How BlackBerry Messenger sets text messages for free

It’s important to remember that two decades ago, text messages cost 10 cents. all. When we measured our cell phone plans in minutes, and when 3G connections seemed fast, text messaging was big business for wireless carriers and Huge cost For anyone whose kids learned to type T9 very quickly. Then BlackBerry, nearing the peak of its power, did something remarkable: it cut carriers entirely. Before WhatsApp and Telegram, before iMessage and RCS, there was BlackBerry Messenger. Even though we don’t use BBM anymore, we owe it a debt of gratitude. And a few cents.

in This episode of Release dateour new show about the most important products in the history of technology, we dive into how BBM came to be, and why it ultimately lost the messaging wars. David Pearce, Nilay Patel and Joanna Stern reflect on their BBM experiences – including Joanna’s explanation of why she loves and uses BBM Way longer than was appropriate To love and use BBM – before looking at the app’s full history and legacy.

In this episode you’ll discover that BBM was right about almost everything. BlackBerry understood the appeal of the “everything app” concept long before it became popular, she added Virtually every feature Can think of application. Within BBM, you can share music, send money, post on social networks, and more.

What ultimately killed the product was, well, a lot of things, but especially the lock. When people stopped buying BlackBerry devices, they stopped using BBM. But there was a strong internal drive to make BBM a global platform, which led to major leadership changes within the company and one of the most interesting questions in the messaging industry.

This is the second episode of Release date. (The first episode was About hoverboards!). If you want to find the show, there are three good places to go:

Thank you to everyone who has already watched or listened to the show and sent their comments! We’re hard at work on the next batch of episodes, and we want to hear everything you think we should do, not do, or do differently. In the meantime, if you want to dive into BBM like we did, here are some links to get you started: