Story highlights On Monday, BlackBerry announced that it was being taken private

Despite decline in consumer sales, there are still 50 million BlackBerry users

They're very loyal to the brand and hope change is harbinger of an upswing

Since the dawn of the iPhone age in 2007, loyal BlackBerry users have watched their favorite device maker stumble into an ever-steepening decline.

Some of the collapse is due to the consumer changeover to Apple and Google Android products, but the company -- once known as Research In Motion -- hasn't helped itself with poor planning and delayed product introductions

On Monday, the company that once blazed the trail in the smartphone market announced it's being taken private by its largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial, a Canadian insurance company.

The move comes on the heels of an announced $1 billion quarterly loss and layoffs of 4,500 employees. Its future as a maker of smartphones may be in doubt.

Now the dwindling numbers of loyal BlackBerry users must decide: Is this the last straw?

It's no idle question. For all the attention paid to BlackBerry's fall and the rise of iPhone and Android, there's still a sizable BlackBerry market out there. Forbes magazine estimates that there are in excess of 50 million BlackBerry users, and they remain fiercely devoted to their phones, with their secure e-mail software and physical keyboards.

Photos: BlackBerry: A product history Photos: BlackBerry: A product history BlackBerry: A product history – Not so long ago, BlackBerry dominated the North American smartphone market with devices that looked clunky but had physical keyboards geared to e-mailing on the go. Now the company is in deep trouble, outflanked by Apple and Android. Here's a look back at some of its key products. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history RIM Inter@ctive Pager – The BlackBerry's closest predecessor, this clamshell device introduced in 1996, was the first two-way messaging pager. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history RIM 957 – Four years later, in 2000, the BlackBerry looked a lot more like, well, a BlackBerry. You could surf the web, send and receive e-mails, and set alarms, but it was still essentially a pager with PDA features. The $499 list price and $40 monthly service fee was shocking to some. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history 5810 – It wasn't until 2002 that the BlackBerry was actually a phone. That's right, the 5810 was the first model that allowed you to make calls. It came with a caveat: no built-in microphone or speaker meant you had to plug in a headset to use the feature. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history 7230 – In 2003, BlackBerry debuted its first phone with a color screen. It was cutting-edge technology, and the classic blue shell set the precedent for how the company's future lines would look. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history 7100 series – In 2004 the BlackBerry got much sleeker. This meant less space for a full keyboard so RIM introduced SureType, a phone keypad and QWERTY hybrid. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history Pearl – The BlackBerry Pearl in 2006 was the first BlackBerry to have that iconic navigation ball you might remember replacing. It was also the first BlackBerry with a camera, and the company's smallest phone. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history Curve – In 2007 BlackBerry released the Curve, a light device with a full keyboard, camera, and sleek professional appearance. It was a huge seller for BlackBerry. But then the iPhone launched later that year. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history Bold – Launched in 2008, the Bold was in many ways a step up from the Curve. It was sleeker with a more hand-friendly keyboard. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history Storm – The Storm was BlackBerry's first all-touchscreen device, released in 2010 as a belated attempt to catch up with Apple. The phone got mixed reviews, and many customers found its touchscreen difficult to operate. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history Torch – Introduced in 2010, the first Torch had a touchscreen and full slide-out keyboard, making it a hybrid between the iPhone and the older BlackBerry models. Users weren't impressed, and the phone failed to make much of a splash. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: BlackBerry: A product history BlackBerry 10 – In January of 2013, BlackBerry released the Z10 and the Q10 -- phones built on the overhauled BlackBerry 10 operating system. But the devices failed to excite consumers, and the company posted a first-quarter loss. In September it announced it was laying off 40% of its workforce. Hide Caption 12 of 12

JUST WATCHED BlackBerry battles for survival Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH BlackBerry battles for survival 02:50

JUST WATCHED End of the road for BlackBerry? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH End of the road for BlackBerry? 02:41

"You can tear my Blackberry's real keyboard out of my cold dead fingers," user Charles Wright of Toronto wrote on Twitter.

Ronen Halevy, an IT security professional who runs the site BerryReview.com , still prefers his BlackBerry because it "focuses on communications first" -- even though he's familiar with both Android and iPhone platforms.

"They're very good devices to consume information, but the main point of the phone is that it's more like a computer," he says of the Apple and Google phones. BlackBerrys, he says, are better at "flow" from e-mail to calendar to other applications.

He hopes that the company returns to its roots.

"I think that Fairfax should double down on BlackBerry 10 and the combination of corporate and consumer market that appreciated the rock solid communication platform it offered," he wrote on BerryReview.com . "This means an end to the 'me too' additions of features to BlackBerry 10 and instead appealing to the market that made BlackBerry take off."

One commenter observed, however, that the company will be hard pressed to win new converts.

"Not good news for consumers, people hate the BB name and what it stands for. Self-inflicted suicide," kingbernie wrote. He suspected that becoming a corporate-focused software business might be the company's best way out of the wilderness -- even if it means leaving the consumer market behind.

Chris Umiastowski, a tech analyst and regular contributor to the BlackBerry boards on CrackBerry.com , says BlackBerry fans should remain wary.

"Going private doesn't necessarily change the outcome for the company. All it is guaranteed to change is the ownership structure," he said via e-mail. "It's not a nail in the coffin, nor is it some massive opportunity to fix themselves. No matter who owns the shares they still have to compete with solid competitors. Going private just lets them operate outside of so much public scrutiny."

For those who want to put their BlackBerrys in a drawer next to their PalmPilots but want to keep a physical keyboard on their devices, your options are limited. The Motorola Photon Q and the Motorola Droid 4 are Android-compatible and have relatively large slide-out keyboards, but reviewers have taken issue with their camera capabilities.

In addition, BerryReview.com's Halevy observes, those keyboards -- which are landscape-oriented instead of the portrait-style versions on BlackBerrys -- seem like "afterthoughts."

"Even if you're in an e-mail and you want to hit the 'delete' button to delete an e-mail -- you think that's logical -- it doesn't work," he says.

but, says Halevy, he doesn't think it's really aimed at the general consumer. The NEC Terrain , another Android phone with a physical keyboard, is marketed for its "rugged innovation"but, says Halevy, he doesn't think it's really aimed at the general consumer.

That leads to the host of smartphones with virtual keyboards, including the new iPhone 5S and 5C , the Android-compatible Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Android HTC One , among many others. All have their pros and cons, whether it's your comfort with their operating systems or your desire for certain accessories.

But for those, like Umiastowski, who want to stick with BlackBerry, it will hard to get them to change.

His household includes a number of Apple items -- including his wife's iPhone -- but he prefers the BlackBerry. He's frustrated by the lack of apps for the device but still prefers the overall experience.

"BlackBerry has always been (and still is) the best experience for communicating. At first it was push email and physical keyboards. Now I'm on a Z10 and I find the multitasking + software keyboard + email experience is second to none," he wrote. "An iPhone would feel like a step backwards on those things which matter to me."

Besides, says Halevy, he likes how the BlackBerry creates community.

"The one thing you notice immediately when people change from BlackBerry to other devices is you never hear from them anymore," he says.