Stick a Fork in Blackberry, They're Done

Even the company that Blackberry owes lots of money to, doesn't want them.

I haven't even seen a Blackberry device in at least three years and then it was their first big touch screen model with that ridiculous touch/click to select interface. They were truly innovative at the time, but they didn't change with the market. So, they've rightfully been left in the dust.

@gul is still using a Blackberry. As far as I know he is actually their last customer.

Little 12 year old Hong Chan, in the factory in China, is clicking together the last pieces of the last Blackberry now. Amidst his tears, because he knows it's back to the gulag when the plant closes, he takes the time to smear @gul on the back of it using his sorrowful eye juice to forever mark this unit and it's fortunes. God speed, Little 12 year old Hong Chan!

As long as somebody offers a smallish phone with a physical keyboard, I don't much care what name is on the top.

Physical keyboard? What is this? 2008? Luddite.

That anyone still operates under the belief that a physical keyboard is better or faster then current iPhone/Android glass keyboards is laughable.........

As long as the software registers my keystroke, things are fine, when it doesn't, then a physical keyboard is still better.

I simply prefer it, has nothing to do with speed. That said, I am faster than most.

The nice thing about physical keyboards is that they don't take up any of your screen, and as an added bonus, you can actually get tactile feedback.

I don't even have to look at mine when I type, which makes me type even faster.

Unless of course you consider the permanent reduction of screen size to be an annoyance. The tactile feedback is the only advantage and it just isn't enough.

Classic case of management fail. Bad for the employees who'll lose their jobs

This is the exact issue. And for the screen real estate folks, I happily give it up not just for the keyboard, but for the size of the phone, too. MY Q10 fits in small pockets, tight pants, etc. This matters more to me than the size of the screen. And to be honest, the screen size is more than adequate. Lately I've been using my tablet less and phone more, and not missing anything.

I use an LG900 which looks and feels just like a Blackberry, and I love the keyboard. Screen size isn't an issue for me because my phone isn't the latest model, and isn't designed to be the Swiss Army Knife cell phones are, now. I can text, email, browse the internet, listen to music, watch video clips, take photos, and make calls. For me, that is far more than enough. If I need something more than that, I can get a tablet, where a larger screen would make sense. My brother has a smartphone, I don't remember which model, but it's one of the newer ones with the bigger screen, and it has an onscreen keyboard. By the time he gets started and typing, I've typed out my message and have hit 'send.'

Another advantage from a physical keyboard and small form factor: single hand operation. I can browse, type, and touch any part of the screen while holding the phone in one hand. The other hand is then free to hold a cup of coffee, grab a subway strap, or whatever else I might wish to do with a free hand.

I have an iPhone and use it one handed 90% of the time.

I do hate that I have to look at the screen to type, but that's the only draw back. No need to text while driving anyways.

Never had the pleasure. The only black berry I ever touched was in a bowl covered with milk and sugar.
BTW on Sunday I actually tried to TEXT with my cell phone I needed to tell my daughter something and I was hunting at the time - thus I couldn't talk or I'd scare the critters. It was epic fail. I couldn't figure out how to select individual letters. If I wanted to type the letter B for example I would have to hit the 2 button, which contains A,B, and C. But when you press 2 the letter A pops up. If you press 5 the letter J pops up - you can't choose K.
Thus the message would be gibberish, so I gave up in frustration before my paleolithic brain exploded.

Blackberry, or at least a small portion of it, ain't going anywhere anytime soon. Two of their biggest customers are the U.S. and Canadian federal governments. A lot of military, intelligence and law enforcement departments use Blackberry because of its unparalleled security, which neither Apple nor Android can touch with a ten-foot pole.

In fact, Chinese company Lenovo tried to make a play for Blackberry but it was blocked by the Canadian government due to national security concerns.

That being said, Blackberry as a consumer product is dead. Whatever survives will likely only cater to corporate and government clients.

I made the switch from chiclet keys on my Palm to the touchscreen on my HTC android phone and it wasn't that big of a deal in the end. I did miss them at first, but I use a lot of speech to text anyway, so it didn't really matter.

The only problem I run into, is when my hands are too cold to register on the touchscreen. Which due to health issues, happens even when it's not cold outside. I do find it an annoyance then.

That's the other phone you can do that with. Try finding an Android as small.

Whatever Flow's is.

So it fits in your skinny jeans with no issues?

With room to spare for a u-lock or a PBR.

Yes, I can concur with that keyboard statement. .

This. I had no idea gul had tiny Elwood hands.

I probably type about 80% of the time with one hand.

Yea but in the subway you have the strap in one hand and a knife pointed at you while that free hand had a once loved cell phone in it.

Try dx.com, banggood.com, and aliexpress.com, lightinthebox.com, and everbuying.com You probably won't find a name brand, like LG, Motorola, etc. with a physical keyboard on those sites, but you'll find an Android smartphone with a physical keyboard that costs way less than a name brand phone, so if you're not happy with it, or you drop it, you're not out a whole lotta cash. I bought this Android phone (no physical keyboard, though) to replace my previous Android phone.. As out of date as my old phone is, the asking price for it on eBay is still higher than what I paid for my new one, and it has far fewer features than my new one does. Its not as nice as as a brand new Samsung or LG or any other name brand phone, but if somebody steals it, or I break it, I'm not out nearly as much. And if I could afford to plunk down the kind of money a new Samsung Galaxy IV or Motorola X costs, I could buy one equal to it from one of those sites for less money.

Exactly. What is even the point of a physical keyboard that size? Are people touch typing on the thing?