While the much anticipated iPhone 3G has added some major functionality, namely 3G network support and a true GPS, many have been disappointed with the lack of attention payed to primary functions that one would expect in any smart-phone.
One such feature hindering some potential users from making the leap to the iPhone, is the lack of a physical keyboard. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past year, or have chosen to completely ignore Apple’s iPhone, the device utilizes a touch screen type-pad with no tactile response. Some users have denounced this feature having said that it is simply unusable, while others have become relatively accustomed to the iPhone’s multi-touch keyboard. Either way, the iPhone’s keyboard has been a relative gamble in “user input methods” by Apple, one that has not been overshadowed by the iPhone’s sparkle in other areas.
It would come as no surprise that Apple has been known for innovative and intuitive design that lends itself to the highest echelon of usability. Moreover, if Steve Jobs tells you that something is good, then you can usually bet your buck that it is. Yet some may feel that a form over function approach may not always be the best answer for certain usage.
With the iPhone 3G now aimed towards business practicality with features such as Microsoft Exchange support, keyboard complaints are becoming more and more prevalent.
It may suffice to say the Apple is holding its ear up to this one as the company is currently tinkering away on prototypes with a physical keyboard, according to a recent report from The Register. While such a version would not be set for release until later next year, the report claims that some versions already in existence may be nearly functional.
This may be a bit perplexing; as Steve Jobs more or less mocked physical keyboards on smart-phones such as the Blackberry at the recent WWDC, noting that the iPhone screen now allows for Chinese and Japanese characters and joking that this was “one of the great advantages of not having a bunch of plastic keys on your keyboard.” It would, however, not be beyond him to change his mind or perhaps just take what is out there and make it better.
The fact of the matter may be that the people who are complaining about the touch keyboard may very well have never used it. I can think of a few people that I have met throughout the years (and I’m sure everyone knows someone like this) that have nothing but negative things to say about Apple products (primarily Macs), that have never even sat down at one. Some people have a tendency to fear what may seem foreign to them.
While innovation may lend itself to the notion that keyboards in general are dying a slow death, business oriented smart-phones may be a bit conservative in this respect. That is, the companies that are making them may see the current trend of a business oriented mobile device with a physical keyboard and say, “hey if it works for them, we’re gonna do it too.”
That is exactly where Apple utilizes their creative vision and flare for design to shake things up and make people open their eyes to new concepts and ideas that could make life easier. But hey, If Steve Jobs thinks that slapping a physical keyboard on the back of some future iPhone models will help sales and sway some opinions in the business sector, then i would see no harm. However, let’s not lose focus here and still take this one for what it is, a rumor.
