Brittany Lofton spots them all the time: teens and college students clutching their beat-up cellphones, with screens so cracked that spider-web-like patterns creep across the glass.

Sure, the screen's razor-like shards make reading text messages and taking photos super blurry, not to mention slightly painful.

But that's part of the appeal: Introducing the cracked cellphone screen, which raises the bar by lowering it. Think of it as the tech generation's ripped jeans or unwashed hair. Unshaven faces. Low-riding jeans. Some young people say a cracked screen gives you a sort of street cred, like you've been through some real-life stuff. It's tough, subversive and just kind of cool.