[idssteve]

It's YOUR impression and opinion that the classic provide less feature than the 9900. Remember that BlackBerry has to convince the rest of the world and not you.

The fact is that BBOS isn't profitable anymore. Margins are tight on legacy phones and it's capabilities are limited.

5 years ago, there were two world's in phones... people that buy dumb phones and people that buy smartphones.

People that buy dumb phones say that they have all what they need and they don't need their phone to play music and receive emails.

Now... the dumb phone is the legacy BBOS. Cause it cannot handle multimedia well, it has very very limited storage for apps, the screen is limited to a small low resolution one cause it cannot handle modern processors... basically it's email device.

So yeah... some people are satisfied with the bare minimal feature. But let me ask you... back when people where buying dumb phones, they could also buy a smartphone and it also does all what they need.

Now what's preventing people from legacy BBOS to buy an iPhone 5C? In fact, most people that switch away from BBOS probably buy an iPhone



Posted via CB10

You may have answered your own question. . We totally agree, convincing me is irrelevant to BB's success. BB's challenge is to convince the millions of legacy users that BB10 is a better upgrade path than iOS. Or better yet, convincing iOS users they'd enjoy using genuine BB features! . Only BB10 itself can do that.

[anon(6038817)]

Someone bought them, people who love the phone.

Really? Businesses that didn't want to spend money on newer MDMs bought reissued 99XXs in bulk because they "love" the phone? No. There was enough business demand for one more production run that BlackBerry obliged. It was a stopgap to tide their legacy BES customers over until they could upgrade to BES12.

I just don't believe that millions of individuals around the world bought reissued 99XXs for personal use, especially when the asking price was as much or more than BB10 phones. You could buy a slightly used 99XX with the same exact specs for 1/4 the cost.

No, millions of people are not clamoring for a 4-year-old phone to be reissued. A small, but very loyal and vocal group of fans desperately want to believe that is the case, but it is not.

People who want legacy devices can still get them for cheap. The fact is, the number of people who use them and want to continue to use them is dwindling every day. BB OS is a stagnant and dying platform. Eventually, the numbers will be small enough that BlackBerry will pull the plug on BIS altogether and render the remaining legacy devices unusable.

I know this is harsh, cold language to the fiercely loyal legacy fans, but reality is sometimes harsh and cold. Legacy BlackBerry phones are fading into obsolescence. If you plan to use your 99XX until it is unusable, that's fine with me. I always say get what you want and be happy.

Enjoy your device. But someday your legacy BB will cease to function, either by BIS shutting down or by carriers refusing to support them. You better decide now what your plan will be when that happens.

[keithhackneysmullet]

I bet bb10 as we know it right now goes away before BIS.

Posted via CB10

[danielstefan35]

I would buy a 9900 but I couldn't get one in Romania. I have a Passport from a carrier and I would like to have a BIS from another. No 9900 at all. Disappointed, I bought a 9720. Still envying my co-worker, a 9900 user.

Posted via CB10

[King Nith]

If BlackBerry does give up or shutdown BIS, they should release an update to allow there existing customers to update to the latest version that allows the BlackBerry 9900 to run e-mail and other apps without BIS. I plan on keeping my 9900 forever. It's 2015 and I am using a phone from 2011. If CrackBerry is alive in 2020, ill be sure to quote my own post and represent my BlackBerry 9900.

[thurask]

If BlackBerry does give up or shutdown BIS, they should release an update to allow there existing customers to update to the latest version that allows the BlackBerry 9900 to run e-mail and other apps without BIS. I plan on keeping my 9900 forever. It's 2015 and I am using a phone from 2011. If CrackBerry is alive in 2020, ill be sure to quote my own post and represent my BlackBerry 9900.

Sure, rewrite the whole thing from the ground up to satisfy a dwindling number of people. With all of the original developers laid off.

Genius.

[Bonnie Bonzai]

I would love to have a BB9900 in white! Just because I want it. I'd get another Q10 if they didn't have the stuttering keyboard. In the meantime I use the Z30 as a backup to my Passport.

Posted via CB10

[anon(6038817)]

If BlackBerry does give up or shutdown BIS, they should release an update to allow there existing customers to update to the latest version that allows the BlackBerry 9900 to run e-mail and other apps without BIS. I plan on keeping my 9900 forever. It's 2015 and I am using a phone from 2011. If CrackBerry is alive in 2020, ill be sure to quote my own post and represent my BlackBerry 9900.

I like to get my 1953 Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter out once in a while and type letters to friends and loved ones. I enjoy it and think it's great at what it does, but I'm not going around claiming that millions of people would buy typewriters if they were re-issued, upgraded, and distributed on a large scale. Technology has evolved beyond the mass-use of typewriters.

And technology has evolved beyond the mass-use of legacy BlackBerry phones.

I'm actually using a Bold 9930 as my primary device right now, but more out of necessity than preference. I've owned and used several different BB10 models in the past and will be returning to the platform as soon as circumstances allow.

I'll never sell my 9930. I'll even charge and boot it up once in a while for the sake of nostalgia. But I'm realistic about it. The popularity of legacy BlackBerry devices was in steep decline long before the Z10 ever hit the market. It's time to let them go the way of the typewriter.

[Soapm]

Sure, rewrite the whole thing from the ground up to satisfy a dwindling number of people. With all of the original developers laid off.

Genius.

Why rewrite the whole thing? They had code that worked for carriers, why not a Consumer installable app that lets us host our own?

[conite]

Why rewrite the whole thing? They had code that worked for carriers, why not a Consumer installable app that lets us host our own?

The whole communications infrastructure was server side. You would have to rewrite much of the OS to bring it local - adding huge amounts of code. This is a massive undertaking.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.680

[King Nith]

So is it possible that that one day my 9900 will be useless if BlackBerry shuts down or they kill of BIS or if my carrier stops supporting BIS plans? (Useless in the sense that I can't use e-mails, apps, etc).

[conite]

So is it possible that that one day my 9900 will be useless if BlackBerry shuts down or they kill of BIS or if my carrier stops supporting BIS plans? (Useless in the sense that I can't use e-mails, apps, etc).

Pretty much.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.680

[thurask]

So is it possible that that one day my 9900 will be useless if BlackBerry shuts down or they kill of BIS or if my carrier stops supporting BIS plans? (Useless in the sense that I can't use e-mails, apps, etc).

Pretty much.

Posted via CB10

[Soapm]

So is it possible that that one day my 9900 will be useless if BlackBerry shuts down or they kill of BIS or if my carrier stops supporting BIS plans? (Useless in the sense that I can't use e-mails, apps, etc).

Still have a great phone with the ability to text.

[fkornre]

Re-issue the 9900 with the current BB10 browser and EAS support and I'm in

[Coffee Shampoo]

The Bold can still be useful but if your business requires you to do social media then it's useless, you can already get email as good on any other phone and even faster than with BIS push notifications.

Anyway, as others have pointed out already, the day when BBOS devices die is getting closer.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Soapm]

Re-issue the 9900 with the current BB10 browser and EAS support and I'm in

Isn't that a Q10 with no toolbelt?

[fkornre]

Isn't that a Q10 with no toolbelt?

Yup...like you said "without" the toolbelt. I want the toolbelt, form factor of the 9900/q10, but prefer bbos to bb10. I just can't use my 9900 because it doesn't support EAS and my IT admin shut off the BES server. So I bounce between my Q10 and Classic because neither is 100% of what I want.

[Soapm]

Yup...like you said "without" the toolbelt. I want the toolbelt, form factor of the 9900/q10, but prefer bbos to bb10. I just can't use my 9900 because it doesn't support EAS and my IT admin shut off the BES server. So I bounce between my Q10 and Classic because neither is 100% of what I want.

I agree, the 9900 was the perfect device when it came to size and functionality.

I'm starting to find that BB10 lags when I need it to work most. Example, it says "Unknown Caller" when it's someone I don't want to speak to, but works otherwise. I was lost and needed BB Maps to work but it couldn't locate me until I found where I was going. I had a thought I was trying to record and Reminder acted up so that I forgot my thought... It just seems to flake out at the worst of times...

[extisis]

75% of current BlackBerry users are legacy owners. The market has flushed bb10 down the proverbial toilet. It makes all the sense in the world to reissue the 9900 with updated specs it would be a winner.

Posted via CB10

nice stat. however, can't have updated specs on that hardware- it was maximized in 7.1. this is a moot point.

[CivilDissident]

I was happy with my 9900 sans the smaller screen. My Classic remedied that issue for me however... I have never found the use of "social networks" nor a plethora of random, meaningless apps to be appealing. My cell phone exists purely to serve a purpose that purpose being emails, texts and phone calls. Communication and networking not the current 1984 pysops that's swept over the mainstream in the past decade... 1/2 the apps and 'essentials' Ppl tend to praise these days are simply tools of distraction, mining our data, adding to the upkeep of the farming of humanity...
The 9900 would, to this day, serve me well if that was all that remained... However the Classic lured me in.. some people don't need bells and whistles, we simply need a sturdy, productive, comfortable device to keep in touch with those we seek to keep in with. The end. The rest is purely novelty in my opinion.

Posted via CB10

[kobnyc]

No. They should let the old devices die and wither away. Those who want to live in the past can do so by buying them on eBay.

Man speaketh thine truth. Go forth and lay with dinosaurs. Ebay loves you folks. God bless.

I <3 NY!

[Brewer James]

I agree, why couldn't they do that? I know people will say that was the purpose of the classic release but that classic is not the Bold. I think part of the appeal of the Bold was the size and how it was built.

[King Nith]

To the people who compare using a BlackBerry 9900 to using a typewriter in 2015 that is just blasphemous. I'll admit the 9900 has limitations and flaws in comparison to the OS10. However those on an android and iOS can state the obvious flaws in regards to comparing BB10 to android/iOS. Let's not act like BB10 has no chance of dying because it will. I'll be real, I'm probably the biggest BlackBerry supporter out there (going back to the RIM days). BB10 has no apps (sure the 9900 doesn't either), but for those of you talking about BB10 the future, well news flash the market is in demand for apps and BB10 hasn't done an great job at that. Getting android support for BB10 is lame and having android apps run on BB10 is lame. What BlackBerry should have done is either gone fully android and hardware base BlackBerry, instead having a mixture of two compromises security which my 9900 excels at over the BB10 series. I can keep going however BlackBerry really needs to drastically improve BB10 before you hypocrites and bandwagons start acting like a BB10 is the future. I can guarantee you that BB10 won't last another 5 years. Quote this post and bank on it. I'm not saying 9900 will thrive but jeez wake up and smell the coffee people. If you all are so convinced BB10 is the future why not leave us 9900 users in the past.

[Soapm]

BB10 has no apps (sure the 9900 doesn't either), but for those of you talking about BB10 the future, well news flash the market is in demand for apps and BB10 hasn't done an great job at that. .

Actually, the market is in demand for a versatile device. Apps may provide versatility but there are other ways of getting there...

I remember when one carried a camera, phone, address book, calendar, checkbook, morning paper, etc... What the modern day smart phone does is combine those things into a single device, and then some... BB may have to make more things native to their device since the developers have all but abandoned their platform...