BlackBerry was once the internet in your hand, but now it's for people who want to go offline
Students in China are buying old BlackBerry phones because new apps like TikTok don’t work on them
Younger people are usually known as the first to adopt the latest gadgets. But in China, some are bringing back a piece of old-school tech that you probably haven’t heard mentioned in a while: The BlackBerry.
The once-favorite phone of the 2000s is having an unlikely resurgence as a phone to help users avoid the pitfalls of too much internet access. And according to local media, BlackBerry has become especially popular among students who are resorting to older phones to keep them focused on their studies.
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, owner of Taobao.)
Hong Kong-based Leo Lee, who runs several online fan pages dedicated to BlackBerry, said that users still buy BlackBerry phones for their security features, looks and their signature physical QWERTY keyboards. Those looking for a way to avoid staying online usually choose older handsets running BlackBerry OS, which doesn’t support for many newer apps. This kind of setup is good for students who want to focus on studying, Lee said.
