Believe it or not, the original Blackberry was first introduced to the public market back in 1999. The original Blackberry, a device that is held in your hand, was presented to consumers as a two-way pager with a small keyboard built in. These two-way pagers became the next generation in pagers which, prior to the Blackberry, were one way devices that notified their user with a phone number or written (text) message or both.
Since its introduction in 1999, the Blackberry has continued to update, upgrade, and recreate the Blackberry product line with smarter, faster, more intelligent Blackberry equipment. The original Blackberry was fashioned with a monochrome screen and the screen’s menu was accessible through a scroll wheel button. Designed by the Research in Motion (RIM) company in Canada, the primary function of the original Blackberry’s two-way paging system was to offer the user the opportunity to send and receive e-mail over available wireless networks.
In 2002, just three short years after the original Blackberry was introduced, RIM produced an upgraded Blackberry with texting, mobile phone, Internet faxing, ‘always on’ e-mail and web browsing capabilities. The upgraded Blackberry was designed with 65,000 colors, a 320 x 240 pixels screen (pieces of information), which is about the average size of digital pictures, has 64 MB of memory, is capable of Bluetooth and USB connectivity and redesigned the scroll wheel into a track ball.
Blackberry has continued to upgrade its PDA (personal desk assistant) such that many consider the use of a Blackberry device addictive and call it a “Crackberry” suggesting that, like addicted drug addicts who are addicted to cocaine, you can get hooked on it use. This coined phrase became so popular that it was added to Webster’s Dictionary as the new word of the year in 2006.
Blackberry now offers not only state of the art technology in their latest, greatest models but has a software package that can also be used by non-Blackberry devices. The Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) operates with in a manner that allows e-mail to be channeled through RIM’S network operations center and directed to the user’s inbox where an alert informs the user that they have new e-mail. This software and systematic use replace previous methods where e-mail had to be synchronized by the user by hand.
Blackberry’s upgrades have continued to bring about a revolutionary trend in the way e-mail and other wireless technology can be processed through their handheld devices. Blackberry plans to continue developing their equipment and has plans to introduce a new Blackberry called the Blackberry Thunder, which will bring to the consumer market the many features Blackberry already offers in a handheld with the addition of a touch screen.
As of 2008, it’s estimated that there are about 19 million people who use Blackberry handhelds and are subscribers to the services offered. One can guesstimate quite easily that as Blackberry continues to fill the hands of new users, their quality designs and services will only get better and better.
Comments
Comments are closed for this post.