It was a leading brand in PDA space
Secure email, calendar, ToDo manager, contacts and notes with PIN messaging and a keyboard, all integrated with desktop and enterprise. A proper PDA for workers who acted like they were organized. That's how I remember the little blue Blackberry I had about ten years ago; I loved it and I was looking forward to the Classic because it came along just as my 4S was feeling old. I was convinced that I was going to jump back into BB world. Then I did my research. No ToDo manager. No Notes. No confidence that it would synch with Mac Calendar and Contacts and no way to contact RIM for help if you haven't got a Twitter account (I haven't got a Twitter account) except by writing to them in Canada (they don't reply).
I guess I'm not a typical user. I want a phone, contacts, email, ToDo, Calendar, and I want desktop apps that synch with it. I don't do social stuff. I don't watch fillums on a 4" screen. Music would be handy, but I've got a bunch of iPods somewhere, so that's not a dealbreaker. A bit of web access every now and then is handy - but I could live without it (and where I normally work I generally have to!).
I'm off to eBay to see how much a 7320 will cost me - although I have a vague recollection that the last time I tried this I fell over at the BES stage.