The True Successor to the Bold
I've been a BurbleBerry addict for over a decade. I remember people being impressed by me having a mobile device I could receive emails on. "Is that the new Blackberry?" was a question I frequently got as my company upgraded my BB annually or more.
Then things drifted. The smartphone truly arrived and the BB was surpassed. Didn't bother me, as I'm a bit of a primitive when it comes to using mobile phones fully. After a while, company and I parted ways and I had to scrape to pander to my BB habit. After many second-hand adventures, I finally landed a black 9900 and a PlayBook. Both of which worked fine, until the PB suffered the non-fixable version of the charging problem.
Just me, the 9900 - and BlackBerry producing some godawful phones. Not functionally, or fashionably. Just for my usage. I am a hard keyboard fanatic. I write books and frequently put stories together while out and about, using the BB to mail 'em home. I wanted the functionality of BB10, but really, the keyboarded offerings, when compared to the understated style of the 9900, fell somewhere between ugly and bland.
Meanwhile, my ongoing financial issues that had reduced me to pay-as-I-went were outpaced by time. Pay monthly contracts were cheaper than my pay-to-use tab for a month. But the historic spat I'd had with my provider (Vodafone UK) meant they still had 'no contract' markers on me, despite me having paid up over 3 years ago...
It was finally time to smell the coffee and find another provider.
So I talked to Carphone Warehouse and they spent half an hour finding their static demo BlackBerry's. One of which was a Passport, something I hadn't considered - writing it off as an oversized 'Classic' debacle. It fit in my hand and fit in my pocket. The contract was cheaper than my monthly PAYG by a couple of quid. I had to pay �30 for the handset. I bought it. Took a couple of days to arrive and a weekend to get used to it, but I finally realised that this is where the heritage of the Blackberry Bold leads. This is the innovative, conversation-stopping device that BlackBerrys used to be. It may be the ******* child of 9900 and PlayBook, but it is a gestalt thoroughbred and I'll not be without one for a long while...
Even though, I suspect, that it will be the last BlackBerry I own, unless the company's fortunes pick up substantially. The market will out and even with some brave moves, I still see too little, too late.
I look forward to being proved wrong, of course. :D