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Hands-On With the Collapsible Magnetic 'TextBlade' Keyboard for iOS Devices

jclo said:
I want to make it very clear that this is in no way an advertisement. WayTools did not pay us to do this post. None of our posts are advertisements. Ever. We don't work that way.

I spent many hours with WayTools employees yesterday, watching them type on the TextBlade, typing on it myself, and looking at each and every component that goes into it. I spent time learning about the way that it works, the effort that went into it, and what you're able to do with it.

I was genuinely impressed. I'm not out to deceive anyone or parrot marketing materials. WayTools is doing something with keyboards that no one else is doing and a lot of what they're bringing to the table in the TextBlade objectively innovative.

Pointing out that I didn't get to use it for a long period of time is a very fair criticism of this post. I had a limited amount of time to type on it, but I will say that I felt my typing speed improving over the course of an hour and I extrapolated from there. I also talked with employees who had been using it for months and months on end and observed them typing on it -- they were fast.
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I agree with the others who say this sounds like regurgitated PR material. If it isn't some kind of "native advertising", then it's a bit of naivety.

The parts in bold really sound worrying to me. Keyboards are very much about feel - that's why a large section of the article is about acclimatising to this different form factor. To hear how little time you actually spent with the device (couldn't they have sent you a review copy a week prior? or given you one when you were there to use more afterwards?), and how much of it is based on anecdotal or secondary sources, totally changes my impression of the article. Some of those sources are literally paid to type on the product all day. How fast they get at it doesn't mean anything about how a customer would feel buying and using the product, and it doesn't speak at all to its general comfort. You should have made all of this perfectly clear in the article itself, not in a follow-up once people accused you of being a mouthpiece. This information doesn't deserve to just be a footnote.

I just think this was a bit sloppy. MacRumors has a massive readership, and it's clear that you're trying to grow the site with articles like this, but the editorial quality simply isn't at the level of a place like The Verge or wherever we might be used to reading tech reviews. Internet sites like The Verge and MacRumors are big targets for PR people in a massive industry, and MR simply doesn't have the acumen to realise when it's being played. This isn't the first time product posts have been accused of being adverts, despite MR claiming to have received no money.
 
jclo said:
Pointing out that I didn't get to use it for a long period of time is a very fair criticism of this post. I had a limited amount of time to type on it, but I will say that I felt my typing speed improving over the course of an hour and I extrapolated from there. I also talked with employees who had been using it for months and months on end and observed them typing on it -- they were fast.
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How many hours did u spend with it exactly and how fast were u typing with it at the end of the day?
 
drunifex said:
The article really doesn't make it clear what is so much better for this keyboard over any other.




And that there is an example of the arrogant Apple user we all hear about.
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And that there is an example of the arrogance of people who don't know what they are talking about, ready to utter arrogant nonsense in his previous post suggesting the MacRumors article is 'one of the worst he's ever read'.

Please, Druniflex, if you don't like MacRumors or its writing, what are you doing at this site trolling the people who create, while all you can do is lamely criticise?

You are the disappointment. You are the sheer, disgusting, know-it-all arrogance that is a blight on the world and the Internet. Where is your blog so we can have a look at your writing?

Arrogant my ass.
 
Microsoft folding keyboard

I am curious how the Microsoft keyboard might compare to text blade in terms of usability. The Microsoft keyboard looks very portable, but more like a regular keyboard (so likely much less learning curve and faster to use from the start). I also like that it can switch between two devices quickly. It costs the same though -- would like to see both options closer to $50.

Here's an article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...0-folding-keyboard-connects-phone-tablet.html
 
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"WayTools is doing something with keyboards that no one else is doing and a lot of what they're bringing to the table in the TextBlade objectively innovative. "

Not completely true.

Years ago, before the iPad and iOS came into being, I had a PDA with some sort of Word product with a little fold-able keyboard that worked great and was about the same size as this one. I believe it was "Belkin" who distribute it.

The small keyboard I had worked, but never fulfilled the bigger and more practical versions which came along later.

My prediction is this product will hit the stores, sell a bunch initially and then die a quiet death. Before this happens the venture capitalist who backed this device will sell their rights to another firm, recover their funds with some change. Eventually the product will be written off and the developers will find better paying work somewhere else.

Therefore in the end the keyboard was a success for all involved and those sold will become dust collectors in the back of the closet.
 
bjet767 said:
"WayTools is doing something with keyboards that no one else is doing and a lot of what they're bringing to the table in the TextBlade objectively innovative. "

Not completely true.

Years ago, before the iPad and iOS came into being, I had a PDA with some sort of Word product with a little fold-able keyboard that worked great and was about the same size as this one. I believe it was "Belkin" who distribute it.

The small keyboard I had worked, but never fulfilled the bigger and more practical versions which came along later.

My prediction is this product will hit the stores, sell a bunch initially and then die a quiet death. Before this happens the venture capitalist who backed this device will sell their rights to another firm, recover their funds with some change. Eventually the product will be written off and the developers will find better paying work somewhere else.

Therefore in the end the keyboard was a success for all involved and those sold will become dust collectors in the back of the closet.
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All of the above might be true, but on the other hand it might be a really great product that will continue to improve.
 
I was impressed enough to order one. Now I have an iPhone 6+ I rarely take my iPad Air out but typing is still a bit restricted. Looks small enough that I might carry it everywhere for those random times when I want a better keyboard.
 
This is not an ad. Some people will accept that, some people will not.

But it really really does look like one. Feel free to dismiss those that are convinced it's an ad, but don't ignore why they're saying it.
 
i'm sure macrumors is getting some type of kick back, whether it is now or in the future.

most reviews would clearly indicated (and not in the comments) that they received zero compensation, they have no affiliation, and financial interest in the product and the company (subsidiary or parent). how hard would it had been to edit the review post to indicate this fact after the uproar and negative comments?!?

it's not like macrumors has a history of thorough gadget reviews, many forum members had mentioned such an discrepancy in the objective of your site. hence the backlash is deserved but poorly handled on macrumors and the "reviewer's" post.

i am interested in the product and would had ordered it, but after reading the biased(in my opinion) review, i have decided against purchasing it until i read a professional and objective review of the product from someone that clearly has no strings attached to the product. but thanks for introducing the text blade to me.
 
mrgraff said:
This is not an ad. Some people will accept that, some people will not.

But it really really does look like one. Feel free to dismiss those that are convinced it's an ad, but don't ignore why they're saying it.
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This.

It's not that the writing is plagiarism. It probably isn't. It just reads like the writer has taken the company's pitch at face value without doing his/her job as a journalist and scrutinizing the product to arrive at informed, defensible conclusions about its advantages and weaknesses.
 
mrgraff said:
This is not an ad. Some people will accept that, some people will not.

But it really really does look like one. Feel free to dismiss those that are convinced it's an ad, but don't ignore why they're saying it.
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It's a really long article/review about a pretty much unknown third party product. Its not a revolutionary product or even a apple product but still got one of the longest front page article. If it's not a paid advertisement then its a paid review.
 
I'm a long time MacRumors reader, created an account just to respond to the ridiculous criticism of the article. There was not one time I thought this article was an "ad". Personally, I've been thinking about buying one of these for a while now, so I was glad to see this article. Thanks MacRumors for posting this, I definitely appreciated it.
 
jclo said:
For example, with the TextBlade, there was a lot of interest in it when we first posted, so we did this follow up because we knew a lot of people were curious about it.

...

I'm not going to tell you something is cool unless I really, truly think it's cool. We don't write about things that we don't think are worth writing about, and we don't let anyone dictate what we should write. You're always getting our honest opinions because you deserve nothing less.
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I'm one of those people, and I loved the follow up article. As soon as I read the first article back on January 13, I went over to the WayTools site, read and watched everything on it (even the stuff I'd already watched here first), and ordered one. Looking forward to getting it on April 10!!

Oh, and the bit at the end about how they are going to ship out new TextBlades to everyone if they make design changes in the first year is awesome.

(Not sure why so many people are complaining about the price. $90 to $100 seems to be the going rate for (high quality) iPad keyboards.)

Thanks for the follow up article! I found it to be informative and a great read.
 
Jamessmooth said:
I'm a long time MacRumors reader, created an account just to respond to the ridiculous criticism of the article. There was not one time I thought this article was an "ad". Personally, I've been thinking about buying one of these for a while now, so I was glad to see this article. Thanks MacRumors for posting this, I definitely appreciated it.
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I second this. This is one of the few articles on this keyboard where the author actually had used the keyboard. I thought it was a solid article.

anek007 said:
It's a really long article/review about a pretty much unknown third party product. Its not a revolutionary product or even a apple product but still got one of the longest front page article. If it's not a paid advertisement then its a paid review.
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I disagree. I think a multitouch keyboard is at least novel if not revolutionary. I've been reading Macrumors for far longer than you, and this is not the first time they've given front page space to a nonapple product. I'm sorry if you're too cynical to see that.
 
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beyond:

The success of Apple products really is their ability to do very complex things very simply for their users. This keyboard is a nightmare of complexity and makes the user type in a manner other normal.

It will be purchased for its uniqueness and kind of cool factor, but as far as mass appeal? Won't happen. I wonder if it would have made it through "Shark Tank?" :)

Kudos though for someone taking an idea and making it come true.
 
bjet767 said:
beyond:

The success of Apple products really is their ability to do very complex things very simply for their users. This keyboard is a nightmare of complexity and makes the user type in a manner other normal.

It will be purchased for its uniqueness and kind of cool factor, but as far as mass appeal? Won't happen. I wonder if it would have made it through "Shark Tank?" :)

Kudos though for someone taking an idea and making it come true.
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None of these guys make accessories for mass appeal. They find a niche worth getting into and make their business around it hoping to get the attention of those people who will buy into it.

Having an external keyboard not only works better, but it looks better (even when it's as weird as this one). You don't look like you're doing anything productive when you're tapping on your smartphone's screen, you're just that guy that has his phone in his face.
 
I thought it felt like an ad but I worry we're becoming defensive because of the number of paid-for adverts posing as reviews floating around on the net. Of course, that's no bad thing. We should be careful as we have to spend our own money on these things, not simply enjoy a review sample.

I'm also amused by the number of defenders, especially newly-created accounts, which read like employees of the company.

But, you know what? It could also just be honest, child-like wonderment at this frankly groovy keyboard. All those adjectives are one thing but the video sealed the deal for me. Seeing the parts stick together and watching the fingers typing helped! I don't believe wonderment should only be reserved for Apple's own stuff.

Maybe it's a case of darned if you do and darned if you don't.
 
How it feels to read exaggerated wording

Back in March, Macrumors, a blog known for its high-quality posts, surprised the world with an article unlike anything we had seen before. Called an advertisement, the article garnered a significant amount of attention from the readers and from prospective magnetic keyboard buyers who were intrigued with the article’s controversy.

Commenters here on Marcumors and across the Internet were immediately curious about the article, and had several questions. Why did it read so different? Why all the exaggerations and wording as though the keyboard was the greatest thing ever?

Design

The first thing that's important to know about the article is that its design, which is the culmination of years of work and experimentation, has been engineered to be completely different from any article that's written today.

According to the author, the author did not set out to write a post for the Internet, they set out to develop a post that's a better experience, overall, than any available post, mobile or desktop.
 
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