Touchscreens as keyboards are more difficult to use over a prolonged period because there’s no natural resting state for fingers and palms. Basically, you touch the keys and you are inputting. If Apple adjusted the sensitivity of a touchscreen keyboard so a person COULD rest their fingers on the keys without triggering an accidental keystroke, then by slightly increasing finger pressure or velocity resume input, that would go a long way toward making such a flat surface keyboard more tolerable over the course of a workday.
I'm sure typing on a flat surface can be made better, but I would still have trouble orienting my hands when I have no home keys and know way to tell without looking if my hands have shifted. I learned to type on a word processor though, so I fully acknowledge that I may just be stubborn and set in my ways
As to resting your hands on the keys and orienting your hands -- if Apple does something like this, I suspect that:
resting fingers on the keys will not cause typing -- it will take something like a push (harder) or a tap (up, then down).
orienting your hands won't be a problem because the keyboard will move -- wherever you rest your fingers (on the home row) the rest of the keyboard will follow.
using AI the keyboard could adjust for the user(s) with large or small hands, fat fingers, fingernails, etc. -- and correct for the user(s) bad typing habits/errors.
Thinking of the etc. in item 3 reminds me of a true story: In the Las Vegas IBM office, circa 1964 -- the office (one big room) was shared between computer people and typewriter people. On one particular day the typewriter people were demonstrating their newest product a Selectric Composer to a very attractive and buxom personal assistant to the head of one of the casinos.
Of course, all the male typewriter and computer people in the office watched the demo.
It started OK, but the lady couldn't get up to speed... it seemed that something(s) was touching the Selectric keyboard and causing typing errors.
Sarah Millican has said that her preference to take her bra off when at home led to a lot more work for her editor to correct typos in her book.
Man I hope they're not that dumb. I tried for a year to "adapt" to using the iPad 1's touch screen keyboard. It was just too frustrating. Been using a keyboard ever since, but I've yet to find a GREAT keyboard (tried them all, and they all have flaws). I just wish Apple would make a GREAT iPad keyboard - thin & light weight, backlit, top row iPad function keys such as volume and screen brightness, reliable Smart connection, etc. & whose hinge doesn't break in a year or less (ahem Zagg). Apple has the resources; they can do it; don't know why they haven't.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific.
Touchscreens as keyboards are more difficult to use over a prolonged period because there’s no natural resting state for fingers and palms.
I type a lot on my iPad, scripts, short stories, novels, all sorts of things. I thought I'd hate typing on the screen, and even tried a couple of BT keyboards. In the end though, I found the screen worked best for me. Now what you're saying about no natural rest position is very true. However I'm not a touch typist. I don't rest my fingers on the keys, never have even years ago when I used a manual typewriter. I look at the screen and type with about three fingers on each hand, watching each keystroke. So the sensitivity isn't much of an issue, for me at least. YMMV
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific.
Touchscreens as keyboards are more difficult to use over a prolonged period because there’s no natural resting state for fingers and palms.
I type a lot on my iPad, scripts, short stories, novels, all sorts of things. I thought I'd hate typing on the screen, and even tried a couple of BT keyboards. In the end though, I found the screen worked best for me. Now what you're saying about no natural rest position is very true. However I'm not a touch typist. I don't rest my fingers on the keys, never have even years ago when I used a manual typewriter. I look at the screen and type with about three fingers on each hand, watching each keystroke. So the sensitivity isn't much of an issue, for me at least. YMMV
I don't dislike typing on the screen per say, the only thing I dislike is the fact you can't really lay your fingers on the keyboard in a relaxed position like you can on a normal keyboard. When in thought, or reading what I wrote, I've got to pullback from the keys on an Ipad instead of just letting them float in position like a normal keyboard (maybe I'm twitchy ;-).
When I'm talking a normal keyboard I mean keyboards like the original IBM PS-2 keyboards and high quality tanks like this.
There is less to guide muscle memory in positioning the hand, so after the pullback getting back into position takes a bit longer than a traditional keyboard.
Strangely, I hate most laptop and Ipad keyboards worse than typing on screen; for me, that's the worse of both world. Less compact than the Ipad alone and none of the advantages of the desktop keyboards.
My typing speed on screen and on laptop keyboards is about the same and I'm a fast desktop typist.
I can type blind, meaning I can actually type without actually seeing the keyboard, or what I type on screen when using a traditional keyboard, and make very few mistakes. All muscle memory.
On screen typing blind is significantly harder to do, but I still can do OK (not great though, 2-3 letters off on a full line of text if I don't completely lose my position). To prevent drifting, I have to look at the screen once in a while.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific.
Touchscreens as keyboards are more difficult to use over a prolonged period because there’s no natural resting state for fingers and palms.
I type a lot on my iPad, scripts, short stories, novels, all sorts of things. I thought I'd hate typing on the screen, and even tried a couple of BT keyboards. In the end though, I found the screen worked best for me. Now what you're saying about no natural rest position is very true. However I'm not a touch typist. I don't rest my fingers on the keys, never have even years ago when I used a manual typewriter. I look at the screen and type with about three fingers on each hand, watching each keystroke. So the sensitivity isn't much of an issue, for me at least. YMMV
If you do that on a regular basis for long periods of time, that could be an ergonomic nightmare.
Touchscreens as keyboards are more difficult to use over a prolonged period because there’s no natural resting state for fingers and palms. Basically, you touch the keys and you are inputting. If Apple adjusted the sensitivity of a touchscreen keyboard so a person COULD rest their fingers on the keys without triggering an accidental keystroke, then by slightly increasing finger pressure or velocity resume input, that would go a long way toward making such a flat surface keyboard more tolerable over the course of a workday.
I'm sure typing on a flat surface can be made better, but I would still have trouble orienting my hands when I have no home keys and know way to tell without looking if my hands have shifted. I learned to type on a word processor though, so I fully acknowledge that I may just be stubborn and set in my ways
As to resting your hands on the keys and orienting your hands -- if Apple does something like this, I suspect that:
resting fingers on the keys will not cause typing -- it will take something like a push (harder) or a tap (up, then down).
orienting your hands won't be a problem because the keyboard will move -- wherever you rest your fingers (on the home row) the rest of the keyboard will follow.
using AI the keyboard could adjust for the user(s) with large or small hands, fat fingers, fingernails, etc. -- and correct for the user(s) bad typing habits/errors.
Thinking of the etc. in item 3 reminds me of a true story: In the Las Vegas IBM office, circa 1964 -- the office (one big room) was shared between computer people and typewriter people. On one particular day the typewriter people were demonstrating their newest product a Selectric Composer to a very attractive and buxom personal assistant to the head of one of the casinos.
Of course, all the male typewriter and computer people in the office watched the demo.
It started OK, but the lady couldn't get up to speed... it seemed that something(s) was touching the Selectric keyboard and causing typing errors.
Sarah Millican has said that her preference to take her bra off when at home led to a lot more work for her editor to correct typos in her book.
Hahhahah!
And we've got tickets to see her this year. Can't wait.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
I've been saying this is where they were heading for ages now. Whether they bring it to market is still to be determined. Also, I did think they would use a modified Taptic Engine(tm) to give force feedback and present an illusion of keys, and that they've been training us via the glass keyboard on iOS, and the butterfly mechanism in MacBooks to get used to less travel on the keys.
Of course, the real value isn't in a virtual keyboard, but in the other possible interfaces you can do with such a set up. Replace the keyboard with a jog shuttle for editing audio or video, virtual sliders for adjusting levels, a piano keyboard for playing music, etc (it must be early, I know there are a lot more options, but I'm blanking on them).
Now, getting rid of keys altogether is going to upset a lot of people, who will then declare they can never use Apple laptops again. (Desktops will still have the option of attaching a "proper" keyboard.) In order to mollify them slightly, I'd be interested to see Apple do something I think they patented a few years back - essentially a mechanical keyboard that fits over the OLED display, but can be removed (or even replaced) when needed. I suppose if Apple don't do it, someone else will, but then it probably won't fit in place when the laptop is closed, and it becomes cumbersome to use.
Yep, me too. There have been a lot of patents involving virtual keyboards/touch input areas/haptic or air feedback/etc. The Touch Bar in tandem with shallower key travel and the enlarged Trackpad (which doesn't seem to serve any purpose other than working to keep taking over more real estate with the eventual goal to expand function) definitely look like the baby steps in that direction.
As others have said, this is the reason why Apple has been training its user base with increasingly shallow keyboard travel.
Right now, the keyboard and my MacBook Pro has roughly the same travel as the click action on my Magic Touchpad … which only appears to click through some rather clever haptics.
The problem is that there actually two actions for touch-typing: finding the key, then pressing down on it. Apple would need some sort of feedback so that the user knows they're actually resting their fingers on the keys, before they press down.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
What? You think the 1980s to 1990s workflow is "natural", are you for real! Those workflows were taylored around the limitations of the machines and organisational structures of the time, no other choices. Humans have not "naturally" evolved from the cave to favor those workflows, there is a reason why many have changed and still change. They are in fact not optimal to the way data is moved and manipulated these days where there is a lot more retroaction and the data production and use is much more mobile.
What the Ipad gives you is ways to actually break out and do many tasks naturally.
For example,
wtf would you want data entry, payment, and many tasks need to be done at a desktop, or be done by keyboard at all? No reason, scan it, take a photo, press a button, do a dropdown, and bang you've done your data entry once at the place were the data is generated.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
Are you kidding? You've obviously forgotten the iPad launch in which Jobs literally demonstrated how to change their workflow to fit his device, from sitting in a chair to how to hold it and interact with it. It's literally the last big product launch he did! What about the original Macintosh? That was the whole point of building it to begin with!
The revisionist history as told by people living in the past and convinced they know what Jobs did or "would never allow to happen" is bewildering.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
Which is why he never introduced any technology that completely changed the way people interact with computers. You know, like at least twice.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
What? You think the 1980s to 1990s workflow is "natural", are you for real! Those workflows were taylored around the limitations of the machines and organisational structures of the time, no other choices. Humans have not "naturally" evolved from the cave to favor those workflows, there is a reason why many have changed and still change. They are in fact not optimal to the way data is moved and manipulated these days where there is a lot more retroaction and the data production and use is much more mobile.
What the Ipad gives you is ways to actually break out and do many tasks naturally.
For example,
wtf would you want data entry, payment, and many tasks need to be done at a desktop, or be done by keyboard at all? No reason, scan it, take a photo, press a button, do a dropdown, and bang you've done your data entry once at the place were the data is generated.
Sorry, but "Workflow" depends on the task being done and the tools available to do it. Your idealism doesn't change that. Neither does new technology that doesn't fit the need.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
Are you kidding? You've obviously forgotten the iPad launch in which Jobs literally demonstrated how to change their workflow to fit his device, from sitting in a chair to how to hold it and interact with it. It's literally the last big product launch he did! What about the original Macintosh? That was the whole point of building it to begin with!
The revisionist history as told by people living in the past and convinced they know what Jobs did or "would never allow to happen" is bewildering.
Did I forget the iPad? Not at all! It provided and provides new ways of doing certain things that are wonderful. But, it has yet to replace the laptop. Probably because it cannot (yet) meet the needs of those who laptops.
I'm officially old now, the idea of trying to type without tactile keys sounds horrific. I would understand for a future ipad if they wanted to make it foldable, but I do not want a MacBook that doesn't have a legit keyboard. Now if they could do a near seemless design with some form of raised keys built into the display(which I don't think is anywhere near feasible atm), then I would be interested. But for my use case, on a work machine, I want a physical keyboard with raised keys. I type slower on laptop keyboards with less depth as is.
I am with you 100%... Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient. #NotMyKeyboard
Come on, I'm a very fast typist and you can type hell of faster than 2 finger on a Ipad screen, can easily write the equivalent of a whole screenplay in a about 6h (of course, that's copying, nobody's writing a drama screenplay in 6h :-). Equivalent to one page per 3 minute, so not too stressful typing (screenplay are not full page of text). Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
Nope! Steve, knew better than to force people to change their workflow to fit his device.
Which is why he never introduced any technology that completely changed the way people interact with computers. You know, like at least twice.
Funny though how those "new things" have never replaced the old things like desktops and laptops. Could it be that they can't do the things (workflow) that those so called "old, obsolete" things do on a daily basis?
Comments
Sarah Millican has said that her preference to take her bra off when at home led to a lot more work for her editor to correct typos in her book.
When I'm talking a normal keyboard I mean keyboards like the original IBM PS-2 keyboards and high quality tanks like this.
There is less to guide muscle memory in positioning the hand, so after the pullback getting back into position takes a bit longer than a traditional keyboard.
Strangely, I hate most laptop and Ipad keyboards worse than typing on screen; for me, that's the worse of both world. Less compact than the Ipad alone and none of the advantages of the desktop keyboards.
My typing speed on screen and on laptop keyboards is about the same and I'm a fast desktop typist.
I can type blind, meaning I can actually type without actually seeing the keyboard, or what I type on screen when using a traditional keyboard, and make very few mistakes. All muscle memory.
On screen typing blind is significantly harder to do, but I still can do OK (not great though, 2-3 letters off on a full line of text if I don't completely lose my position). To prevent drifting, I have to look at the screen once in a while.
Yep, my coworker swears up and down he will never buy an Apple laptop if it doesn’t have physical keys. Smh.
And we've got tickets to see her this year. Can't wait.
Without a raised keyboard that you can feel, it is pretty much impossible to touch-type using all 8 fingers.
This could only work for those functions for which Apple is advertising its iPad as a laptop replacement -- which are not the current business type uses of a laptop but are less input intense and more oriented towards graphic output. And, on the limited occasions where the user is typing input they are looking at the keys and using one or two fingers -- which is far less efficient.
#NotMyKeyboard
Typing a 120 page novela in 6h, well though would be impossible on an Ipad screen, 5000-6000 words per hour, 83-100 words per minutes, but doable by me on a very good keyboard (non spongy).
There is plenty of real business uses on an Ipad, even the spreadsheet "bogeyman", that one is actually doing on a 13 inch laptop either, is perfectly doable and I've been using Excel since the early 1990s, so I should know.
What happens is that people changes their workflow to suit the different way of using and manipulating data on tablets and phones. If you are trying to fit 1990s workflow into a modern paradygm, it won't fit that's for sure.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2017/05/apple-continues-to-advance-a-hybrid-notebook-with-a-reconfigurable-surface-supporting-a-virtual-keyboard-more.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/02/apple-talks-up-smart-bezels-live-reconfigurable-macbooks.html
and even earlier...
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/07/apple-invents-new-flat-keyless-keyboard-for-desktops-more.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/05/apple-explores-keyboards-using-an-advanced-air-feedback-system.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/01/apple-pushes-research-into-motion-keyboards-for-macbooks.html
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/06/apple_touch_typing_tech_could_lead_to_backside_input_for_tablets
Right now, the keyboard and my MacBook Pro has roughly the same travel as the click action on my Magic Touchpad … which only appears to click through some rather clever haptics.
The problem is that there actually two actions for touch-typing: finding the key, then pressing down on it. Apple would need some sort of feedback so that the user knows they're actually resting their fingers on the keys, before they press down.
Tricky.
Those workflows were taylored around the limitations of the machines and organisational structures of the time, no other choices.
Humans have not "naturally" evolved from the cave to favor those workflows, there is a reason why many have changed and still change.
They are in fact not optimal to the way data is moved and manipulated these days where there is a lot more retroaction and the data production and use is much more mobile.
What the Ipad gives you is ways to actually break out and do many tasks naturally.
For example,
wtf would you want data entry, payment, and many tasks need to be done at a desktop, or be done by keyboard at all? No reason, scan it, take a photo, press a button, do a dropdown, and bang you've done your data entry once at the place were the data is generated.
The revisionist history as told by people living in the past and convinced they know what Jobs did or "would never allow to happen" is bewildering.
Your idealism doesn't change that. Neither does new technology that doesn't fit the need.