You can put it a bit pathetically: With the beginning of the new year, an era ends.
Since January 4th, old Blackberries with the operating system of the same name no longer work.
Blackberrys with Android continue to run.
The Blackberrys had been the first devices for mobile e-mail since 1999, at that time a luxury for business leaders and politicians.
With the first model, the 850, you couldn't even make a phone call, but it already had the characteristic mini-keyboard with which you could answer messages quickly.
E-mail on mobile devices was a spectacular innovation, initially expensive and only usable with special servers.
The Blackberrys, however, pointed the way.
Years later every manager got his Blackberry, it was the business tool of the mobile nomads.
The brand's star fell with the iPhone.
In 2013 the operating system was again finely modernized with version 10, but unsuccessfully.
The switch to Android 2015 was one last rebellion.
Blackberry production ended in 2020, but maybe a 5G Blackberry will come from a licensee of the traditional name.
We say thank you and shed a tear.