If you're clinging to an old BlackBerry, it will officially stop working on Jan. 4
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
And now it's time to say goodbye to the BlackBerry. The old-school smartphone is being laid to rest today. If you have a phone that runs on a BlackBerry operating system, you will no longer be able to send texts, get data or make phone calls. NPR's Jaclyn Diaz looks back at what made BlackBerry a cultural touchstone.
JACLYN DIAZ, BYLINE: A BlackBerry was once the thing to own. Everyone from President Obama to Kim Kardashian had one. Beyonce wouldn't even let it out of her hands to sleep.
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BEYONCE: I'm sleeping with my BlackBerry. I'm having dreams that I'm answering emails. Like, it's that far.
DIAZ: The BlackBerry had a uniquely addictive quality. Kevin Michaluk's love affair started in 2005 when he landed a new job that came with a BlackBerry.
KEVIN MICHALUK: It was the BlackBerry 8700, this old brick of a phone with a track wheel on the side of it. It took a couple days before I even picked this thing up. But then I finally did, and, like so many BlackBerry users, I just became addicted to this thing.
DIAZ: Michaluk and his friends even founded crackberry.com, a website devoted to all things BlackBerry. It was the first smartphone with a real keyboard. You could send messages and emails from anywhere at any time. Again, Kevin Michaluk.
MICHALUK: Even when you weren't using it, you just held it in your hand, and you were, you know, flicking on the track wheel. And there was something different about it, and you just felt very connected.
DIAZ: The BlackBerry changed how people worked.
MICHALUK: When BlackBerry came out, it turned email into almost like chat. And even in the workplace, it created a culture where - how good are you at your job? Well, how quickly are you responding to emails?
DIAZ: But soon, smartphones went way beyond work. iPhones and Android devices, with their colorful apps, music, social media and video, started dominating almost every waking hour of people's lives. And BlackBerry couldn't keep up. It became obsolete even amongst the most dedicated fans.
MICHALUK: I am using an iPhone these days, so you know, that tells you everything at that point, when the BlackBerry fanboy has no real option but to switch.
DIAZ: Jaclyn Diaz, NPR News.
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