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BlackBerry's iconic keyboard patent has expired
(mobilesyrup.com)
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this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2025
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I mean, people did think it was impossible before that. The idea that you can type with thumbs instead of hands was novel.
Entering text on a phone wasn't new. Doing it with thumbs wasn't new. Phones that were computers weren't new. But using specifically a qwerty keyboard on a phone, yes, that was novel.
I'm surprised there's a patent for the general concept which seems pretty obvious (as it did at the time) but I would've expected multiple patents involving the exact design and manufacturing process that made it practical.
I wasn't around at the time, but I saw a documentary on literally this, and there was an industry person talking about how there was an assumed minimum keyboard size.
Like you alluded to, the multi-push number pads were already around, which is evidence on it's own nobody could think of something better.
For the most part I think it was still the era of everyone wanting phones that were as small as possible, so that might've contributed to the reluctance of other brands to go ahead and do it. The Blackberry 8800 was 32% wider than the average Nokia at the time according to phonesdata.com.
My friend had a phone that turned landscape to use a built-in kbd in 2005 or so. I couldn't understand the appeal at the time. But I also didn't buy into sms before having a qwerty kbd on the first iPhone, so what did I know.
Nokia N900?