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From Brick To Bold: The Evolution Of The BlackBerry
Andrew R. Hickey

It's been 10 years since Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd. rolled out the first BlackBerry device. In that decade, BlackBerry has become synonymous with mobility and is seen as the gold standard for mobile applications like email and calendaring. Today, BlackBerry is credited with creating some of the most forward thinking, feature packed smart phones out there; a huge transition from the clunky brick-styled devices of yore. Today, you can't ride a train or grab a cup of coffee without seeing someone with their face aglow with the backlight from their BlackBerry screen as they scroll through emails and messages. The addictive nature of the devices has led some users to refer to them as "CrackBerrys" because of the drug-like hold they have on their loyal users.
With the BlackBerry Bold 9000 (pictured), the latest device from Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM, set to hit the market in the U.S. within the next month or so, we thought it'd be fun to look back at the past decade and highlight some of devices -- if they can still be called that -- that BlackBerry has released over the years. While considered cutting edge at the time, a glance back at older BlackBerry devices is comparable to a trip back in a time machine. In the past decade the devices have evolved, shrunk considerably and have become more useful than ever before.
Let's take a trip down BlackBerry memory lane. And before you chuckle at how archaic some of these devices appear, take a look through that junk drawer -- they might still be in there laughing back at you.