iPhoneCTO

Who Says iPhone Needs a Keyboard? That’s so 2004

by Bill French on 06/07/09 at 10:30 pm

Bill French is an information architect specializing in Internet applications. He is also the co-founder of MyST Technology Partners and Senior Editor for iPhoneCTO.

The debate rages on; buttons or no buttons; keyboard or no keyboard. If you contemplate just three dimensions of mobile computing, you’ll quickly realize (and likely conclude) that iPhone’s lack of a physical keyboard is a brilliant strategic feature, not a drawback.

Perspective #1: Application Context

iPhone was designed to be a chameleon in a bowl of Skittles®. It’s a shape-shifter capable of transforming itself into special-purpose tools to meet highly specific requirements. In 1980’s geek-speak, it’s the epitome of a late-binding virtual hardware device. Its designers were able to see that the future of mobile computing is all about agility.

Most analysts shape the debate in terms of giving up a keyboard in exchange for a larger display. This is a simplistic and narrow-minded viewpoint. The reality is that you give up nothing and gain a bunch of capabilities if you factor in a future of applications running in very specific contexts.

Perspective #2: User Interface

It stands to reason that the less we must type (with any application), the more likely we will want to use an application. Think about the core value of any product or service. Anything that eliminates steps, compresses time, or removes granularity in a business process, is inherently and fundamentally more valuable than the alternatives. Something Really New describes the underlying core value of innovative products.

Interface designs that eliminate or streamline information capture and user interaction are (without debate) far more productive to use. If you still want to debate this, let’s take a simple example of using the accelerometer. The fact that music fans would rather shake their phone to shuffle is proof that gestures induce speed, productivity, and big surprise… enjoyment. Not only do they prefer to shake instead of tapping a user interface, they love it! This sort of innovation transforms iPhone into a Lovemark, a dramatically higher brand achievement than a trademark.

You might think that accelerometers are popping up in lots of mobile devices, so that’s not a differentiator. If that’s your sentiment, you’ve missed the point. If users want to shake their phone to perform this simple task instead of tapping buttons, what else do they prefer? If they’re like me, they will continue to expect devices to do whatever they’re thinking. I would love a mobile device that I never have to touch. As unreasonable as this sounds, it’s still what people truly want. As such, a physical keyboard is not only less desirable, but an irrelevant dinosaur of a not-too-distant future.

Perspective #3: Future Innovation

Humans continually underestimate the pace of innovation. But worse, we typically fail to factor in the rate of change in the increasing pace of technological innovation. iPhone (as a platform) is designed to leverage software services and information architectures that have yet to be invented. While most devices (not just iPhone) are able to leverage future information architectures, Apple took a risk by shedding the keyboard to inspire and incentivize its developer community to raise the bar with advanced interface methods. This deliberate and fundamental change has led to increased software innovation for mobile computing applications. This philosophy also extends into the hardware and firmware architecture of the iPhone. We’ve already seen the upgrade agility of iPhone in firmware and new imaging hardware with the latest OS.

Within minutes of publishing this article, I expect someone to point out the innovative irony of copy-paste – a Back to the Future “innovation” from the 80’s. I’ll save you the trouble – it’s a travesty so shut up. But actually, copy-paste in a modeless editor was invented by Larry Tesler at XEROX Parc for the Smalltalk-76 programming environment in 1973, 13 years before the movie premiered.

As we watch new iPhone applications emerge with new and innovative ways to do more, by touching the phone less, we should have no trouble envisioning a future where audio, text-to-voice, and advanced voice interaction, play an increasing role in mobile experiences. Google Voice for iPhone is here. If you’re lucky enough to get a Google Voice account, try to remember this article as it radically changes how you access and manage communications data, while touching the keyboard a little less every day.

Myth: I need real buttons to maintain writing productivity on my mobile device.

The days are numbered for using this as a rational case for increased productivity. Today, this is a hollow promise at best. You’re delusional if you think you’ll increase your business productivity by typing more [and more] on a mobile device. Let’s break it down:

1. I’ve said it before – the killer app for a mobile phone is a phone call. If you’re really productivity minded, you’ll stop tapping keys and use your voice.
2. If you find yourself pushing a grocery cart in a 7-Eleven, you probably have an eating disorder. Likewise, if your business role requires you to compose or respond to so many email messages that a physical keyboard for your phone matters, you have other more serious problems that need to be addressed. There are exceptions to every rule and I’m looking forward to reading your comments.
3. Email is a degenerative disability at the outset. Doing any amount of it on a device smaller than a taco, let alone demanding a keyboard so you can do more of it, is just nuts. Mobile composition, management, and response-itis (yes, I meant to say response-itis) cement the activity as borderline insanity. Pardon me for lapsing into rude, but the idea of sustaining a crack-berry life simply doesn’t scale for information workers or their firms.

Not That It Matters in the Keyboard Debate…

You can measure a lovemark by dividing love-it into lose-it scores. At Lovemarks.com Blackberry is currently measured at 60-14 while iPhone is 43-3. iPhone’s lovemark score is 14.3 versus Blackberry’s 4.3. I don’t put a lot of credibility into measuring tools like this because they can be easily influenced, but it’s a data point.

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