett.co.nz

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