As someone who has never used a smartphone with a physical keyboard, I have ended up drawing the short straw for Lowyat.NET’s new editorial segment, and have been assigned to spend the next week using the BlackBerry Classic as my only communications device. After seven days, I will share my thoughts and experience with using such an unfamiliar device.
The BlackBerry Classic is BlackBerry’s “throwback” device of sorts, a nostalgic look back at its glory years – and for the fans who treasure the Bolds of old. It’s somewhat symbolic of BlackBerry’s current status, too: it’s powered by a processor that’s about two years old and runs on hardware that is rather uninspired. But hey, it’s got the much-loved BlackBerry physical keyboard, so that’s got to count for something, right?
In any case, I will be using the BlackBerry Classic as my daily driver for the next seven days. It’ll be my only smartphone for social media, email, taking pictures, and occasionally distracting myself from the boredom of meatspace. The challenge looks simple enough for someone who is used to switching phones for review purposes. Although, this is not so much a review as it is looking at the world through the eyes of a BlackBerry user.
With that being said, I have already confronted my first obstacle while setting the Classic up for use. I was not warned that BlackBerry built the Classic to use a nano-SIM, something that I do not own with my current Windows Phone. It will require a short trip out to remedy the issue.
Otherwise, the process has been relatively pleasant and there should be smooth sailing from here on out. The countdown for seven days has begun.
Now to find out how this BlackBerry Blend thing works.
Introducing “One Week With…”, our new segment where one member of the editorial team uses a product they’d usually not use as their own. Each episode, we take someone completely out of their comfort zones for…well, for fun, really. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes!
