VOA慢速英语2022--黑莓手机服务正式停运

Once-popular BlackBerry Ends Most Phone Service

BlackBerry recently confirmed that as of January 4, 2022, it will no longer support the operating system for its once-popular devices. In its "end of life" announcement, the Canadian-based company said older BlackBerry devices would no longer work effectively for phone calls or data services.

The company did note that some BlackBerry devices using the Android operating system will still work. These include models launched from 2015 to 2018, starting with the BlackBerry Priv to the BlackBerry Evolve X.

The decision to end BlackBerry support was first made public in September 2020. That is when company chief John Chen announced that BlackBerry had officially moved from being a device manufacturer to a software developer. The company, Chen said, was now centered on providing "security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world."

That decision followed years of struggles by the company to keep selling BlackBerry devices as competition intensified¹ in the worldwide smartphone market. At the height of its popularity, the BlackBerry – with its built-in keyboard – enjoyed a huge market share of the mobile phone market.

The BlackBerry began to rise in 1999, eight years before Apple launched its first iPhone. At the time, the new BlackBerry 850 offered email, wireless² data and a traditional keyboard. Demand for the new combination devices started to expand. They became especially popular with businesspeople and government officials.

BlackBerry kept adding services and launching new devices through the early 2000s. By 2010, the devices held a market share of more than 40 percent, internet data company Comscore reported at the time. The company was the leader in the smartphone market, above Apple, Google, Microsoft and Palm.

The ability of the BlackBerry to keep people connected at all hours even led to the term "crackberry." The term was used to describe the dependence³ and addictive⁴ nature of the devices for many individuals.

But over the next several years, BlackBerry began to experience major drops in sales. It was forced to repeatedly delay new product launches. By 2016, Comscore reported that BlackBerry's market share had shrunk to just 1 percent. At the time, Android-based phones had a share of about 53 percent, while Apple held 43 percent.

The smartphones offered by Android and Apple appealed to many users who favored the touchscreen designs and an unlimited⁵ number of apps.

The huge fall in popularity was noted⁶ in 2016 by one of the biggest fans of the BlackBerry, then-President Barack Obama. He pushed for the ability to keep his BlackBerry in the White House after his 2008 election. During his presidency⁷, Obama spoke⁸ openly about his dependence on his BlackBerry device.

While speaking with American talk show host Jimmy Fallon in June 2016, Obama said, "I was this cool, high-tech⁹ guy when I got in... (the White House). And I was the first president to have a BlackBerry."

But he then added, "So years pass, and no one else has BlackBerries." Obama admitted that although he still loved the device and wanted to keep carrying it, he was advised to give it up for a new smartphone.

In recent years, Chinese electronics company TCL entered a partnership¹⁰ with BlackBerry that permitted it to manufacture and sell the latest BlackBerry-licensed devices. Those devices use the Android operating system.

In early 2020, an American startup company called OnwardMobility announced a plan to launch a 5G BlackBerry device powered by Android. The company's website states that the "new BlackBerry 5G smartphones" were expected to be available in 2021. The website provides no other details but offers interested parties the chance to sign up to stay informed.

Words in This Story

enterprise – n. a business or organization

keyboard – n. a set of keys on a computer that a user presses to make it work

addictive – adj. making a person want so much of something that they become dependent, or addicted¹² to it

touchscreen – n. a computer or device screen that you touch to access information, buy something, etc.

app – n. a computer program that carries out a specific job, especially on a mobile device

license¹¹ – v. give someone official permission to do or have something

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

5 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

10 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

11 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

12 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。