Earlier this month, the memorable BlackBerry cellphone brand essentially "died" after the company stopped supporting its devices, resulting in them losing functionality.
"As of January 4, 2022, devices running on these service offerings through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 9-1-1 functionality," reads the company's announcement on the matter.
With this news, many people began reminiscing about the once-popular cellphone, and Gen Zers were particularly nostalgic over the now-defunct devices.
"They're vintage," Cara Curtis, a 24-year-old copywriter, said. She also shared that BlackBerry phones remind her of "the scene in Gossip Girl when Serena throws her phone in the bin 'cause she got a text that made her sad."
Others may recall BlackBerry phones having a solid presence in the early seasons of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Much like iPhones being everywhere in today's media, BlackBerry devices can be spotted in an array of earlier scenes from the hit series.
Emily Fall—an 18-year-old college student—expressed similarly fond sentiments, saying she "loved [her BlackBerry] so much."
Recently found my blackberry too so im really back in my bad bitch era pic.twitter.com/BI2XxhuPkq
— SNOW BLVCK (@snowblvck_) January 17, 2022
However, Fall also noted that the devices wouldn't be ideal in the current age.
"If I had that phone [today], it'd be a lot harder to stay in touch with people," she added.
Despite this concern, others acknowledged and recognized the device's messaging app—BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)—as a handy communication resource. One 24-year-old production assistant named Lili Shi noted that BBM, a free service, "was everything."
Post the cell phone you had in high school. I’ll go first: Blackberry 8830 World Edition. And yes, this made me a baller. pic.twitter.com/xYwDgEAXSI
— Forrest (@utahforrest) January 12, 2022
Arjun Sheregill, an 18-year-old college student, also fawned over BlackBerry's iconic Brick Breaker game, saying it's "goated." Others like Rudy M, a 19-year-old student, humorously joked that BlackBerry devices had great secondary uses, such as being "good to use as a weapon."
In the face of these nostalgic memories and reflections, one student named Johnathon Joyner arguably summed it up best by referring to the BlackBerry as a "relic of time and space."
