I didn’t want to write this post. I’ve been putting it off for a couple of months, maybe convincing myself that if I didn’t write about it, it wasn’t real.. But the time comes when you have to face reality.
In the not too distant future, I am going to need a new phone. I’m on my second battery on this one and I sense that it too is beginning to lose efficiency. The back is held on by the case i bought to protect it after it fell out of my pocket one day.
For most people buying a new phone is no big deal. For many it is a time of celebration, a chance to upgrade to the newest and shiniest hardware.
But not for me. I don’t want new and shiny. The most important feature for me is not the camera or the apps the phone runs. I want a Blackberry.
More me it is the physical keyboard that delights. I’ve tried touchscreen and I don’t like it. call it a matter of personal taste: my fat fingers make fewer typing mistakes with the physical keyboard. Call me old-fashioned, that is okay.
Blackberry invented the smartphone and owned the market until Apple launched the iPhone. Smartphones were for serious business users. Apple marketed to ordinary consumers, and Blackberry never caught up.
Eventually the company abandoned its handset business, though it remains a software powerhouse. My latest (and probably last) Blackberry, a five-year-old KeyOne, was manufactured under licence by TCL, a company that didn’t renew its agreement (and did little to promote the product when it had a chance).
When that licence agreement expired a new player to the field cut a deal with Blackberry. Onward Mobility promised the best Blackberry yet, 5G compatible and a physical keyboard. It was to hit stores early in 2021.
Then it didn’t. And information wasn’t easily available as to when the phone would show up. During the pandemic everything was delayed. Early 2021 came and went and 2022 arrived. Still no phone, but I had hope.
I guess I am by nature an optimist. I figured I could hold my phone together a little longer while waiting for the new version. I was sure it would be worth the wait.
Then in February it becasme official. Onward Mobility ceased to exist. Their Blackberry project was dead.
That left me with two options. Buy another Blackberry (there are still some available) knowing that it was older technology but at least had the keyboard I love. Or switch to a Google of Samsung phone – highly rated but touchscreen technology. This old dog would have to learn new tricks.
I figured that I should go with the newer technology. Yet as I was writing this and checking some facts, I discovered an as yet unreleased new phone that was just annonced by Unihertz that looks a lot like my Blackberry.
I have seen previous Unihertz phones advertised, but have never actually seen one. Online reviews have been mixed to the point where I was unwilling to take the chance on a pricey phone that I wasn’t sure I would like.
Now though I am wondering again if I should hold off on buying a new phone. It is that optimist in me again.
What do you think I should do?
random thoughts from lorne 
Steve had a very old Blackberry – he refused to update to a new phone, even though everyone tried to get him to switch. I think he was afraid of ‘new’ technology 😏
Blackberries remain great phones. But eventually the infrastructure changes will mean networks will no longer recognize them.
I am on my fourth phone. I become eligible for a new one each time the 2-year contract runs out. All of the phones have been free, although I realize the price is bundled into the package. Still, no regrets about doing it this way.
I have never done it that way. Partly because the math seems to indicate it is cheaper when I buy the phone outright. And partly because for several years my phone was provided by my employer.
My husband really liked his Blackberry. He tried several other phones after that and eventually ‘went over to the dark side’ and bought an iPhone… and an iPad. He is happy with these two choices because they just ‘work’ together. The phone can use two SIM cards so that he can have his home phone number and his business number on the one phone. He can Facetime family members on it, and it has a really good camera. It has excellent security.
I have used iPhones. Millions do. But they aren’t for me.
When Jesus walked the streets in Galilee and called out in the name of the Father, had you been there, do you think you would have embraced his new Way, or clung fastidiously, like a Pharisee to the law of Moses because it was the way you’d always lived?
I was a Blakberry devotee through three phones and many years. They had the best keyboards, way better than this Apple. My best keyboard now is on my iPad, and you can even attach a real laptop keyboard if you like.
I do a lot of writing on my phone, and I find the physical keyboard better suited to my style. I’ve used touchscreens, both on phone and on tablet. I’m not opposed to new technology, and understand I may eventually have to change – but if the old is better I’d like to stick with it.
It would be interesting to see if Jesus preferred Blackberry to Apple. One more question to be answered in heaven.