Washington.- The classic BlackBerry is forced to retire.
A pioneer of email on the go and a poster child for corporate connectivity, it reigned supreme in the days when physical keyboards had yet to give way to touch screens. But this Tuesday, the cellphone-turned-status symbol will become a relic as the transition to 5G wireless progresses, The Washington Post reported.
After their “end of life date,” as BlackBerry calls it, devices running on BlackBerry’s legacy operating systems and software “will no longer function reliably,” the company, which has since changed towards enterprise software and cybersecurity, it reminded users in a press release in late December. Older devices won’t be able to send a text message or dial 911, placing them firmly in the realm of the arcane, in the company of floppy disks and rotary phones. However, you may still be able to play some games.
BlackBerry was one of the first devices to introduce the tension that comes with eroding the boundaries between home and office. The devices were loved and ridiculed for how hard they were to put down, earning them the nickname “Crackberries.” Wars waged over BlackBerry use—at the movies, at the dinner table, during ballet recitals and T-ball games, while crossing the street—heralded the endless tug-of-war for attention and presence that many face in the age of ubiquitous smartphones, social media, and Slack.
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