I think it's fairly certain, at this point, that the TS rumor is a hoax. But that doesn't mean we can't discuss what we'd like/dislike about such a keyboard.
The issue of the iPod blocking the screen, is a serious issue. Also, people who put keyboards in drawers (like me) may end up unable to close the drawer with the iPod attached - a substantial inconvenience. Maybe put the dock-well on a hinge so the iPod can be angled down (or even parallel to the desk.)
OdduWan's concept is a possibility. The only problem with it is that ipods come in many sizes. You'd need some kind of variable-size well that could hold full-size iPods of various generations, minis and nanos. Maybe if the well was on the side (left or right) instead of in the middle, then some kind of sliding/expanding shelf could be used.
In terms of convenience, if the above problem could be solved nicely, I'd love it. It would eliminate some cable clutter without putting yet another box on my desktop.
Another interesting idea is the possibility of using an iPod as a secondary display for Mac applications. It would be really cool if you could use a docked iPod's screen to show the kind of information you'd like to always have visible without taking screen real-estate from apps (iChat buddy list? system stats? last few lines of the system log? The Weather Dashboard widget? etc.) Perhaps also for application-specific stuff (like your health/armor/ammo status in Doom-like games?)
A tiny screen like the nano's wouldn't be too useful for this sort of thing, but the huge display of the video iPod would be great. And secondary-display information would certainly be more useful than the generic "do not disconnect" icon.
The issue of the iPod blocking the screen, is a serious issue. Also, people who put keyboards in drawers (like me) may end up unable to close the drawer with the iPod attached - a substantial inconvenience. Maybe put the dock-well on a hinge so the iPod can be angled down (or even parallel to the desk.)
OdduWan's concept is a possibility. The only problem with it is that ipods come in many sizes. You'd need some kind of variable-size well that could hold full-size iPods of various generations, minis and nanos. Maybe if the well was on the side (left or right) instead of in the middle, then some kind of sliding/expanding shelf could be used.
In terms of convenience, if the above problem could be solved nicely, I'd love it. It would eliminate some cable clutter without putting yet another box on my desktop.
Another interesting idea is the possibility of using an iPod as a secondary display for Mac applications. It would be really cool if you could use a docked iPod's screen to show the kind of information you'd like to always have visible without taking screen real-estate from apps (iChat buddy list? system stats? last few lines of the system log? The Weather Dashboard widget? etc.) Perhaps also for application-specific stuff (like your health/armor/ammo status in Doom-like games?)
A tiny screen like the nano's wouldn't be too useful for this sort of thing, but the huge display of the video iPod would be great. And secondary-display information would certainly be more useful than the generic "do not disconnect" icon.
