Gee, whatta you know? iGenius is right, and all that crap about "needing" the bezel for your thumbs is just lame justification by people dazzled by teh shiny.
The bezel is there because all that fancy sensing technology in the Apple patents we all read about didn't make it into the iPad.
Given that Apple never said there would be magic pixie dust sensing technology in the iPad I dunno why anyone expected anything different. Yes, the bezel is there to both a) provide more space for guts of the iPad and b) provide more border to reduce spurious touch input.
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It's not a "revolutionary" device.
It does nothing different from the iPod and iPhone.
It's just bigger.
The fact that it is just bigger does make it significantly different from the iPod and iPhone. The user interaction changes significantly and that could be revolutionary. In fact, given the little I've seen, I believe it is revolutionary in as much as it likely represents the first widespread and usable desktop scale UI paradigm that isn't WIMP based.
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Because it's bigger it actually has *less* functionality than an iPod or iPhone in that you cannot thumb type on it.
Given that corner split keyboards are possible that's not strictly true just due to size. Given you can TOUCH TYPE on it when flat, on your lap and other times the fact that you can't thumb type is mostly irrelevant.
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Therefore one of the biggest drawbacks of tablets, (that has always plagued the category in general), still exists on the iPad. You can't use it standing up unless you poke at it with one finger.
No, this is not the biggest drawbacks of tablets. Hardly anyone want's to type standing up anyway. Show me more than a handful of use cases where anyone really gives a shit between thumb typing and finger poking while standing?
The biggest drawbacks to tablets has been that the UI has typically been WIMP based and not stylus or touch centric. Meaning Windows Tablet Edition is mostly just Windows with some Ink capability and the OneNote app.
This is suboptimal for the format and a far more significant problem than a few folks wanting to type standing up.
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You therefore can't type on it or do any data entry of any use, standing up.
Again, show me more than a handful of use cases where anyone gives a shit. In any case, this is completely wrong. See the citations for one handed typing below.
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It will be difficult to type on it on the train, or on the bus. It won't work very well on your lap while the bus is moving.
Trains aren't that bumpy. On a train it would be perfectly fine in most cases...even on crappy US Amtrak rails.
Even busses aren't THAT bumpy.
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I wrote a thousand word article on my iPhone just a couple of days ago while standing up on the train on the way home. I won't be able to do that with an iPad, even though it's bigger and has better software. Someone thumb typing in portrait mode on an iPhone will certainly get a much faster typing speed than someone using an iPad.
Given that very few people type a thousand words standing up very often this is an edge case and not a very common one.
In any case i can type single handed faster than you can likely thumb type anyway. I just did it for this paragraph for the first time...with practice it would be much faster using my thumb and 3 fingers and not just two thumbs (I don't seem to use my pinky when typing one handed).
They make software for 1-handed qwerty and the claim is 60-90% of two handed typing speeds...up to 64 words per minute.
This would be fairly easy to do in software if it proves useful for the iPad. Instead of holding down the space bar, just drop you thumb so it touches the pad surface at the same time.
50% two-handed typing speed after 8 hours of training. After 10 hours up to 73% or 23.8-42.8 wpm. Not bad at all.
Even just using the normal keyboard 1-handed was not that bad either.
"Welcome! I am a one handed typist.
I lost most of my left hand in an accident when I was 10. Today I type 40 -80 wpm on a normal keyboard.
I am also the author of 13 books, all of which I typed myself."
With as much practice as you've had with thumb typing I'm sure I could beat your thumb typing speed.
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The iPad is almost certainly a step down in terms of data entry. If the thing had a smaller bezel, or was smaller in size, or came in multiple different sizes, this wouldn't' be the case.
Heck no. I can use a BT keyboard with the iPad and I can't with my iPhone today. That's a gazillion times better. That's ignoring that typing one handed is faster than thumb typing anyway.
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IMO this is a colossal design flaw and a big mistake from Apple. Apple *does* make mistakes you know.
Not in this case. The research says different regarding typing speeds. Unless you're claiming 30+ wpm thumb typing on an iphone...
Comments
Let's settle this once and for all.
Not bloody likely.
Gee, whatta you know? iGenius is right, and all that crap about "needing" the bezel for your thumbs is just lame justification by people dazzled by teh shiny.
The bezel is there because all that fancy sensing technology in the Apple patents we all read about didn't make it into the iPad.
Given that Apple never said there would be magic pixie dust sensing technology in the iPad I dunno why anyone expected anything different. Yes, the bezel is there to both a) provide more space for guts of the iPad and b) provide more border to reduce spurious touch input.
The fact that it is just bigger does make it significantly different from the iPod and iPhone. The user interaction changes significantly and that could be revolutionary. In fact, given the little I've seen, I believe it is revolutionary in as much as it likely represents the first widespread and usable desktop scale UI paradigm that isn't WIMP based.
Because it's bigger it actually has *less* functionality than an iPod or iPhone in that you cannot thumb type on it.
Given that corner split keyboards are possible that's not strictly true just due to size. Given you can TOUCH TYPE on it when flat, on your lap and other times the fact that you can't thumb type is mostly irrelevant.
Therefore one of the biggest drawbacks of tablets, (that has always plagued the category in general), still exists on the iPad. You can't use it standing up unless you poke at it with one finger.
No, this is not the biggest drawbacks of tablets. Hardly anyone want's to type standing up anyway. Show me more than a handful of use cases where anyone really gives a shit between thumb typing and finger poking while standing?
The biggest drawbacks to tablets has been that the UI has typically been WIMP based and not stylus or touch centric. Meaning Windows Tablet Edition is mostly just Windows with some Ink capability and the OneNote app.
This is suboptimal for the format and a far more significant problem than a few folks wanting to type standing up.
You therefore can't type on it or do any data entry of any use, standing up.
Again, show me more than a handful of use cases where anyone gives a shit. In any case, this is completely wrong. See the citations for one handed typing below.
It will be difficult to type on it on the train, or on the bus. It won't work very well on your lap while the bus is moving.
Trains aren't that bumpy. On a train it would be perfectly fine in most cases...even on crappy US Amtrak rails.
Even busses aren't THAT bumpy.
I wrote a thousand word article on my iPhone just a couple of days ago while standing up on the train on the way home. I won't be able to do that with an iPad, even though it's bigger and has better software. Someone thumb typing in portrait mode on an iPhone will certainly get a much faster typing speed than someone using an iPad.
Given that very few people type a thousand words standing up very often this is an edge case and not a very common one.
In any case i can type single handed faster than you can likely thumb type anyway. I just did it for this paragraph for the first time...with practice it would be much faster using my thumb and 3 fingers and not just two thumbs (I don't seem to use my pinky when typing one handed).
They make software for 1-handed qwerty and the claim is 60-90% of two handed typing speeds...up to 64 words per minute.
http://half-qwerty.com/
Here's an actual journal article with actual research that supports this claim
http://edgarmatias.com/papers/hci96/
This would be fairly easy to do in software if it proves useful for the iPad. Instead of holding down the space bar, just drop you thumb so it touches the pad surface at the same time.
50% two-handed typing speed after 8 hours of training. After 10 hours up to 73% or 23.8-42.8 wpm. Not bad at all.
Even just using the normal keyboard 1-handed was not that bad either.
"Welcome! I am a one handed typist.
I lost most of my left hand in an accident when I was 10. Today I type 40 -80 wpm on a normal keyboard.
I am also the author of 13 books, all of which I typed myself."
http://www.aboutonehandtyping.com/
With as much practice as you've had with thumb typing I'm sure I could beat your thumb typing speed.
The iPad is almost certainly a step down in terms of data entry. If the thing had a smaller bezel, or was smaller in size, or came in multiple different sizes, this wouldn't' be the case.
Heck no. I can use a BT keyboard with the iPad and I can't with my iPhone today. That's a gazillion times better. That's ignoring that typing one handed is faster than thumb typing anyway.
IMO this is a colossal design flaw and a big mistake from Apple. Apple *does* make mistakes you know.
Not in this case. The research says different regarding typing speeds. Unless you're claiming 30+ wpm thumb typing on an iphone...
http://www.aboutonehandtyping.com/policetyping.html
So it's not just this one lady who can do 85 wpm one handed. heck, I can't do 85 wpm with two hands.