One of the biggest complaints lately about the iPhone is the lack of a mechanical keyboard. It is an understandable concern, one which I am more than a little worried about myself. The New York Times has an interesting piece about the fate of phones that rely entirely on touchscreens for input.
They are pretty hard on the iPhone here, citing that “The tactile feedback of a mechanical keyboard is a pretty important aspect of human interaction.” I tend to agree with that, mostly because I've never used an iPhone. I'm really hoping that it will be a smooth transition.
I know it will take some time to get used to. They go on to talk about such things as the Palm Pilot's requirement that the user input text with a stylus. Of course we all know now that their Treo line has a mechanical keyboard. I don't really see Apple backing off of this in future iterations of the iPhone. After all, they've stuck it out with only one mouse button this long and Mac users aren't complaining.
That iPhone Has a Keyboard, but It’s Not Mechanical [via NYT]
Actually, Apple has two buttons on their mouse now. That is just FYI, and also I would like to point out that some people don’t see the lack of a mechanical keyboard as a problem. Some people, myself included, actually love the idea of not having the stupid buttons that are too small anyway to use. This will give Apple the freedom to change things if they need to make them different in the future. It is all software based and it is cleaner. This is an advantage that Apple has and I think it is great that people are seeing it as a flaw now, since it makes other manufacturers shy away from this great technology. Therefore Apple holds an even stronger advantage.
I would be willing to bet that some smart 3rd party hardware builder is going to introduce a bluetooth or cabled keyboard.
Just a guess
There are already bluetooth keyboards. I used a gotype keyboard for both my windows mobile and Palm handhelds. They both connected via bluetooth. It will be interesting to see if iPhone has full BT support, and not just BT for headsets. I’m hoping I don’t ever have to use the keyboard though. I hope the onscreen is that good.