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I seriously cannot believe people are still bitching about the keyboard on the iPhone - I can't be the only person who has never had an issue typing on the bloody thing?
 
I seriously cannot believe people are still bitching about the keyboard on the iPhone - I can't be the only person who has never had an issue typing on the bloody thing?

people who haven't used it are still bitching. every one i know who owns one is happy with the keyboard a month into using the phone.

even for myself--today i realized i don't even need to look at the phone and can type at full speed! as with anything, any phone these things take practice. apple will never include a physical keyboard IMHO.
 
I am amazed at people who prefer physical keyboards over the iPhone's virtual keyboard. I have used both extensively and IMO the iPhone's is sooo much better than a physical keyboard for so many reasons. I really hope these rumors aren't true.

Agreed! I have used the sidekick, and blackberry keyboards in the past. Adding a physical keyboard will make me NOT want to upgrade.

I agree. I have used many different QWERTY PDAs, "PocketPCs", and "Smartphones" over the years and I would NEVER go back to a physical keyboard with tiny keys. I am much more efficient on the Iphone touch keyboard.
I really do not understand why anyone would want a blackberry/treo or slide-out hardware keyboard. I mean, I'm sure there are a certain percentage of hold-outs that are just too stubborn to learn to use it and will immediately reject it, or those that just absolutely prefer tiny hard keys. But I have to wonder if a large percentage of users criticizing the touch keyboard have ever even tried it for themselves?! I had the same immediate skepticism as everyone else when I saw the iPhone presentation, and I was sure that it would be more difficult or result in more typos than my Treo keyboard. That, however, was not the case. One week of heaving typing on my iPod Touch, and I was already faster and more accurate than the Treo I had been using for 2+ years. It really is a world apart from other so-called "touchscreen keyboards".
 
I really do not understand why anyone would want a blackberry/treo or slide-out hardware keyboard.

Not everyone is a person that likes it. Not everyone likes the iMac, even in the Apple fan circle, so not everyone likes the iPhone's keyboard, even in the Apple fan circle.

I mean, I'm sure there are a certain percentage of hold-outs that are just too stubborn to learn to use it and will immediately reject it, or those that just absolutely prefer tiny hard keys.

I agree, but there are some that are holding out for a keyboard or some other important feature from Apple or AT&T. I wouldn't say anyone is stubborn just because they find fault with a piece of technology. Those waiting for a mini tower aren't stubborn by any means, same thing goes for those that want a redesigned MBP with Nelahem and are waiting for it while using a G4.

I my opinion, it's just a matter of either, (1) prefering hard keys or (2) prefering an improved touch keyboard since there are other variants and many find them easier to use.

But I have to wonder if a large percentage of users criticizing the touch keyboard have ever even tried it for themselves?!

I don't think that's really the case now. Maybe when the phone first came out. Now it's easy to just grab a friends iPhone/Touch, use one in the story, or pickup a Touch yourself... or an iPhone. There are a few posters that have the iPhone, that don't like the keyboard. And there are some that find the keyboard the only fault.

That, however, was not the case. One week of heaving typing on my iPod Touch, and I was already faster and more accurate than the Treo I had been using for 2+ years. It really is a world apart from other so-called "touchscreen keyboards".

I would say the same thing, but as another poster and I discussed, other touch screen keyboards are just different and many times can't be compared. On the HTC Touch there are four different ways to enter text, the iPhone only has one. With XT9 on the Touch keyboard you can enter text somewhat faster than the iPhone, but the iPhone has word correction which means you can just keep typing, there is no need to search for words in a really short list, just punch away at the keys and let the phone do the rest as best it can.

The HTC has word recognition, which pulls up words that you type often, or one that is typed the most (XT9) and you just hit the space bar. It's a little faster when typing long words. The keyboards are different. For me, the HTC's keyboard speeds me up, the buttons are larger even on a smaller screen, and I punch in "P" and "H" and Photojournalism comes up instantly. I don't have to fumble through the letters and have the phone correct them for me, and I have used the iPhone/Touch keyboard enough to know the difference.

Then there are the high end users that need to do productive things with their devices. A lot more people than most think will use their Treos/iPhones to type papers or other short docs. Even on the HTC, it's a bit unruly... so the iPhone will be tougher for me. iPhone users haven't been able to really experience that yet, unless they are typing really long notes. Giving business and power users a real keyboard would be welcomed even if it's just an attachment. I just want more input options, and XT9 with bigger keys.

Keep in mind, saying that the iPhone is better than other touch keyboards is the same as others saying the iPhone keyboard is this or that. If you bring up the argument that the nay sayers haven't used the iPhone keyboard, the nay sayers can say that you haven't used ALL the other keyboard out there.

I meant no harsh tones or implied angry feelings in this post :)
 
ya know right before the iphone was scheduled to launch steve jobbs, changed his mind on the design saying something LIKE, "im just not in love with it". and so they redid the design in i think less than a week. and thats the iphone we have today, so i am sure the iphone will take on a slightly different look, if not something totally kickazz.
 
Jobs lambasted real keypads

Jobs craps on anything he's not selling. Intel sucks, now they are great. He also said using a keypad to dial numbers was old school. How they F#$% are you suppose to dial a new number without a keypad? Also, Apple didn't invent contact dialing, every phone has that. He's a master marketer, but he's full of it too. He's the Tech P.T. Barnum.

OK, very quick and dirty photoshop job, but I think this would work for iPhone V2. I do agree, however, that there is not much chance of an iPhone featuring a keyboard after the way Jobs lambasted them in the launch keynote :)
 
ya know right before the iphone was scheduled to launch steve jobbs, changed his mind on the design saying something LIKE, "im just not in love with it". and so they redid the design in i think less than a week. and thats the iphone we have today, so i am sure the iphone will take on a slightly different look, if not something totally kickazz.

Uh...a week before launch you say? I don't think so. They had to make millions of these units and it never would have launched on the right date if they had redesigned ONE WEEK before.
 
What I would really like Apple to do is introduce a regular, wireless home phone with an Apple touch (iChat and address book integration, UI a la iPhone, etc.).

My first thought is YES, absolutely. Reinvent home phones and make them simple.

Yes, I'm sure Apple is going to want to delve into the home phone market, which will cease to exist in the next 10-20 years.

My 2nd thought... "interesting". Is it a dying market? Or a market that will move and evolve and may as well have Apple's involvement.

But why bother with "home" phones at all anymore? You get everything they offer and more with a mobile phone

True that the main thing you get from home phones today is unlimited/cheap calls - and that distinction is dropping away.

But you are presuming that Apple should come out with something that does the same as a home phone, but simpler. Phones are the key communication points in the home - and those communication points can be naturally expand into web based information sources, video phones, etc.

Sure, everyone could just carry their own mobile phone... and their mobile phone could switch into VoIP mode when they're in their home or office to use cheaper rates. But a 9" web+phone in the kitchen might be useful on its own (check email/msgs, recipes, online grocery shopping, watch TV, video calls) - or even to act as a Terminal to your iPhone via its bigger screen and keyboard.
 
The nature and content of this rumour had me calling "phony!" quite quickly. (or "fooled!"). Though when I squash and strecth the rumour into a slightly different shape, I've actually been expecting something roughly similar. This surprised me.

What I mean is - the iPhone OS is OSX, but way cut down.
The MacBook Air is the smallest/thinnest/most portable full featured laptop Apple can make.

Apple could easily create an "iBook Air" - something that looks like a smaller (8" screen) MacBook Air. It'd actually be a larger iPhone (or iPod Touch) with a flip out keyboard.

If it ran iWork, it could be a far cheaper laptop suitable for many people - and with great battery life too.

edit: Hence a rumour for a radically different shape of an iPhone, possibly flip case, possibly with a keyboard.
 
I'm always astounded by people who join forums simply to call its particpants names.
Very mature. On the other hand, doing your name calling up front lets me know not to bother with the rest of your post.

You obviously choose to also ignore the fact that I'd like to have the next improved generation of the iphone.

I didn't join this forum (which I did WEEKS ago) to call ANYONE names. Also, did I label everyone in this forum as anything? Nope, I certainly DID NOT. Re-read my comments before being so reactionary.
 
That's great....now how about a radically different MacBook Pro with a design that if you squint just right looks like a 4 year old PowerBook?
Scratch prone metal is sooooo 2004.
*Hysterical* Think of the laptops! Please think of the laptops! *Hysterical*

Seriously though. iPhone smiphone. Apple has billions in the bank. Is the MBP's design the best the supposed leader in design can think up? Enough of the evolutionary design Apple. Give me something I can drool over, instead of just looking at the specs of a machine to make me consider if its worth an upgrade.
to dive into the automobile analogy, I wonder what car sales would be like if Toyota simply tweaked things under the hood and never came out with a revolutionary design once every 5 year or so. Is it really asking so much from Apple?
PS- And yes I'm hard on them. Because of the stereotype propagated from Apple fans that Apple does everything better. If that is the case I want to see it. Where is this forward progress in design? Where is the brilliance of Apple? Stuck in the dang iPhone design team?
 
If they add physical keys I will eat my own face. Isn't the ENTIRE point of the iPhone the touch screen interface? And it's brilliant!
 
He clearly said that the problem with all smart phones is the lower half i.e. the keyboard. Once you have a key there, it's there, and so it's unintuitive to use the same set of keys to run all types of applications since every app is different. That's why the keyboard doesn't work.

And it's Jobs' secret why this is only true for phones and not for laptops...
 
I know Jonathan, the guy who wrote the article, he wouldnt lie about something like this.

He doesn't lie, he's just misinformed.

One of the reasons for the HUGE success of iPhone was the multitouch and I don't see Steve Jobs anywhere close to committing a financial suicide :D
 
The only reasons it hasn't sold so well in Europe is because of price and the lack of 3G. That will change.

I'm not so sure it's even price any more.. O2 have changed their iphone contract to be largely to be comparable with other providers at this point. The 18 month lockin is bad when the market is moving in the other direction (O2 should know - they were one of the first to launch the sim only/no minimum contract tariff that was so successful for them).. but even that's not a killer.

It's more the combination.. we're very wary of expensive phones that lack key features, not to mention everybody and their dog releasing touch phones now. I expect they're nowhere near as fluid as the iphone but that's not what the marketing is telling everyone... and most people believe what the salesman says.

I could get rid of my second phone if the 3G iphone had proper bluetooth support (the rest of my wishlist could be done by 3rd parties I expect, like decent SMS support)... I'm actually not too fussed about the front camera but I'd be surprised if they released a 3G phone without one. GPS is unlikely IMO as it's a battery hog.. unless you don't mind an iphone with a life of about half an hour. I expect an external GPS with its own battery will become available in due course.
 
people who haven't used it are still bitching. every one i know who owns one is happy with the keyboard a month into using the phone.

6 months in it still annoys the hell out of me. I hate it slightly less than texting on a normal phone, but it still sucks. Either americans have much smaller hands than I've seen or there's a way to zoom the keyboard image to double its size... even with my little finger I miss constantly. Autocorrect is more like autoscrewup... apart from the fact that there's no UK english dictionary so it keeps trying to misspell 'colour' for example it just has no chance of handling things like postcodes, product codes, etc. and you have to keep going back and deleting the 'corrections' and putting the right word in there. It wouldn't be so bad if it just suggested a word and let you ignore it, but the damned thing keeps insisting on trying to put its word in without asking.
 
I am in a holding pattern now, waiting for the new iPhone. I truly hope that they do not change the interface or what it looks like today. Otherwise I may have to get the old version.

The multi-touch interface is a winner, the way the phone looks is a winner, I do not think Jobs is going to mess with it other than to add new capabilities, at least I hope so.

The sooner this new baby is out the better, my contract runs out this Tuesday so I can switch on Wednesday.

Unfortunately looks like I need to wait until June.

6 months in it still annoys the hell out of me. I hate it slightly less than texting on a normal phone, but it still sucks. Either americans have much smaller hands than I've seen or there's a way to zoom the keyboard image to double its size... even with my little finger I miss constantly.

Some people are really into texting, I hardly ever text, I prefer their voice and conduct my business quickly. I guess I am not in the "In".

To get to a URL, to enter an address, modify a contact, etc, it would not be a problem for me when and if I need to use the keyboard. I do most changes on my laptop and then sync to the phone (Treo until June). I dislike the keyboard QWERTY on my Treo since I have to always hold a key to get the value I want, that is pretty unnatural.

I have used friends iPhone and the keyboard seems much better than what I have to do on my Treo.
 
in 02 the guy mentioned that they would be getting the new iphone version not until christmas time.

O2 sales guys are just that.. they know nothing of O2s plans let alone apples.

They wanted you to buy an iphone rather than wait (and risk you getting into a contract with another company whilst waiting). If I were a salesman I'd probably say the same thing.
 
That's what I said.... not 10 - 20 years, 3-5 years and they won't matter too much anymore. Not even for people with poor reception, they may just get a signal booster.

Can't see it... you get a home phone by default pretty much.. ADSL of course travels over phone lines (duh :p), and have to be on the phone+TV package to get internet access over cable anyway. Sure you could get a 3G dongle and run a gateway, but data costs/allowances aren't anywhere near DSL costs yet.

Call costs are *way* higher for moblies. Average 10-20p/minute. Compared to 1p/minute (free at weekends) for land lines. If you ditch your land line your relatives will hate you for running up their bills - I know of one or two people who have tried it and gone back to having a proper phone precisely because of this reason.
 
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