Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Whats wrong w/ the touchscreen keyboard?
- Thread starter baseballbent
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I agree. The whole step of pressing down on the button is skipped on the iPhone. My fingers can basically hover and slide over the touch screen. The physics behind lightly tapping a screen vs pressing in a plastic button naturally lean toward the touch screen being faster.
I have a hard time typing on smartphone phone physical keyboards now that I have my iPhone. I end up not pressing buttons all the way in because I'm wanting to go faster and just touching them doesn't work.
Palm actually did some market research on this. It's closer to 50/50 than a vast majority either way.
Some people's brains are likely wired up to recognize feedback faster from the fine touch sense rather than from sight or using muscle memory, and some people are the other way.
I suppose one could learn to prefer the other way (say if one were blinded due to some illness, or lost some fingers in an accident), but that would take some time.
Is there is a link for that? Just curious to know what in the world Palm is up to... other than making 2002 technology smaller and smaller, but keeping their OS the same.
That is what people don't understand. You learn to type based on position. Not tactile feedback. If that were the case then when using a normal keyboard you would always be hitting the side of the keys and have them slide into place, which is not how people use a keyboard.
Change out your normal keyboard on your computer with one that is slightly a different size. You will find yourself making a lot of typos until you adjust to where you place your fingers to type.
This is no different than using the iPhone. People way overrate the need to feel the keystroke to type accurately. It has almost nothing to do with accuracy.
That makes no sense. The tactile feedback does not tell you what key you hit, just that you hit a key. You would still need sight or muscle memory to know you hit the right key.
That is why the physical feedback is so over-rated.
No.
There is no reason to have a large hardware keyboard eating up half or more the physical space of a smart phone.
I would say 5 years you might have a straggler or two clinging on to the out-dated technology, but it is definitely on the way out.
It has something useful akin to that. Essentially the hit pad is predictive and for the expected next letter you are much more likely to hit it.
Ie if you were typing out H-E-L-L-O
and had typed in H-E-L, and say you hit down between the O, the K and the L. It is going to strike as an L, as it is much more likely you are going HELL or HELLO than HELK or HELO.
this comparison makes no sense, you're comparing "typing" on a keyboard with pushing buttons on a screen, and last tiime i checked you can't "type" in the traditional sense on an iPhone, you push buttons with your finger, and for some people they just like having a physical keyboard because they can figure out keys based on position even without looking at it. and that is something you can't do with a virtual keyboard because you have no point of reference on a flat surface to know your relative position
Seriously, no sarcasm intended at all, but that statement really makes sense. I hope others can get that through their heads.
they may not be around in 5 years but it doesn't reflect on a technology being out-dated, all that means is companies aren't making it that way anymore, and the reason isn't always because there is a better alternative, there are many examples of companies standardizing with inferior technology for one reason or another, Betamax vs VHS comes to mind
and you don't have to take up half the screen, they may start doing more slider keyboards
what I like about a virtual keyboard, is that you can change the language characters of the keyboard, without having to change the hardware. The physical keyboard can't do that just by software.
actually a physical keyboard can do it with software, take a look, costs more than most computers but it works
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/
i think we should make a clarification here, keyboard is what is found on typewriters, laptops and in front of computers
keypads are on phones
Hah. That's very close to what they said about QWERTY keyboards over half a century ago. They've also been trying to sell one-hand chord keyboards for over a decade, and that's still pretty much a über-geek novelty.
Honestly... I've never even heard of those until just now. I had to look them up. That's an interesting concept.
Hmm... I don't know about that...
It's probably true that a majority of people who have not tried the iPhone's keyboard prefer a physical keyboard... it's probably even true that a majority of people who have tried touch-screen keyboards on *other* (non iPhone) devices prefer a physical keyboard... but I don't know if a majority people who have actually tried (even for a brief time) the iPhone's keyboard actually prefer a physical keyboard. 5 minutes on an iPhone was plenty of time for me to drop my Treo and even cancel my contract with Verizon.
Also... where are you getting your statistics?
This actually may be the case. It's probably the other way around. Most people that have used the iPhone keyboard may prefer a physical one since the keys are just too small and there is no landscape option.
While a majority of people that have tried other touch screen keyboards have seen what options can be had with them, like landscape and XT9 and so forth, then start to really like the idea of a touch keyboard with options.
virtuality is the new reality
I agree with you 1000%. After a month with my iPod Touch I could type nearly as fast as on my computer. Try doing that with your traditional smartphone. Because of that I use it for my entire digital life. Heck, I'm using it to type this review. 80% of iPhone users are "very satisfied" with their iPhones. This includes the virtual keyboard. The only people who complain about the iPhone's virtual keyboard are the noobs and those who don't own one. Almost everyone else fully embraces them.
I agree with you 1000%. After a month with my iPod Touch I could type nearly as fast as on my computer. Try doing that with your traditional smartphone. Because of that I use it for my entire digital life. Heck, I'm using it to type this review. 80% of iPhone users are "very satisfied" with their iPhones. This includes the virtual keyboard. The only people who complain about the iPhone's virtual keyboard are the noobs and those who don't own one. Almost everyone else fully embraces them.
I hate slide out physical keyboards. The iPhone is actually a breeze to type on once you get used to it.
The only thing I would add would be landscape typing in all applications, not just Safari. (especially great for texting)
That can be added by software, luckily.
The only thing I would add would be landscape typing in all applications, not just Safari. (especially great for texting)
That can be added by software, luckily. Sounds like developers need to do some typing tutor apps or typing games for the iPhone.
My preference would actually be for Palm Graffiti 1 gesture text input, except with a finger tip instead of a stylus.
My preference would actually be for Palm Graffiti 1 gesture text input, except with a finger tip instead of a stylus.
i'm sure people with QWERTY keyboards are typing just as fast if not faster than you are on your virtual one, neither is better, it is a preference, and some people like to be able to type or dial numbers without looking at the phone even once, which is something you can't accomplish on any phone that uses only a touch screen, there is no point of reference for your fingers
example, you are driving and you reach for your phone and then feel for the buttons, people who make it a habit of talking in their cars can most likely find the keypad and dial the number they want because they feel around, now try doing that with a phone that has no keypad, you wouldn't even know where to start pressing.
i'm not endorsing dialing numbers driving or anything like that, but it is a fact that people do that and for those people no touch screen will work.
i've used both and i have no problems typing with either one, and i also don't think either is inferior to the other, it is simply a matter of different strokes for different folks, you buy things that fit your needs. doesn't make them noobs, doesn't make them 1337, makes them practical.
I hate 2 things about the touchscreen keyboard, but both could be corrected by software.
Cellphone keyboards have very small keys for people with big hands. I have no problem two-thumb typing in landscape mode, and if every application could rotate, this would be fixed for me. In portrait, my thumb covers easily 4 keys in a row, and depending on the angle of my thumb, contact isn't exactly at the same place each time. On the other hand, I could easily two-thumb type on my BB Charm, because when you type on a physical keyboard, you press with your thumb on a key, you can sense how centered you are by feeling the other unpressed keys around, immediately know if you pressed the wrong key, and correct yourself without even having to look. At least the visual/sound feedback on the iPhone is good, and the auto-correction is simply godly. But that brings me to the second problem.
You can't use the iPhone in two different languages easily. I sms half in english and half in french. When I type in french, I need to constantly cancel the auto-correction for each word, and if you forget, too bad, you get what it decided it was. If I could which to french directly on the keyboard, or at least temporarily turn off the auto-correction, happy I would be.
Cellphone keyboards have very small keys for people with big hands. I have no problem two-thumb typing in landscape mode, and if every application could rotate, this would be fixed for me. In portrait, my thumb covers easily 4 keys in a row, and depending on the angle of my thumb, contact isn't exactly at the same place each time. On the other hand, I could easily two-thumb type on my BB Charm, because when you type on a physical keyboard, you press with your thumb on a key, you can sense how centered you are by feeling the other unpressed keys around, immediately know if you pressed the wrong key, and correct yourself without even having to look. At least the visual/sound feedback on the iPhone is good, and the auto-correction is simply godly. But that brings me to the second problem.
You can't use the iPhone in two different languages easily. I sms half in english and half in french. When I type in french, I need to constantly cancel the auto-correction for each word, and if you forget, too bad, you get what it decided it was. If I could which to french directly on the keyboard, or at least temporarily turn off the auto-correction, happy I would be.
Earlier in this thread I said that I believe that, while a virtual keyboard is a smart compromise, I prefer "typing" on a physical keyboard and always will.
In anticipation of getting a 3G iPhone next week, I have been messing around with my iPod Touch more. Given that my Touch has been pretty much a phenomenal iPod and occasional web surfer, I have not had to type often. So I opened notes and typed away. I read some of the tricks, like double clicking space bar to add period and space at end of sentence.
I AM SOLD. This really works...there are some times when it will be more difficult, but I do believe that I can be faster on the iPhone quickly than I have been on Blackjack and Treo. The word finish feature is so consistently accurate it is amazing. This has been one of my biggest concerns in moving away from the BlackJack. Excellent!!
In anticipation of getting a 3G iPhone next week, I have been messing around with my iPod Touch more. Given that my Touch has been pretty much a phenomenal iPod and occasional web surfer, I have not had to type often. So I opened notes and typed away. I read some of the tricks, like double clicking space bar to add period and space at end of sentence.
I AM SOLD. This really works...there are some times when it will be more difficult, but I do believe that I can be faster on the iPhone quickly than I have been on Blackjack and Treo. The word finish feature is so consistently accurate it is amazing. This has been one of my biggest concerns in moving away from the BlackJack. Excellent!!