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 te

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.