Drxclusive's Blog™: The Age of the BlackBerry on Capitol Hill Is Coming to an End

For years, a BlackBerry phone has been an iconic staple of life in the United States government, but now that time is coming to an end. Last Wednesday,a memo went out to Senate staffersexplaining that when the current stock of BlackBerry phones runs out, there won'tbe any more.
It's time to move on.The move away from BlackBerry isn't by choice so much as it is by necessity. As noted in the memo, the production of many of the most recent BlackBerry phones is about to stop, a soft confirmation of rumors that have been in the wind for months that the troubled Canadian company was planning tostopmaking phones on its "BlackBerry 10" operating system, and move to making normal Android phones instead.

From the memo:BlackBerry informed Verizon and AT&T that production of all BlackBerry OS 10 devices (Q10, Z10, Z30, Passport, and Classic) has been discontinued. Future carrierorder fulfillment will not be guaranteed due to limited remaining stock.BlackBerry device supportwillcontinue for the foreseeable future. BlackBerry is committed to maintaining their support of our devices to include uninterrupted warranty and technical support.

BlackBerry initially rose to iconic prominence for a couple of reasons. First and foremost were the lovely physical keyboards, a feature that helped ease first-time smartphone users into the process of typing long emails on mobile devices without jumping feet-first into a world of touchscreen keyboards. Second was the security. From the very early daysof the smartphone, BlackBerry put an emphasis on robust, end-to-end security which made it much more resistant to snooping than early iPhones and especially early Android phones.In the years since, however, Apple and companies like Samsung have really stepped up their games when it comes to security, what withthe iPhone's now-famously-strong encryptionand Samsung's "Knox" security software. That, in combination with the growing acceptance of totally touchscreen phones, better touchscreen keyboards for typing with, and BlackBerry's general failure to keep up with its increasingly sophisticated competitors, lead to the totalerosion of the company's edge.And now, with an end in production on the horizon, it looks like the last hangers-on will finally be pulled into the future.
         Source:BombleviaThe Verge