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Comment by rpeden | Hacker News Reader

We will see. It's only anecdotal, but I have quite a few friends and family members who have grudgingly switched from BB to Androids and iPhones, and even after a year or more they still hate the on-screen keyboard. I used to tell them to give it time, that they would adapt, but it has not happened and doesn't seem as though it will. If the BB10 with a physical keyboard is any good, these people won't hesitate to switch back.

I guess the question is, how many people out there feel the same way?

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I miss the keyboard. My fingers are too big to even begin to use an iPhone, but I can get by with some androids and swiftkey. I would kill for a blackberry shaped Android, I'm not a fan of sliding keyboards because I like to fiddle around with moving parts, so I have a tendency to wear them out. I just can't see paying for data on a BB when that same data is so much more useful with Android.

But that's not a pro-BlackBerry argument. There are Android phones with keyboards. Maybe they're terrible keyboards compared to a BB (I don't know), but an Android OEM could make an Android phone with an amazing keyboard if they wanted. That's not something exclusive to BlackBerries.

My Sidekick had a fantastic keyboard. I miss that thing sometimes.

The physical keyboard on my Droid 2 is one of the main reasons I keep it. For one thing, it makes text selection easy - shift and arrows.

I'm waiting for the Droid 5. Come on Motorola:)

The only Android phones with keyboards these days tend to be underpowered, as most manufacturers try to make their high-end phones as thin as possible. While I certainly would prefer a physical keyboard, I can get by with an on-screen one.

I never used Blackberry until I got one for work and the most used feature is: BBM, it's so fast and efficient.

Most times people working with each other know what's going on so a To: and Subject: then type a message in the body then Send seems so stuffy in comparison. Most times people end up putting the entire message in the subject line, like a pseudo-BBM message.

Now the trend seems to be BB is dead so iPhones are popping up for managers and Android for others. It's stifled the back and forth banter of BBM messaging, people who had a BB but switched just seem to disappear from group discussions due to the awkwardness of e-mail.

Swype makes an on-screen keyboard bearable.

I miss the keyboard from my Palm Centro, though the screen real estate of a current-gen smartphone is appreciated.

I hate on screen keyboards so much. I would love a good smart phone with a slide out keyboard.

I've been holding off from upgrading my Droid 1 for the longest time because no one is releasing good Android phones with physical keyboards (on Verizon). It looks like the Droid 4 might be my only option. I share your hate for on-screen keyboards, at least on phones. I have discovered though that the on-screen keyboard can be enjoyable to use on a larger screen (10" tablet).

I switched from a Droid 1 to a Droid 4 a few months ago, and I have no regrets. I had done the whole CyanogenMod thing and tried to extend the life of my Droid, but in the end I needed a new phone and was happy to see Motorola still building phones with hardware keyboards.

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