The U.S. Senate is set to finally kick its BlackBerry habit.
Lawmakers’ staffers were informed last week that the Senate would no longer provide them with any more of the communications devices. The announcement marked the end of an era for the once-ubiquitous tools, widely dubbed “crackberries” for the way they became essential to users’ lives.
“Once we have exhausted our current in-house stock, new device procurements will be limited, while supplies last, to warranty exchanges only,” the Senate Sergeant at Arms said in the message.
BlackBerrys were particularly popular on Capitol Hill during their heyday a decade ago, where many found the device’s design ideally suited to political messaging. Even after the devices were eclipsed by Apple’s iPhone, they remained in common use in Washington.
President Obama still used a BlackBerry as recently as last year. The ongoing probe into whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton violated federal rules relating to email security revolves around her usage of personal BlackBerry devices.
However, BlackBerry has announced it is discontinuing its Classic line, the version most commonly used on the Hill.
