It feels a little far-fetched to suggest that one of the leading handset manufacturers putting out one of the very first "smart devices" had no influence on the future of smart devices that followed it, if you ask me.
Yes, they weren't in the hands of every stylish adult or high-spending teen, but it wasn't for them. I'd guarantee it influenced the thinking of other people building products in that category for at least a few years. And in the long run the world changed due to that product category.
Blackberry innovated by shrinking the keyboard to thumb size, and making do with a smaller display so it could fit in a pocket instead of requiring a handbag.
Those two innovations/ bold compromises over the Communicator enabled RIM to discover the first addictive euphoria of an always connected social device with the crack berry.
I say “social” but it wasn’t really because the app was really just email. But RIM got it into the gossip columns through Paris Hilton and Janet Jackson, setting the stage for the blockbuster device that landed in 2007 when Steve Jobs showed everybody what a leap forward into a new category could be.
Key for blackberry was as you say the one handed keyboard. That I would add - great battery life, robust (could drop it without expending upon some military tested grade case) and above all. They focused on the one internet application buisness needed - email on the go.
That right there gave them a winner in those early days.
Now what gave Blackberry there consumer base was the PIN messaging which was a basic chat system that was simple and effective, something a bit more for those that grew up on SMS to engage with and they did.
Yes, they weren't in the hands of every stylish adult or high-spending teen, but it wasn't for them. I'd guarantee it influenced the thinking of other people building products in that category for at least a few years. And in the long run the world changed due to that product category.