The iPhone has a sizeable lead in terms of third party applications already and in terms of how the interface reacts to human touch, but there are a couple of issues that stop some people from jumping onboard the ibandwagon.
First up is data entry which I for one still hate with a passion. Give me a small physical keyboard and I can do so much more than I ever could on a screen. Emails, document editing and all manner of other PIM activities can be completed much quicker with a physical keyboard and I cannot understand why Apple has not included such a feature on its latest model. Even a clip-on accessory would be useful, and potentially offer the best of both worlds.
I would like to see a snap-on keyboard which when attached would reduce the screen to half-size and then I could bang out emails all day long. This could then be removed for game playing, video watching etc. and would suit the way most people need to use a smartphone. I have two lives- one for work and one for home and this way I could change the iPhone to suit my needs at the time with little extra expense. Maybe I am giving away a potentially great business ides, but it seems like a logical add-on to me which would sell in huge numbers and would actually fit the iPhone design quite well.
Also, how about a slide-out keyboard for the iPhone which works in a similar way to the HTC Touch Pro smartphones? It would still not be ideal and would no doubt add bulk, but would be a great selling feature which could catch the eyes of many current smartphone users who need good quality data entry.
Secondly, and it is a subject talked about a lot, would be an interface enhancement. The current set up is tedious and a real pain when you have many applications and games installed. Just how difficult would it be to add folders to the interface? You could access all of your games, applications and other stuff from the one main screen just by tapping folders and automatically jumping to new pages. This would make the entire system quicker to use, and while some like it as it is, this offers an option that pleases everyone.
Come on Apple- a couple of small changes and we would all be happy.
The problem is, most people who use an iPhone probably don’t want to “bang out emails all day long”.
They want to listen to music, watch video, play games, browse the web, none of which are desperately dependent on a hardware keyboard.
I suspect the majority of iPhone users out in the world are comin from a candybar feature phone, where they’ve been used to a numeric keypad for T9 input, and so think the virtual keyboard is a wonderful step up.
If you’re a die hard, long time smartsphone user coming from a BB or Palm, you’ll probably not be as happy.
But I think we need to get used to it, because I don’t think Apple are going to change.
I am finding the iPod touch keyboard as quick and as easy as any thumboard. It is really surprising me that after just a week I am so much faster.
Statto nails it there with his comments and Gavin is managing quite well with the onscreen, I must say it has never bothered me either. I read an article from that guy from Daring Fireball website where he said that those who want a physical keyboard are actually well in the minority.
I still think I prefer a hardware keyboard. However, one of the strange things about the iPhone virtual keyboard (for me at least) is the faster I type, the less mistakes I seem to make. This is undoubtedly in part to a pretty good correction system that Apple have managed to build.
What does irritate or rather what I do miss is the ability to use a 5 way button (a la Centro) to quickly flip up a few lines If I need to change something. I still find the magnifyig glass/loupe system fiddly.
“I read an article from that guy from Daring Fireball…”
Murray, please try to show some respect for the Chairman.
I was typing some emails this week using the landscape keyboard on the 3.0 release and I found it was pretty quick with thumbs. I did a bit of landscape keyboarding in Safari (used webmail once or twice), but it was hard to see what you were typing. I think Apple modified something with the screen to improve that, so it’s that much better.
I never got into the hard keyboards because they aren’t as ergonomic for women with fingernails.
I was talking to someone who said they had no problem with the virtual keyboard. I said that lots of people didn’t like it. Her response: “I guess my generation [she was about 20] is better with the virtual keyboard and has no problem with it.”
There are people of all physical ages who have no problem with it. However, people of previous generations, like Shaun, who are stuck in 20th century thinking, continue to have problems. I guess the iPhone is a phone for the future, not for people stuck in the past.
Personally, I hope that Apple never “Kill[s] off the competition.” Competition improves products and keeps prices down. Lack of competition produces Windows, Windows CE, Bob, and Clippy.
“I guess the iPhone is a phone for the future, not for people stuck in the past.”
I won’t rise to the silly point because many people over 25 find the keyboard to be fine, but you miss one crucial aspect. No-one used a virtual keyboard like the iPhone’s until 2 years ago. Why would someone who is younger get on with it better than anyone else?
Anyone who has used lots of smartphones, like me, may have gotten used to small physical keyboards and thus struggle at first, but to struggle for months on end suggests that some people just don’t get on with it, just like some don’t get on with BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile keyboards.
My take on how Apple can win, at least in the consumer sector. The real battle is about OSes, yes?
Adapt and deploy the iPhone OS for use on PC netbooks. Immediately 50,000 apps become available to a new audience. And every developer from the Andes to Antarctica ships out with Apple.
Bye, bye, MS as a consumer platform.
Anyone who claims a virtual keyboard is as good as the real thing is delirious. To break it down along generational lines is simply uninformed. You can talk about typing speed tests all you want, but the fact of the matter is there are enough times when you need to enter text that isn’t found in the english dictionary. The auto-complete doesn’t help with that and the speed drops off SIGNIFICANTLY.
It’s one thing to say the VKB is better than T9. But it is NOT as good as the Treo/BB/WM keyboards out there. The Treo 800w is an awful phone but the KB practically types by itself.
No Virtual KB is as good as a physical KB.
Try typing that last paragraph on an iPhone and you’ll see what I mean.
Having said that, wasn’t one of the highlights of 3.0 the ability to add expansion hardware via the slot? Someone (maybe Apple itself?) will make a great add-on KB for the iPhone this year I believe and then maybe some of these virtual KB users will find themselves feeling downright silly.
I am quite certain we’ll see the expansion slot used for a gamepad. The potential for gaming on the iPhone is too strong to let this market slip away. I look forward to the day when an iPhone can be compared favorably to a PSP for hardcore gaming. Then I’ll get one.
If you need a physical keyboard, you are not an iPhone customer. There are plenty of other choices. Given the number of devices sold, there are enough consumers to sustain the product. Changing the physical design of the machine to satisfy .001 percent of the users (the geeks) does not make economic sense. And if you are a geek, you would not want to be caught dead with an iPhone anyway. Move on.
Apple is not out to dominate a product sector. The iPod’s dominance is temporary and is being subsumed into the iPhone category. Apple business is all about where here margin is greatest. It cannot compete in the volume business. Never will and would be the end of Apple if it were to enter that business.
nobody is mad thinking the apple touchscreen keyboard is as good as a physical one. When I used the iphone in the O2 store it never felt right. However, in just under a week it not only feels right it is fast too. The capacitive screen makes a big difference. And for the record I am bloody fast on a keyboard, average 80 words on a pc and 50 on a mobile phone per minute.
“If you need a physical keyboard, you are not an iPhone customer.”
It’s not a question of need, but one of want. I want a physical keyboard, but want the other stuff on the iPhone to put up without one.
“Changing the physical design of the machine to satisfy .001 percent of the users (the geeks) does not make economic sense.”
You don’t have to be a geek to use a physical keyboard. Very few BB users are geeks in comparison to other smartphones, and I know many geeky iPhone users:) Also, that .001% is unrealistic- how many people would switch to an iPhone if it had a physical keyboard or a small keyboard attachment? We don’t know, but I hear lots of people say they could not live without a keyboard, and there are millions of BB and WM users out there, some of whom may move to iPhone if a keyboard was available.
My main point is that the physical design does not need to change- either add a keyboard accessory or a slide-out. I don’t see either going against the Apple way of working, which is ultimately to makes lots of money.
“It’s one thing to say the VKB is better than T9. But it is NOT as good as the Treo/BB/WM keyboards out there. The Treo 800w is an awful phone but the KB practically types by itself.
No Virtual KB is as good as a physical KB.”
“Try typing that last paragraph on an iPhone and you’ll see what I mean.”
I just did, and I passed.
“I just did, and I passed.”
But I wouldn’t be able to and I can type over 40 words a minute on a smartphone with a physical keyboard.
It seems to be that it works for some and not for others. It doesn’t mean the current set up is poor- it is just poor for some of us.
I am going to say that the virtual keyboard on the iPhone is miles better than a physical one. I have been doing some typing tests and it conclusive. If you can use a physical qwerty thumb keyboard you will succeed and be quicker on the iPhone. If you only know t9 then you will have a problem possibly. Typed on my iPod
Hi Shaun, I wasn’t implying that it works for everyone. I sympathize with your difficulties and really wish that I could help. I was merely pointing out that blanket statements about physical vs. hardware keyboards aren’t helpful to the discussion, just as accusing people of living in the past is both insulting and inaccurate.
Shaun, have you tried not using your blackberry for at least two weeks and only using the iPhone. Try and type using both thumbs and see if that helps. I was very anti the iPhone keyboard but mist say that know I am stunned at how fast it is and accurate etc .
Gavin. I have only used the iPhone firvthe past few months and nothing else. Made no difference. And another thing that’s important is That wer will all type diffedrenty and thaT causer problems fog dome of Us:)
Lol but obviously not for others – typed on my super iPod
Have you considered surgery, Shaun?
Seriously, I’m hoping – nay praying – that one day it suddenly clicks for you, as it clearly has for Gavin. My only other suggestion is that you re-read some of my older posts about how to type on the iPhone. Start dead slow, and don’t try to correct as you go along. Ignore what pops up on the screen and just keep up a steady pace. Try using one finger, and just type at a steady pace. Try anything.
I can’t stress this enough: you have to get to the point where you trust the auto-correction to do it’s stuff.
I get a kick, a buzz every day from typing on the iPhone. Every single article I’ve ever sent you has been typed almost entirely on my iPhone, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. So it pains me to hear that you’re struggling, because THAT’S how I felt when typing on a Treo – clumsy and hamfisted.
Perhaps someone will build a clip on keyboard, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for an Apple solution.
Shaun, A physical keyboard is not going to happen on the iPhone. A detachable keyboard can be created by a third party, but never from from Apple. That is like AAPL admitting a mistake – will never happen. Same for the slideout keyboard. Complex and adds very little value while adding cost and manufacturing complexity. Will not happen. Beside, what is wrong with the Pre (also invested in the stock since late ’08). Some say it’s better than the iPhone. There is not a product out there without compromises.
As to BB (like me) or WM users, the main obstacle to migrating to the iPhone or Pre is corporate email. The keyboard is the least of our problems. By the way, I hate using the BB keyboard for anything other than short responses. Otherwise, I call the sender rather than respond via email. I suspect that that will not change even if I had an iPhone or Pre.
The iPhone keyboard is not bad. I have used my better half’s iPhone and find it no worse than the BB keyboard. I would submit that in some instances, it is much better than the BB keyboard. E.g., any character without a dedicated button.
Let’s not be adding any keyboards to the iPhone, please. If you want to buy some rollup keyboard and connect it by BlueTooth, then fine. Just give slideout keyboards and chiclet keys a rest. And if you want to be banging out e-mails all day long, just go and buy a BlackBerry. You don’t need an iPhone and the iPhone was never meant for someone like yourself.
There are so many ways you can spend your time enjoying an iPhone. It was never meant to be a single purpose texting handset. It’s basically a watching and listening type of device. You wait and see that people are going to start dumping BlackBerrys unless their jobs absolutely require lots of texting. I’m not sure how old you are and maybe you can’t adapt to new things or change anymore, but I honestly believe if you just took the time to practice with the iPhone virtual keyboard, you probably would become better at using it. It’s something you have to want to do, though. A mental block won’t help.
So, I guess Apple will not kill off the competition, because in my opinion there is no way Apple is ever going to put a physical keyboard on the iPhone. I doubt if even the iTablet will have one. That’s why that ex-Apple Rubenstein dude is hanging out with Palm and not Apple. I agree with Apple 100% when it comes to keyboards on handsets. Virtual is the only way to go.
The improved responsiveness of the iPhone 3G S has made perhaps the biggest difference in the virtual keyboard. MUCH improved over original model I replaced.
Karla – I am surprised, my iPhone connects great to my company’s exchange server. Ironically, much better than my mac does.
Missing from any of these reasons is the ONE reason that makes the iphone’s keyboard superior to a physical one. Scott Forstall referred to it in the WWDC keynote.
iPhone VKB can morph to support 30 different languages.
Can your superior BB or Treo keyboard do Korean as well as English? Because I need dual language keyboard support. What about Chinese language users? Can your hard keyboard switch to Cyrillic and back or do right-to-left languages like Hebrew or Arabic?
The ability to support most of the world’s major languages in one form factor is iPhone’s open secret. Show any multi-lingual person how easy it is to switch keyboard layouts, and no physical keyboard is going to convince them of its supposed superiority.
The problem with the hard keyboardists is that they try to type like its a hard keyboard. You’re mistaking priciseness for accuracy.
On the iPhone, forget being precise – just trust the auto-correct and let the iPhone do the work of being accurate. I myself can get around 60 words a minute no problem and I have friends who can do 70 to 80 wpm. If so many people can type so fast and accurately with the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, shouldn’t you be asking yourself what your doing wrong?
just a thought Shaun. When I first started using the iPod I used one finger and I did correct all my mistakes. I think this way the machines learns from you what is correct. Now my few mistakes are 95% changed for me, As Lazyboy said, it just suddenly clicked for me as to how to use it. Typing faster is easier for some bizarre reason.
“As Lazyboy said, it just suddenly clicked for me as to how to use it. Typing faster is easier for some bizarre reason.
From one of my very first posts about the original iPhone:
“I bought the iPhone on the day it came out. A day later I was sitting on a plane headed to the UK listening to an audiobook about the billionaire investor, Warren Buffett.
I’d had little time to really put the iPhone through its paces, but the 6 hour flight from Philadelphia to Manchester was the perfect test. I launched the notes application and started making notes about the book I was listening to. The pressure of trying to make notes at the same time as listening to the ebook meant I had to step up my typing pace>.
Omigod! Omigod! (Those were the exact thoughts that passed through my head at the time.) The onscreen keyboard was so much better than anything I had ever used before. Better than graffiti (both 1 and 2), better than Calligrapher, better than my Treos and my Blackberry 7100!
As I found out, the trick with the keyboard is just to blaze away without trying to make corrections as you go. It’s amazing! Although, your finger will hit loads of wrong letters, and some words will look incredibly mangled as you type them, somehow the software figures it all out and turns your gibberish into near perfect typed output. The key, as I say again, is not to correct as you go along; the software is way smarter than you are.”
“The key, as I say again, is not to correct as you go along; the software is way smarter than you are.””
Done all that- makes no difference for me:)
Looks like the only option is surgery then.
Shaun and me aren’t that old
I think the iPhone is more intuitive for those who haven’t used a hard keyboard before, less expectation of tactile contact.
Gavin has been using the soft keyboard of his omnia for a while too.
I’m getting on (slowly) with the one on my touch pro 2, but still don’t when I use the iphone. Will continue to see how I go.
Biggest problem for me is less the speed of entry, but the “way to enter”. I want to sometimes enter a calendar appointment in the quickest way possible. Windows Mobile and iPhone don’t have the best interfaces for that (particularly when using 3rd party ones since the inbuilts are very limited). I miss Snap for the Palm
Steve, you are lucky. My company only allows Outlook Web Access via the browser. That gets to be tiresome very quickly.