Back in the day, RIM made smartphones to die for
Legend has it people went to unspeakable lengths to own a BlackBerry.
Just as Apple and Samsung smartphones are perceived as social symbols of wealth and elegance today, Research in Motion (RIM) held that mantle back in the late 2000s and early 2010s. RIM’s BlackBerry (BB) devices particularly stood out thanks to the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) — an instant messaging application exclusive to the BlackBerry Operating System (BB OS).
Although the BB was primarily produced for businessmen and professionals considering their revolutionary business-centric features such as top-notch security, connectivity, and email and fax services, they gained mainstream appeal because of their stylishness, physical QWERTY keyboards, quality photography, and the BBM, of course.
The BBM doubled as a fun and highly effective instant messaging app. It was like WhatsApp if the Meta-owned software was stripped down to support only texting, an avatar, and a status with limited characters. But instead of phone numbers, friends would add each other up by exchanging a 6-8 character long unique identifier known as ‘Pin.’
Fun fact: WhatsApp was created to rival the BBM.
Other prominent features included Pinging, which was similar to the Facebook Poke used essentially to summon the attention of friends, and the media player connectivity option that allowed active contacts to see what you were listening to. For those of you who often forgot to turn it off while watching x-rated content: know that you will always be remembered.
Everything about the BlackBerry was chic and classy. Coupled with BBM’s distinct alert tone and the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) plans, consumers were hooked, even though the devices cost an arm and a leg.
The fear of missing out was so strong, legend has it many folks who could not afford a BB went to unspeakable lengths— especially for flagship models like the Torch and the Bold series— giving in to stealing, prostituting, padding and diverting school fees, etc., just to feel among, take sharp photos, and be able to say to your crush, “Ping me!” The trend even inspired several home videos, notably the eponymous classic, BlackBerry Babes (2011) starring Tonto Dikeh.
Nonetheless, with the advent of the Android and the iPhone, BlackBerry’s grip on the Nigerian and global smartphone market began to dwindle. Despite licensing the BBM for other platforms in late 2013 in a bid to boost revenue, parent company RIM was ultimately divided up and sold to various corporations in 2016. The new owners have since tried to make BB devices powered by the Android OS (Z10, Q5, Q10, Leap, Priv, etc.), but none of them performed well enough to ignite a renaissance, so they stopped in 2018.
Do you remember the BlackBerry era? Which BlackBerry model did you own or fancy? Please share in the comments section.