crackberry

English

Alternative forms

  • Crackberry, CrackBerry

Etymology

Blend of crack +‎ BlackBerry, suggesting the addictive nature of crack cocaine.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Noun

crackberry (plural crackberries)

  1. (slang) A BlackBerry, a handheld device considered addictive for its networking capability.
    • 2001 May 15, Steve Pyles, “Blackberry[sic] Service around WDW”, in rec.arts.disney.parks[1] (Usenet), message-ID <S3PSc5WZOHkJ>:
      [] many people call theirs a CrackBerry. This thing is absolutely addictive! This unit can websurf, send/receive email, []
    • 2003 December 1, Greg Brown, Latin Trade, Freedom Magazines, Inc.
      BlackBerry 7210
      Phone and handheld computer US$449 www.blackberry.com
      The corporate gold standard, once called "crackberries" in Silicon Valley because executives seemed addicted to them.
    • 2005 March 1, Ron Seigneur (interviewee), Rick Telberg (author), Journal of Accountancy, American Institute of CPA's
      I just moved to a Treo 600 to replace my old cell phone and my Palm Pilot. Not quite a "Crackberry," but I just cannot stand those who have to check e-mail every five minutes.
    • 2005 October 1, Waxer, Cindy, Chief Executive (U.S.), Chief Executive Publishing
      Today, over 50,000 organizations and 3 million subscribers count on BlackBerry, dubbed 'crackberry' for its addictiveness, to receive and deliver email messages on the spot.
    • 2005 October, Paul Cunningham, M. Cunningham, editors, Innovation and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies, IOS Press, page 1368:
      The Blackberry[sic] mobile office typifies this workstyle with [] levels of stress generated in the individual such that productivity may be quantitative but not necessarily qualitative (the “Crackberry” syndrome).
    • 2006 February, Bill Sammon, “BlackBerry Blues”, in Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media, Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, →ISBN, page 1:
      [] Roberts seemed driven to distraction by whatever was on the screen of his "CrackBerry"—which is what the infernal devices were nicknamed by their hopelessly addicted users.
    • 2006 May, Thomas Louis Ampeliotis, “Foundation of a Perfectionist” (chapter 1), in Pursuit of a Perfectionist, Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, →ISBN, Keeping on Track, page 9:
      It is a goal that [] I have been obsessing over, and emailing myself on my crackberry so I don’t forget ideas, and one that I bother my friends with constantly.
    • 2023 July 7, Ian Bogost, “What Did People Do Before Smartphones?”, in The Atlantic[2], Washington, D.C., archived from the original on 7 July 2023:
      My co-workers and especially my wife were repulsed by the “CrackBerry,” and my compulsive grasping at it, like Gollum with his ring.