BlackBerry has become teenagers' smartphone of choice

BlackBerry costs £25 a month with free internet and free texts
iPhone users pay £30 a month plus up to £300 for the handset
Facebook on a BlackBerry
BlackBerry has boosted its youth appeal through its free messaging service and lower overall costs. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

BlackBerrys were once the preserve of the professional and managerial classes helping our leaders keep on top of their busy working lives with mobile email. But now the little black gadgets have spread to the mainstream – and are now not just the corporate smartphone of choice but, surprisingly, that of teenagers as well. So when and how did they become so popular?

As a 19 year old, a BlackBerry appealed to me for many reasons. First things first; my friends had one. Having a BlackBerry is something of a craze and us teens like to follow suit.

Another factor which influenced my decision was the BlackBerry messenger service, which allows you to instantly send a free message to your friends and teens generally like free things. So, while inter-railing around Europe this summer I was able to 'BBM' my friends at home without worrying about running up a hefty phone bill.

As a student, I know most of us are strapped for cash 99% of the time. So another reason for choosing a BlackBerry was the reasonable price. Although the iPhone is similar to the BlackBerry the price is much higher, which for me was the deal breaker. My BlackBerry costs £25 per month which gives me free internet, free texts and 500 minutes of calls. The iPhone costs more than £30 per month and you usually have to pay for the phone itself, which can be another £200-300.

Despite being 'Team BlackBerry' I realise that an iPhone is much better for storing music. However, although some friends have iPhones, they also have iPods which do pretty much the same thing

So, although teenagers don't actually 'need' a BlackBerry (I'm not important enough to get thousands of emails) I can relate to how and why they have become so popular.

Friends have started to refer to their BlackBerrys as their 'babies' and some even sleep with them under their pillow. I'm ashamed to admit I feel a little lost without mine which is why I'm BlackBerry through and through.