Even professional skeptic like me are reaching the point where we have to admit that Apple is probably about to releasesomesort of tablet gimmick , even if there ’s little consensus about what it will await like or just what recess it will fill . Me , I find myself wondering about one facet of the tablet thought in particular : text entrance .
Wait , wait , wait . We ’re speak about arevolutionarynew gimmick that will let you view videos , act music , and plausibly even control your own squadron of death automaton ( not included ) , and I ’m worried about something as quotidian astext entry ?
Well , yeah .
As unexciting as it might be , text entry is still a immense part of the way we interact with our computers . The iPhone has relaxed that dependence somewhat — after all , we spend most of our time tapping , flicker , and pinching — but even it ca n’t escape the old QWERTY keyboard , even if it is just practical . But we need it for send schoolbook messages , write e - mails , even entering our login credential on Twitter or our mobile banking web site .
If hearsay proves true , the Apple tablet will feature a screen in the 10 - column inch range . I have a grueling sentence picturing how I would accede text on a gimmick of this form . apparently , I ’ve got no insider cognition of what the tablet will look like , as I ’m certain will become pronto evident the moment it ’s really released . Still , I ’m curious enough about how I ’m going to employ this gimmick , that I spend the fourth dimension painstakinglymaking upcalculatingthe odds on the different way you might enter text on Apple ’s new twist .
structured forcible keyboard – Steve Jobs ’s antipathy for push button is well - document . Why does he wear polo-neck and sneakers ? No push . give the success of the iPhone and iPod touch ’s virtual keyboard and the advantage it consult ( immeasurably customizable layout , easy location , no moving parts ) , it would be utterly baffling to see Apple take a dance step back with the pill . Odds:500 to 1
Wireless physical keyboard – Being able to use one of Apple ’s shiny Bluetooth keyboard in junction with the tablet is marginally more fair than an integrated keyboard — then again , we ’ve been hoping for Bluetooth keyboard sustenance for the iPhone since before it come out . And Apple likely does n’t require to promote the melodic theme that the machine itself is so inherently limited that it requires an accessary in ordering to do something as canonic as schoolbook unveiling . Odds:750 to 1 ( for Bluetooth only ) ; 75 to 1 ( Bluetooth as an option )
Virtual keyboard ( iPhone version ) – If you ’re an iPhone owner , you ’ve probably gotten pretty accustomed to the equipment ’s practical keyboard — I can type out even medium - length missives on it without too much trouble . But let ’s hack to the chase : I ’m never going to apply it to write my next novel , or even my next 700 - news clause . My MacBook keyboard beats it for text entry , er , hands downfor reasons as dim-witted as the power to type with ten digit instead of two .
what is more , there ’s the question ofhowone would use an iPhone - style thumb keyboard on a gimmick with a 10 - inch screen . You ca n’t defy it in landscape orientation and utilise your thumbs to type — they wo n’t reach the full breadth of the screen ( unless Apple does something wacky like put half of a QWERTY keyboard on each side of the screen ) . portraiture mode raises standardized problems : try moderate up a letter - sized cartridge clip and “ typecast ” on it — not exactly comfortable . What if you harbour it in one hand and type with the other ? Slow and ineffective , even if you get dear enough to type with more than one finger in hunt club - and - peck style . Odds:50 to 1 ( standard iPhone keyboard ) ; 10 to 1 ( something clever like that split keyboard manakin )
practical keyboard ( MacBook version ) – Okay , so if an iPhone practical keyboard wo n’t solve , what about a full QWERTY - style virtual MacBook keyboard that you’re able to type on with all ten fingers ? Well , size of it is an issue : cramped keyboard are the worst affair about netbooks , and Apple love its full - sizing keyboard ( as Jobs specifically said when he announced the MacBook Air ) . Also , ever essay spot - typewriting on a hard airfoil ? trust you like fingertip bruises . And permit ’s not bury there ’s a reason they call ittouch - typing . When there are no actual paint to feel , it ’s going to be a bit more difficult — you’re going to have to gaze at the keyboard to verify you ’re hit the right keys ( although , to be fair , leveraging the iPhone ’s automobile - correct could aid partly solve this problem ) . Then there ’s the ergonomic publication : you ’ll have to put the pad flat on a airfoil to typecast on it , and it also intend tip your head down to see what ’s on the screen — that ’s no good for anybody but your chiropractor . Odds:300 to 1
Stylus – The stylus was a peachy idea back in the day of the Palm Pilot and the Newton , when everybody still used pen all the prison term , but we ’ve moved on , folks . I intend , have you see kidskin ’ hand these twenty-four hour period ? apart from appealing to the hardcore Newton aficionados out there , I doubt that Apple wants to evoke the ghost of that especial gadget . Not to mention style are well-to-do to turn a loss . That enunciate , Apple has had a hand - recognition technology called Inkwell squirreled away inside OS X since Jaguar , though aright now it ’s only really useful if you ’ve got a graphics tablet or are using OWC ’s ModBook . It would n’t be insufferable for them to have dusted that off and given it an update to today ’s engineering . Odds:200 to 1
finger’s breadth - based – When Apple introduced the iPhone , it made a saltation from using a mouse cursor as a cursor to using your finger as the betoken gimmick . Why not use your finger to save text as well ? You ca n’t lose it like the stylus , and again , you may probably use that Inkwell applied science to recognize handwriting . But writing is a mickle slower than type , and your finger’s breadth is far less accurate than a stylus . Odds:75 to 1
Voice acknowledgement – EveryStar Treknerd — yours genuinely included — has in all probability belong through a phase of trying to use command and phonation - control software program on their Mac , usually with mixed results . It works great in sure scenarios , but ever examine to expend part ascendency while watching the game , with your crony yelling in the background ? And if you think the mankind is creepy enough as it is with people cast around scream into their Bluetooth earpieces , wait until they ’re not even talk to other people . Plus , do you really need to talk your Google search out loud ? I think not . Then again , the Dragon Dictation app for the iPhone has been surprisingly full in my brief utilisation of it and Google has sum vocalism - input throughout the Nexus One , so maybe the terrifying future is close than we might think . Odds:100 to 1 ( by itself ) ; 10 to 1 ( as an choice )
No text entry – Seems crazy , right ? But maybe it ’s crazylike a George Fox . Would n’t it be just like Steve Jobs to come out and proclaim that you just don’tneedtext first appearance on the young Apple tablet ? After all , who want to type things in when the tabletknows everything ? Want to calculate up the weather ? The tab knows where you are . Read your e - mail ? The iPhone can synchronise your accounts from your computer — why not the tablet ? desire to watch videos , record Book , listen to music ? It ’s all there , easily browsable by title , artist , genre , album , and so on . But if you want to reply to messages , well , that ’s what your iPhone or MacBook is for . Perhaps you could even sync frequently - used snippets of text edition ( for example , your name or your savoir-faire ) via Mobile Me or some other serving , and then paste them in as necessary . But then again , this might be a footling too radical , even for Steve Jobs and his clitoris - massacring ways . Odds:150 to 1
And now for something wholly dissimilar – Everybody like to watch Steve Jobs pull a rabbit out of his lid — particularly if he’snot even wearing a hat.(Did I just blow your judgment ? ) Will it be nozzle - based text edition entry?Psychictext ledger entry ? television camera - based mouth - reading ? submarine sandwich - outspoken voice credit ? There are so many possibilities that it would n’t surprise me to see something that we ’d never even think of . Odds:20 to 1
Now , while these odds are obviously the result of careful thought ( and a college statistic class that I took ten year ago ) , it goes without saying that I would n’t shlep down to the local bookmaker with your piggy bank and a chela cock . However , were I the kind of somebody to place the occasional flutter , I ’d put down down my money on Steve Jobs coming on stagecoach on January 27 and unveil a gadget that supports a few of the above option .
Just so long as none of them need buttons .
