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

By: Quora

Quora — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:59:41 +0000

Should Apple develop keyboard-based iOS devices?…

“…but as a touch-typist, my productivity goes down …” I think this is a flawed assumption. How long did you invest in becoming a touch-typist? How long have you invested in becoming a productive typist on a virtual keyboard? We have to be careful…

By: Dragon Dictation for iPhone - Physical Keyboards Are Becoming Obsolete | iPhoneCTO

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:10:25 +0000

[...] or virtual). I’ve previously written about the coming obsolescence of physical keyboards (“Who Says iPhone Needs a Keyboard? That’s so 2004”); Dragon Diction is yet additional evidence my predictions are [...]

By: billfrench

billfrench — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:09:10 +0000

Dan360:

"One for the swipers, one for the typers."

Cute slogan. On paper this sounds simple and easy. But, consider the worldwide impact on an organization that provides two of everything they make. The keyboard-to-app issues alone would drive software developers nuts. The overall impact would reduce the total number of apps developed, constrain the engineering resources to deal with support, development, and documentation, and it would lessen overall innovation for the platform.

My gut tells me there is much more to this debate - a collection of economic-related issues that are far more complex than most have considered.

By: billfrench

billfrench — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:09:10 +0000

By: billfrench

billfrench — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:09:10 +0000

By: Dan360

Dan360 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:25:29 +0000

iPhone does need a keyboard. Very simple to have 2 models, one for the swipers and one for the typers.

By: F. Andy Seidl

F. Andy Seidl — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:26:40 +0000

Bill: I completely agree with your statement:

"... a physical keyboard is not only less desirable, but an irrelevant dinosaur of a not-too-distant future."

It is indeed very easy to overlook the rate of technology innovation--and most people do. You mention that users will continue to "expect devices to do whatever they’re thinking." The truth is, this is not nearly as far fetched as most might imagine. I've written a couple of posts about this very idea, the most recent of which is:

Brain/Machine Interfaces (BMI): Something to Think About
http://faseidl.com/public/item/235534

By: lee810

lee810 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:50:14 +0000

Well said, Bill. There have been times when I wanted a 'real' keyboard for my iPhone, but I got to play around with a MID (mobile internet device) a while ago and the slide-out Qwerty keyboard made for a miserable typing experience and turned it into a thick and clunky device. If anything, the small display and keyboard should remind you to keep all your mobile typing short and riddled with abbreviations and misspellings. That's what the apology, 'Sent from my iPhone' is intended to cover.

I've sometimes been tempted to append 'Sent from my iPhone' on a lengthy missive that I actually composed on a regular PC just for the sake of getting a reaction of the recipient. However, I'm afraid the only reaction to it would be that I have too much time on my hands.