At Least They Listen

Once upon a time, pen, ink and paper were highly valued as these three items were used for taking notes, keeping records or writing a journal for example. Life has changed since then, quite a lot, we still have and use pen and paper, ink too, but digital records are ruling our world. This means typing instead of writing.

Most likely in a decade, our devices would look a lot different than what we have today, more touch screen, voice activated apps, you name it, but till then, we have keyboards and keys to use every day. It depends on your work, but I suppose most of us are using a computer or some kind of device with keys, every single day.

I've been using different computers over the decades, desktops, laptops, touch screen and so on. I still remember those keyboards with bad keys on which paint was gone a long time ago. I used to replace the paint on the letter by using a marker, but there were others that thought using tape to write the letter on, is a better option. I don't know which lasted longer, but it doesn't even matter today.

Anyway, time has passed, technology and development has evolved, so expectations these days are pretty high, compared to a decade or two ago.

Due to blogging, I'm typing quite a lot very day, so I'm expecting my devices to be my partner in crime in this regard, work for me, or alongside me and definitely not against me, but that's not always the case.

Before I bought the laptop I currently using, I had another one, a Dell, because I consider it a trustworthy brand and apart from this case, I had no problem with it.

Thanks to Hive, I can now scroll back, or use the fancy search option and find my post about what my keyboard looked like in 2021, when I had enough and decided to do something about it.

To save you from the trouble, here it is, a photo about what my keyboard looked like after two years of use. It was shocking to say the least, because Dell is not some garbage brand and the products are not low category when it comes to price either, so I was definitely not expecting this after two years of use. The sad side of the story is that I was not the only one in this situation, imagine how many others must have faced this issue worldwide.

Anyway, I had the option of sending it back as it was still in the warranty period, but due to security issues, I opted for solving the problem locally, as a friend of mine (at that time) was working for a refurbishing company and offered to help, free of charge. This way I made sure he only took the keyboard with him to work and the rest stayed home, safe.

It took some work to restore my keyboard to an acceptable level, as missing paint was not the only problem. As I have long nails, my original nails, all the keys were affected, you could see how deep the marks on the keys were and the guys made sure a message, to cut my nails was passed on to me 😆

Anyway, you can see they did a nice job and I got a newly painted keyboard. However, it did not last long as in 2024, three years later, the keyboard had to be repainted again. This time I was told it was done with a better technique and paint, that will last longer. After a year and a half, the keyboard is in very good condition indeed, but it's not used by me as I needed a new laptop. The old one was not up to fulfilling my needs anymore, so I bought a new one and the old one is used by my dad, who's not typing as much as I do.

When I decided to buy a new one, didn't know what to do, which brand to choose. I still loved and trusted Dell, but who could guarantee the new keyboard will be different? After some thinking, despite the concerns, I still decided to buy a Dell, a new model of course.

After one and a half years, the keyboard looks like this. No visible marks on the keys and the paint looks intact, just as it should be. At this point I'm sure major changes have been done regarding the plastic used for the keys and the paint as well. I decided to not make an official complaint back then, but others I think took a different decision and the results show they took it seriously. So this problem is solved, I hope forever as going back from here is not an option for them.

I mean one solved, one still to go as my Dell mouse is not doing well.

I bought it in November 2022, which makes it around three and a half years old and if I'm honest, I should say "Thank You" for still being able to use it as these days nothing lasts more than a couple of years, but ...

... look at this 😂 Have you ever seen such a deep mark in a mouse? Better yet, how does your mouse look like? 😆 Otherwise, the 🐁🐭 is doing fine, no cable damage, so I should be happy and I am.

The funny thing is, I guess 80% of the ladies have artificial nails (me excluded), so I suppose they are facing the same issue, unless those nails are compatible with these keyboards and mouses.

Anyway, making durable products seems to not be a priority these days, the sooner it breaks or deteriorates, the better for them as it means more sales, but I still hope some companies choose to do the right thing and save their reputation, rather than sell it for pennies by opting for cheap solutions in order to make more profit short term.

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