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June 13, 2007

iphone

iPhone text entry is key to success, failure

Posted Jun. 13, ’07, 12:58 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iPhone

iPhone keyboard demoIt feels like pretty much everybody who’s anybody (and more than a few people, like us, who are exactly nobody) have weighed in on the iPhone’s keyboard—despite the fact that pretty much only those of the level of Walt “Wildman” Mossberg have even gotten to touch the darn thing. Today, the New York Times features an entire article on the iPhone’s potentially revolutionary input methodology.

“There has never been a massively successful consumer device based solely on a touch screen,” warned Sky Dayton, chief executive of Helio, a cellular network service that has recently introduced an innovative handset that integrates Google maps with a G.P.S. system and another feature that physically locates friends using Helio phones.

Palm was successful, he noted, despite requiring the Palm Pilot’s users to enter text with a stylus using its own writing system called Graffiti. But the company eventually retreated and put a mechanical keyboard on its Treo smartphones.

And, of course, the inevitable comparison is drawn to Apple’s last attempt at creating a touchscreen-based device.
Billed as the original “personal digital assistant,” the Newton relied on a stylus for entering text. When users fumbled with its character recognition system, the machine went from hype to humiliation.

Although a small team of dedicated Apple engineers ultimately improved the technology, it was too late to save the Newton as a product.

But some people sure still love those suckers.

It’s far too early to condemn or praise the keyboard, but the fact remains that it’ll be one of the major elements that will determine the iPhone’s fate. With texting an increasingly big part of people’s phone habits, can the iPhone innovate? Or will people merely be scared of what the future has to offer?


5 Comments

EricM said:

"But the company eventually retreated and put a mechanical keyboard on its Treo smartphones."

Can that really be called a retreat when the Treo line came from Handspring? If memory serves, Handspring's Treo lineup had PDAs with and without keyboards.

June 13, 2007 1:30 PM
Mark said:

No-one's touched it yet, but we know it's running OS X which currenly includes a software update feature. It's a software keyboard. If it has problems, they can update it.

"With texting an increasingly big part of people’s phone habits"

Not likely, ever tried writing a lengthy email on a bus or train? It's difficult even with a laptop. The iPhone does seem to have a dedicated SMS app though, for which a software keyboard would be ample.

It will probably mostly be used as a display device to view and interact with content.

June 13, 2007 3:42 PM
Dave-O said:

Good point, especially since that keyboard is doing so much. You use it for queries and email and texting. The thing is texting has its own vocabulary, one that utilizes numbers pretty heavily. With the iPhone it would be quicker to type "later" than l8r (same number of virtual key taps, but that mode switch will incur a penalty). So what happens with l8r or g2g or... okay that's about all I know. Will iPhone users change the vocabulary of text messaging?

Of course, as Mark pointed out, it's all software. Apple could release an update that makes numbers available while texting without a mode switch. SMS messages are so short, you might be able to sacrifice the screen space.

June 13, 2007 8:01 PM
spiderbat said:

Typing one-fingered on a virtual keyboard is a step forward compared to pressing numerical keys in order to compose a sms, but it doesn't seem very practical if compared, e.g., with Graffiti from Palm OS, for general text entry. At least, Graffiti let you enter text without forcing you to keep your eyes fixed on the handheld device, while I doubt that many people will gain the ability to "touch-type" on the iPhone's keyboard.
But, after all, I must keep in mind that the iPhone is just a cellular phone on steroids and no PDA...
P.S.: some years ago I ha occasion to acquire an used Newton, at a token price, for my collection of Apple stuff and I'd say that if Apple would produce something with the iPhone appearance/form-factor and the Newton functionality (updated and revamped) I'd be among the first to pre-order it, even happier if it had no cellular phone incorporated.

June 14, 2007 12:53 AM
Chris Bidmead said:

I've been watching the Engadget video of iPhone text entry and it looks pretty painful compared with, say, stylus text entry on my old Sony-Ericsson P900.

No stylus on the iPhone, so a software upgrade won't help us there. But...

I don't know how capable the iPhone touch screen is, but if it can cope with detecting multiple simultaneous finger touches, how about a software upgrade, or a third party app based on the old Microwriter Agenda (http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~len/boog/gifs/ag500.jpg) -- without question the best PDA text entry system I've ever used. Characters are defined by fingers and thumb playing "chords", a system originally devised by the movie producer and director Cy Endfield. Once you get the hang of it you can chord-type really fast, without looking at the screen, in the back of a bumpy taxi.

If the iPhone could do that, I'd get one tomorrow -- and not even care that there's no telco provider for the iPhone here in the UK yet. :-)

--
Chris

June 30, 2007 2:28 AM

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