RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. They hearken back to a simpler time. Instead of touch screens and infinite scrolling, BlackBerries used tiny keyboards. They were once cutting-edge tools of productivity wielded by executives and politicians. President Obama famously clung to his BlackBerry. But today, the end of an era - BlackBerry is ending service on its phones. For some, this means heartbreak. Meanwhile, others are wondering, what is a BlackBerry?

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.