In a tongue-in-cheek review published on Friday, New York Magazine tells the story of a demo BlackBerry Z10 which, after multiple software issues including numerous crashes, died after only four days of testing.
The now-dead BlackBerry Z10. | Source: New York Magazine
The piece, dubbed a "eulogy" by New York Magazine's Kevin Roose, said the BlackBerry Z10 test unit was offered up by the company's public relations team shortly after the device was announced on Jan. 30, and subsequently became unusable on Feb. 3.
While Roose commented on a few of the so-called "revolutionary" features of the Z10, like 70,000 available launch apps and a unique system that toggles the BB10 OS between work and home use, the article is peppered with a host of negatives. For example, besides the lack of apps like Netflix, Skype and Instagram that are common to rival smartphones, the BlackBerry unit suffered from multiple crashes.
Overall, it appears as though Roose was underwhelmed by the product:
BlackBerry Z10, you were a piece of crap, but you were my piece of crap. And I'll miss you. Whenever I pick up my iPhone from now on, I'll be looking at a solid, functional, well-designed piece of hardware with working apps and the ability to outlive a green banana. But I'll be thinking of you.
The BlackBerry Z10 and the physical keyboard-carrying Q10 are seen by many as being BlackBerry's last attempt at regaining a foothold in the smartphone market it once dominated.