Rewind nine months and I posted a CrackBerry Habits poll asking if you talked on your BlackBerry via a wired headset. That poll was inspired my friend Vinny, who's not so much a tech guy but is absolutely a hardcore user of his BlackBerry. When it came to his wired headset, he'd talk on his phone non-stop, even while out for breakfast with a group of people. It was BlackBerry abuse, not use (see video).
Fast forward to yesterday. I dropped by Vinny's for an espresso before heading out to watch the Euro 2012 finals. While at Vinny's, he asked me when the new BlackBerrys were coming out as he figured he was *close* to needing a new one. I looked at his BlackBerry Bold 9780 and almost spit my espresso out on the table. He has completely worn out the keyboard on his BlackBerry. Literally. On every single key he has worn through the paint to the clear plastic underneath. And what's really crazy is that the Bold 9780 isn't *that* old. He's maybe had the phone all of 18 months - just halfway through his 3 year contract on Rogers.
i've always considered myself to be a murderer of keyboards, but I've never worn through a BlackBerry keyboard like this. Granted, I'm pretty lucky and am always getting my hands on new phones. So I need to know from CrackBerry Nation... how many of you have made the keyboard on your BlackBerry look like this? Sound off in the comments, and if you have photos, send them in to editorial@crackberry.com!
Reader comments
CrackBerry Habits: Have you ever worn out your BlackBerry's keyboard like this?
my former bold 9000 was far morse because i use my nail and not my fingers to type.
I wish the manufacturer would put the color either through or behind the plastic, so this would never happen. My keys are starting to show the crescent moons of wear on the ridges, and I've only had my 9900 for 8 months. 8 months may seem like an eternity in these technological times, but I just think they should build them to look good over the long run. Bad idea to paint the keys...build them to be touched and not show wear.
my Tour was just embarrassing. I mean... if I HAD to see the keys to type I'd be in trouble.
My Bold has held up much better although the space bar is going. I'm seeing a bit 'o silver.
It really is all about your nails and your finger placement when you type. It has little to do with "how well you take care" of your device.
I had my Blackberry curve 8520 for around 2 years and half and you should know am a very very heavy user . but never worn out my BlackBerry's keyboard like this at all .. i guess the curve Keyboard is more better and more durable .
When i had my Nokia e70 , the keyboard worn out pretty fast .
Nope. My keyboard has stayed in perfect condition on all of my Blackberries (Curve 8310, Torch 9800, and now the Bold 9900). My wife had a 9000 that looked like that, but not quite that bad. She got it used to begin with though and 9000's were known to have a problem with the paint coming off the keys. I believe that is why they changed the material the keyboard is made of on the 9900.
My 9650 was way worse than that; I'd post a pic but I lost it in Orlando. There was almost no paint at all on the E key.
I have seen some worn down bb's, but none of my bb's have gotten to that point yet. I use my keyboard a lot but my 9900 still looks the same as day 1.
My 9700 looked like this, but I assumed it was from sliding it into the holster. I'm "not thin" and I have to put the BB into my holster at a slight angle. I've noticed that my Torch 9810 hasn't developed this problem, which makes sense because the keys are protected on the way into my holster.
Incidentally, I'm not calling you're friend fat, for the record. I'm saying he may have "holster entry angle issues". :-)
On every BlackBerry I have owned the dot on the D gets warn off from the holster and then I start wearing through keys
That's what my 9700 looks like and what my 9900 is getting to be. I have a texting issue at 5,000 a month. I email about 100 a day. And besides that I'm a non stop on the net.
I've done that. It's not from actual use though, it's from putting in and out of the case that Verizon sells.
Now, that actually makes sense.
I wear them smooth but never through the paint. My 9800 was the worst as I fond myself sliding over the keys from their need to be pushed hard. my 9900 is work slightly but not too bad.
A new keyboard is like $5 on ebay?
Nothing like that with a phone, but I've got a few sets of old irons that are a sort of golfing equivalent. And a lot worse, to be honest. If you get used to something, and it works, use it to destruction, I say...
The guy needs a manicure to soften his hands lol
Better not give him a BB10 else after seeing it with him, no one will buy BB10s.
He should buy a new keyboard from amazon etc and continue with the same cell. lol
This is how man and blackberry become as one, haha
But, doesn't that worn out looks a little fabricated, though? I've seen worse, but you can totally make out which keys were the most commonly used, the ones on the picture all look uniform, only worn out at the top, as if you had wiped the whole keyboard with sand paper.
I had the 9000 for a couple months, the 9800 for two years, and neither one seemed to be that weak; I recently switched to 9900 and it seems to be a lot tougher than that.
My 6 month old Bold 9650 is showing sign of wear. The E,S,D key have their blackpaint chipped off, only the white part remain. The bezell has lost it shine and turned black. The track pad is in really bad condition. The battery cover looks like some one took a pice off sand papper and rub agasint it. Still works like a charm !!!!
I will never get this on my 9860.
WTF.... I´m sure, this device was found beside a (dead) alien and its acid blood was floaded across the keyboard... Have a look behind you... predators in the proximity?!?
I've seen worse but the pattern in which this phone has worn out is amazing. Almost like some made a design by purpose. LOL.
Looks like my 9000 after 2years.
My 9650 is only starting to wear like that, but I've added chipped keys, they sparkle nicely when backlit in the dark :)
9700 looked similar after 2 years. My 9900 looks almost the same and ive had it for 8 months. Im not happy about that. I ordered an oem keyboard and will change it out when it arrives. I will admit i am a heavy bb user with 100's of emails and text per day sent.
Yup!! My 9700 ended up similiar to that before I got a 9780. Was just the keyboard and not the TALK/BB/BACK/END keys yet lol My space was completely see through.
Before my cousin (who is an adult) dropped my 9700 in a toilet, my keyboard looked pretty much the same as Vinny's, especially the N key for some reason lol. I had the Torch next and didn't get to wear out that keyboard before I started having battery issues. Now I have a white 9900 and now in month 2, the keyboard still looks great. Check back in with me in 6 months lol...
If your hands are usually sweaty, this will happen :D. (Acidity)
My BlackBerry is still sporting a healthy looking keyboard, and I do well to make it clean.
Sporting a 9300 Curve and an 8900
my look like that after 12 month and keep getting worst
I wore all of the markings off of my old curve 8530's keyboard, but luckily since it's a BB I didn't really need to see them to type :)
Most of the keys got mutulated, no paint on them, had to use black marker to cover the voids!
My 9900's N, space, sym and E keys are starting to wear out already. That shows I'm a heavy user and I ensure my fingers aren't greasey. They're clean.
anyone did it with his (Porsche 9981) ? lol
That looks like my bold 9650 lol!
Never...
He is addicted.
My 9700 looks like that as well. The 'space' key i and 'r Shift' are almost worn out. I am awaiting the QNX phones but I'm not sure that my phone will last that long...
Wishing and hoping that BB10 is released SOON...
My 9700 is like that, but I am being gentle on my beautiful 9900
I had a 9900 like that (notr quite as bad) but luckily something unrelated went wrong and I ended up getting a new one! I also have a buddy with the 9900 that is very similar to the one above!
I use my 9930 constantly. It is still in new shape. I think a lot of it has to do with the ph levels of the oil that is on your fingers.
I totally did that to my Curve 8350i. Space bar survived, but the rest looked like he11!
Boldly sent from my 9930
My BB Curve 8330 looked like this... it was my first BB. I didn't hold back! HA!
I got my 9900 the week they came out. A good majority of the letters are worn a bit. So after 10 months?!?! I imagine if I don't do something dumb to it and have the same one in another 8 it'll look like Vinny's.
That's why 3 year contracts are evil!
That's what happens when you have fat greasy fingers. Blackberry's are cheaply built anyways. What would u expect to have happen to the keyboard?
Not everybody has fat greesey fingers and no, blackberries aren't made "cheaply".
...he's confusing what happens when his fat greasy fingers bugger up the keyboard on his BlackBerry knock off...
BlackBerry Torch 9860
BlackBerry PlayBook O/S 1.xx.xxxx
My phones look like that, its because I place them face down and have vibrate on. It doesn't take long to wear through like that.
no my 9930 is like new and after 2 1/2 years my 8330 was no where near that bad but I was only a moderate user not an extreme user
Insect repellent and other chemicals we put on our skin are likely to blame... Cleaners at the office put industrial strength crap on your desk too which I am sure transfers to you fingers too... Don't believe me, find some old plastic items around the house and rub them with a moistened cloth of insect repellent, even says on the bottles will wreck certain plastics... Anyhow, have had my phone for just as long and I was my hands often and the keyboard still looks great... just my $0.02 anyhow... I am sure he can buy a new keyboard too...
Fishing for topics. :(
I always post stuff like this when it happens. There's no fishing here. It's called editorial mix.
I retract my comment!
wow - that's a well used keyboard
My 9700 exhibited some wear after 12+ months but it took slightly less than 2 months to show up on my 9900, don't consider myself "hardcore" either... My fix is a felt pen and clear nail polish LOL.
Not that bad but yea my 9700 looked somewhat like that after 18 months as well. I just chalked it up to character.
Mine was about the same, maybe worse than the photo above on my 8830. Love that phone. Pure e-mail/texting/BBM, no apps, no gimmicks.
My 9000 took more abuse than that in 18 months. And several letters are completely gone.
Mine has more than just keys missing :D it has the plastic cover under the bottom 5 buttons missing and the 0 is also gone :D I still love my 9000 though
lol I really should find what I did with my old BlackBerrys that I wore out writing with them. They're at LEAST as bad as the picture above!
Lol. Yeah, you're definitely a stress test... writing books on a BB.
my 9900 is starting to do that :P but not that bad
Your friend uses moisturiser by the looks oh it....
He must need to trim his nails.
Oh, and Kevin: did you at least give him one of your old phones to tide him over?
That's what my 9630 looked like Lol
Never, and I text and e-mail daily like a madman.
HELL NO!!!
I don't abuse, for my blackberry it is my lifeline, and my means of communication. It's how I get my business done. So I care my blackberry. Never even dropped it.
Rocking Bb 9900
Friends of mine who have the 9700/80 some of their keyboards are like this, my torch 9800's is worn out but differently. But I think its because those devices were more solid than my 9900 (my 9800 can take a beating, as I still use it occasionally)
EDIT: when I say solid, btw its a phone as a whole. Not just the keyboard.
My 9900 is worse then that lol