... I got it I was hugely disappointed because they moved the apostrophe/quote key TWO ROWS DOWN so it's next to the space bar where the right command key is on a normal Mac keyboard. This is insanely annoying because where you'd usually reach over for quotes or an apostrophe you now hit the enter key, which submits MANY forms on the web and other areas you might be typing.
Ugh! And the question mark and slash are moved too. You can tell by looking close at the article photo.
Not acceptable. How can Belkin not learn from past mistakes? (If you want to move the vertical bar or tilde or something I might live with it. But common punctuation??)
Logitech's just-announced
redesigned Ultrathin cover sounds like the best bet then... IF it turns out to be durable. (The new mounting mechanism looks like it could break.)
A little part of me hopes that Belkin has actually changed the key layout for the better, and that this is an old photo. Because Belkin was showing this same picture last year--and they showed a
full-on view too (shows the problems clearly). Now they no longer show a full-on view... maybe because they are waiting for new photography that shows the new layout?
I know... wishful thinking...
You bring up a good point I didn't consider: detach-ability. It does give you options, which is nice. However, I would dispute that "way lighter" point. An MBA is pretty darn light, and an iPad + the average keyboard combo is about the same weight; and almost always thicker together.
A modern keyboard cover isn't like those awful bulky folios you may be thinking of. (I hate those.) I just checked the weight and footprint difference between an MBA and an iPad + Logitech Ultrathin, and it's significant! You really feel it. 2.38 lbs. for 11" Air, vs. 1.71 lbs. for iPad + Ultrathin keyboard; and less footprint taken up on my crowded little sofa tray-table. (Thickness is less, too--a little.)
Plus the iPad in portrait even gives me more work space: vertical space shows me more lines of my content; whereas when typing text on my MacBook Air, I am more cramped vertically, while a lot of that horizontal space is simply going to waste. Typing on an iOS "portrait laptop" feels terrific sometimes.
Price-wise, there are really two cases:
1. You
already have a nice thin, light, fast, modern laptop. Using a laptop is then "free" in a sense, and makes the most sense for lots of typing situations. (But I still prefer the iPad often—subjective preference.)
2. You don't have a nice laptop (maybe just an old beast), only an iPad. Using a laptop is then around $1000, vs. at most $100 to add a keyboard to your iPad.
My point wasn't that the iPad is bad; it's that tasks that necessitate a physical keyboard are tasks that are better done on a laptop.
True for
some tasks, but not for lots of common tasks. I do a ton of typing (even on my laptop) that doesn't call for multiple windows.
Aside: I actually do multi-app work sometimes on the iPad: the multitasking gestures (or double-tap Home key) are sufficient. And although I can't see multiple windows at the SAME exact moment, each "window" is larger than the MacBook Air allows. Example: a reference document on one portrait-sized iPad screen, my work on another, and a browser on another. I can snap between them very fast, and the total work area is much wider AND taller than a MacBook Air. It's not the ideal tool always, but it can be great.
(My biggest gripe with iPad multi-app workflows is not being able to organize files by PROJECT. I believe Mavericks tags tell us Apple's future iOS solution to that. Just a guess.)