Touch or keyboard, is there only one way to sort this out?
Published by Ewan Spence at 10:21 BST, July 29th 2010
You may recall last week we pointed out Nokia’a Conversations Blog post crying out the virtues of the keyboard. Keeping the karmic balance, this week sees the touchscreen side of the debate step up to take a swing at the arguments. And then there’s Tomi Ahonen’s take on the debate.
Ahonen has, as usual with his discussions, gone into detail on the issue of “Touch v Keyboard” with numbers, market insight, and a well thought out conclusion. Here’s how he frames the post.
Touch screens are the hot story now. They also 'seem' more 'modern' and touch screens allow bigger screens in classic candybar phone form-factors (remember, the iPhone is also considered candybar form factor, ie it is not a 'flip phone' or a slider..). So any web browsing and screen-intensive experiences like watching pictures, videos and playing videogames are all experiences more vividly with larger screens. So lets explore this a bit deeper.
As with most discussions on something that is tightly entwined with user choice and a specific device, yet where the two choices are equally valid (Mac or PC, touch or Keyboard, ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64), temperatures will run high, opinions will be black and white, but the truth will lie somewhere in the middle.
Categories: Links of Interest
Platforms: General, General
News Discussion
carman58
And the solution to the debate is a hybrid phone so you can have the best of both worlds ! My N97 is obviously not the best example , but the form factor is , I think , perfect . So I really hope a 4 inch plus touchscreen phone with slide out qwerty and a good OS arrives soon to keep everyone happy :)
Biggles
I'd rather a touch screen with a keypad, like this:
http://www.gsmarena.com/i_mate_ultimate_9150-1884.php
OK, so that was a WinMob device, and it was cancelled. But the form factor would be fantastic - big screen (plus touch) and a keypad, in a clamshell. Like a touchscreen N76.
Keyboards are not conducive to one handed operation, keypads are. I know you can get sliders, but long term they seem less reliable than clamshells, and at least a clamshell offers screen protection.
Oh well, I can dream.
Unregistered
What about a form factor like the Palm Pixi? You get the E71-like body, but with a touch screen. I can't think of a better combination.
Unregistered
Adding a qwerty keypad to an touch screen phone adds weight and thickness but seems the best compromises. But in the end there is no debate here, all types are available, pick the one you prefer. The next person might prefer something else so they buy something else.
Although interestingly, when Sony Ericsson add a keypad to a phone it becomes the "pro" model.
carman58
I entirely agree that people should have choice, and not everyone uses their phone the same way, my personal preference is to have both and I'm happy to accept the 'bulk' in fact I'm hoping my next handset will be even 'Bulkier' !! Bigger screen means bigger, easier to use slide out qwerty, but I would have to stop before the Dell Streak size (unless I could find some MC Hammer Trousers LOL
Full thread: 5 Comments / Post New Comment