When the BlackBerry was the smartphone of the celebrities

Before iPhones took over the mobile phone market, BlackBerry was the coolest and most appreciated company by celebrities and more. The story of the Canadian brand is unique in the history of telecommunications: no brand has ever managed to rise to success so rapidly and fail just as quickly. At the same time, BlackBerry can now take solace in the fact that it is the iconic phone par excellence – perhaps only the Razr, a historic Motorola model, can evoke such nostalgia. However, BlackBerry's life is embellished with a series of gems that contribute to making its narrative particularly intriguing, ranging from Kim Kardashian's endorsements to the figure of Barack Obama, culminating in a 2009 news story that even involved the 'Ndrangheta and the Gulf Cartel. As for why BlackBerry-branded models were the favorites of celebrities, well, there is very little doubt. The disruptive aspect of the company's mobile phones was the QWERTY keyboard, as well as direct access to email: a smart solution to cope with the fast-paced lives of VIPs. The same VIPs who did not immediately surrender to the arrival of iPhones: iMessage – which at the time was still an entirely new means of communication – did not guarantee privacy to users, who needed to share their phone number or email address to start a conversation. In contrast, BlackBerry's main instant messaging system (BBM) worked differently. It was initiated using a PIN; anyone who wanted to interact had to send a request that had to be accepted. Originally created as a pager (model 850), the handheld structure of BlackBerry had, in short, captivated everyone, reaching the pinnacle of success with models like the 8700, Curve, Bold (Kim Kardashian's favorite), and the Tour.

The company was also very clever in investing in the image boost that only a few celebrities could provide. Kim Kardashian, who used one until 2016, was one of the most famous endorsers of the brand: the most viral shots of her immortalize her at the launch event of the BlackBerry 8330 Pink Curve, a scene that, as this Cosmopolitan article also points out, we would find quite hard to see today. Alicia Keys also played her part in the BlackBerry saga: in 2013, at the launch of the BlackBerry 10, she was named the global creative director. «Alicia Keys believes in BlackBerry's product and technology and shares our motto, 'Keep Moving.' We want her to bring her remarkable skills, a vast network of relationships in the entertainment, social media, and business sectors to help improve our business,» were the words spoken by Thorsten Heins, then President and CEO of BlackBerry, who had in mind to work with the artist alongside content creators and retailers, using the new features of that mobile phone model that would go down in history as a massive flop. The connection between BlackBerry and music personalities doesn't end with Alicia Keys: before her, Tinie Tempah mentioned the company in the track Miami 2 Ibiza and even had his name engraved on the casing of a gold-plated BlackBerry Bold. However, the most intriguing anecdote concerns Drake: it is known that the artist, a fellow Canadian, used to jot down the drafts of his future track lyrics on his BlackBerry. This led to speculation on the famous CrackBerry forum regarding his potential role as a brand ambassador for the company, a rumor that was later denied.

When you think of BlackBerry, besides Katy Perry, Brad Pitt, Anna Wintour, and Rihanna, the most iconic figure that comes to mind is Barack Obama. He himself revealed in an episode of Jimmy Fallon'sTonight Show that he was «the first President of the United States to own a BlackBerry», which he used until 2016. In other words, all the coolest personalities were in love with their BlackBerrys. However, the extensive anthology of the company also includes events that go beyond the circles of the jet set. In 2009, Nicola Gratteri, an Italian magistrate and essayist, during the presentation of his book titled Fratelli di sangue (Brothers of Blood), revealed that some members of the 'Ndrangheta and the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking organization, had interacted with each other using BlackBerrys, as also reported in this article, possibly making use of the innovative BBM messaging service. Unfortunately, the stories related to BlackBerry will come to an abrupt end when the company couldn't keep up with the voracious competition from Apple's iOS and the Android operating system.

It turned out to be too challenging to keep up with the full touch screen introduced by the Cupertino company, and especially with the genius of Steve Jobs. Precisely, however, Apple's clear victory over BlackBerry came with the release of the iPhone 4, still remembered today as one of the best smartphones ever, both in terms of design and innovation. BlackBerry couldn't adapt to another groundbreaking innovation, the introduction of the App Store, not to mention the absence of distinctive features that even alienated some of its most loyal customers. BlackBerry's romanticism can also be found in its vulnerability, which, over time, made it the tail end of the smartphone market. A piece of advice: don't give away your BlackBerrys; they are akin to relics A piece of advice: don't give away your BlackBerrys; they are like relics now.