Vaperine & myself are ex-Blackberry users. In my case, a user & abuser, from the original Bold 9000, 9500 & 9900. That's where I ended the whirlwind relationship mostly because of the antiquated operating system & lack of popular apps found in other major operating systems. Even the lacklustre OS10 & Z devices wasn't compelling enough to entice me to stay on. Plus (and I hate having to admit this to Kambomambo!) an iPhone or Android device was already able do the same thing as the Blackberry sans the secure email encryption. BUT, the Blackberry system is significantly more frugal on Data usage. It has to be, our service provider loads a further $25 on top of the monthly subscription to justify usage on it.
I must say, I did enjoy the original Bold's form factor much more than the following iterations. The 9900 came close but I never got to terms with the tiny touch pad. The little scroll ball was where it was at. It epitomised what a typical blackberry with a physical keypad should be. It was however not enough, you had to have a kosher BB system fully operational to get the full BB experience. That's where the 9500 came in, offered together with a 2 year contract package. You never realize how tiny that screen is until you own a smartphone. The 9900 came in to marginally address that plus an increase in hardware muscle. As it was a device bought outside of DST it just didn't play nice with our system every time I updated the OS. The technical team at DST couldn't even troubleshoot the issues I was experiencing, citing they were only trained in the older OS5. So what's my incentive to stay on? Deactivated.
In comes the newly announced Passport. It's as big as a standard passport. Looking unmistakably a Blackberry with the synonymous keypad. On first glance it looks... bland, like a tablet with its top & bottom severed. Look deeper & the specs sheet start to pique your interest. It's still missing a scroll ball but a keypad with gesture capability? That caught my attention. The somewhat largish size doesn't detract but rather welcome since a BB device should be still pocketable but large enough to be truly productive.
It looks the business, but wether it can hook me in into becoming a multi-platform user again is another question altogether. BB should bring back the little scroll wheel as a nod to its popular legacy. Maybe then I'd consider carrying around another device to separate personal & work lines. <sarcasm/>Assuming it works in our system</sarcasm>.
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