Re: [NTLK] [OT] New iPhones/iPhone OS 3.0

Hello,

--- On Wed, 6/17/09, Lord Groundhog <lordgroundhog@gmail.com> wrote:

> Are we really talking seriously about an external keyboard
> for the iPhone?

I don't know about the "we" part, but yes, I, at least, am perfectly serious when I ask about an external keyboard for the i(am SO tired of hearing about it)Phone. :)
 
> And doesn't adding an external keyboard on a cell phone as
> sleek and etc as the aesthetic iPhone remind anyone except me of taking a
> Ferrari Enzo and welding the back of it to the rear section of a VW Bus >-- because you really want a people carrier?

I guess that depends: are you toting around an iPhone solely as a high-tech fashion statement? Or do you view it, instead, as a productivity tool, and one that you're looking to wring the most utility out of?
 
> The keyboard will be what -- 3-4 times the size of the iPhone?

Whoa, Nellie: who said it had to be that big?

You're familiar with Palm's Stowaway keyboards, yes? At least, I would *hope* you would be, seeing as how the Newtway Stowaway connector allows us to use such a keyboard with our Newtons. :)

At any rate, with the Newtway, Newton users have access to a full-sized keyboard that is roughly the size of a deck of cards (or an iPhone, if you like) when it is folded up.

I would hope that Apple (or a third-party licensee) could be at *least* as ingenious when coming up with an external keyboard for the iPhone.

>Or will it be a cut-down version that requires multiple function keys
>to work create the missing keys?

With the technology that went into the Stowaway being at least half a decade old, I don't see why an external keyboard for the iPhone would necessarily have to have a compromised design.

>And will people really whip out the keyboard when they have the
>spare 15 minutes or half-an-hour, and write stuff into their iPhones with >it?

I don't know. But if Apple would at least *sell* the damn thing, (or license someone else to sell it and let them take all the risk) perhaps we could find out. :)

> but somehow I think the hilarity factor when, say, you're
> sitting on a train or coach might discourage a few folks from doing
> this.

Since when were geeks and/or cell phone users ever afraid of looking silly?

I don't know how many people you have walking around with BlueTooth headsets in your own neck of the woods, but let's just say that I suffer from an overabundance of them where I am. Yes, these people look silly because, unless you can see the headset itself, they appear as though they are talking to themselves.

Do they care? Apparently not. Or, at least, they seem to have decided that the productivity to be gained by marching around with a BlueTooth headset and looking as though you're talking to yourself is worth trading (what's left of) their human dignity for.

>Or will it just be the "dirty secret" in the homes and offices of iPhone
>users?

If people aren't afraid of looking like they're talking to themselves, I don't think they're going to find attaching an external keyboard to their iPhone to be too terribly shame-inducing. :)

> As I say, I really don't want to be difficult about this, but I'm not >having an easy time of seeing the point, either aesthetically or
> practically. Of course I may be wrong, and maybe the world has been >waiting for the Enzo SportsPeople®� and I just didn't know it.

Well, I guess it comes down to whether or not you are willing to "spoil the lines" of your iPhone. And I, for one, would be perfectly willing to do so.

How many others there are like me I can only guess at.

> Answers on a postcard or a poster -- whatever size it takes
> to help me get this.

Well, hopefully my poster-sized post has helped generate a few insights (or a few cheap laughs, which are nearly as good ;) ).

Best,

James Fraser

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Received on Wed Jun 17 23:42:53 2009