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Comment by bluedino | Hacker News Reader

Who's using them? What market? I have not seen a Blackberry in years. I saw a picture of a guy with that new square-ish one and that's about it.

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I switched from an iPhone to a Passport last fall, and have been very happy with it overall. I am a consumer, so this is just for personal use. My reasons for switching were:

1. Real keyboard. I carried the iPhone for 3 years and never liked the soft keyboard. Most of my usage is text entry (messaging and email), so being able to do this quickly and accurately matters. I much prefer text entry on the Passport, both because I find it easier and more accurate, and I don't give up half the screen to the soft keyboard.

2. Dev / unix tools. It might be a bit surprising, but the BB10 dev kit is actually pretty good: Several API options; no barriers to getting started (download and go); and you can access / expose / augment the unix userland underneath. With a command line app, it feels like a real computer. The keyboard makes this experience better.

Since switching, I have also been pleasantly surprised by the size and quality of the screen - 1440x1440 is kind of awesome (more pixels than my laptop). Blend has also been unexpectedly good.

Anyway, that's me and my reasons. I'm just a unix nerd in the consumer market. I'm not into flashing ROMs or jailbreaking or anything like that, and I find the BlackBerry keyboard lineup pretty compelling. YMMV.

I would buy a Passport if there was strong privacy/security/policy isolation between Android apps and data on the phone. Something like what Cyanogen does, by faking blank data (e.g. contacts) in response to apps which insist on having permission to access contacts.

Many business people around here (city in Canada) have them. And they do look pretty sweet. Big square Phablet screen with a physical keyboard, plus all the touch features you'd expect.

Canadians. Lots of brand loyalty up here. Anecdotally, I see iPhones and Galaxy S/Note most frequently, and then Blackberry is about as common as any other smartphone model.

There are still people who have not been converted to iOS/Android/Windows devices. Yesterday they had a Blackberry and tomorrow they want a Blackberry. But their numbers are dwindling.

Blackberry's current success comes from selling these people exactly what they want; an upgrade from their current model that is almost the same in form and function. When someone wants a different form and function they go to an iPhone or an Android.

I believe they're still widely used in government.

I have the new Blackberry Passport: http://ca.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-passport/ove.... It's easily the best smartphone I've ever owned and the best Blackberry has come out with.

You'll be seeing and hearing a lot more about Blackberry. I can assure you that.

What other phones have you owned? The passport get's a general feeling of "meh" from anyone, including existing Blackberry users, who use it.

Former iOS and Android user here. Never had a "meh" by people noticing me with this phone, rather genuine interest. As far as using it is concerned, it has its quirks, but I left iOS and Android because I feel they had much of those, too. At least Blackberry's trying something different, and features such as the Hub, the advanced multitasking and the 2-day battery life are a nice change.

Blackberry Classic is great!

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