BlackBerry put work email into a pocket-sized device and delivered new messages without requiring the user to check manually. Research In Motion introduced the platform in 1999 and expanded it to include phone calls, SMS, calendars, organisers and internet applications. BlackBerry Enterprise Server connected the handhelds to established Exchange and Lotus Domino systems.
Why It Mattered
It made being reachable by email away from a desk feel normal, particularly inside business and government. The physical keyboard and push notifications created a distinctive rhythm of constant mobile communication long before smartphones made that expectation universal.
Push email
- BlackBerry Enterprise Server integrated with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino.
- BlackBerry's institutional history dates the product's introduction to 1999.
- It delivered push-based wireless access to existing email and corporate data.
Integrated platform
- The 2004 platform supported email, phone, SMS, organiser, intranet and internet applications.
- BlackBerry Connect licensed access to other manufacturers using Palm OS, Symbian and Windows Mobile.
Company and adoption
- RIM reported more than one million active BlackBerry subscribers in February 2004.
- The company, founded in 1984, was renamed BlackBerry in 2013.
Associated With
Research In Motion Limited - creator and operator
Defining Feature
An integrated handheld, server and service platform for push-based wireless email and corporate data
Status
Discontinued - Research In Motion adopted the BlackBerry company name on 30 January 2013
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Licence
Historical Ephemera
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Caption
Personalised cases soften BlackBerry's business-phone image. Its physical keyboard also became part of everyday messaging culture, well beyond the office.
