I’ve tried them all. The BlackBerry, Treo, Blackjack, and iPhone to name a few.
It seems that no matter who you talk to, people either love having a physical keyboard with actual buttons to press, or they love the ‘virtual’ touchscreen keyboard like the one on the iPhone. That’s all well and good, and I respect each and every users’ right to have their own choice and opinion… But I can’t say that I belong in either of those groups… Not to be too big of a ‘grump’ here, but let me tell you why I’m not a big fan of either.
I enjoy the physical touch and tactile feel of a full QUERTY keyboard like those found on the BlackBerry 8800 and 8300 series. But that being said, I do not feel comfortable typing on them one bit. While I do a lot of email, when I’m on the go if I am on the go and receive an urgent message on a BlackBerry, most of the time I’ll simply call the person back. It should be noted that I currently own a BlackBerry 8700, 8800 and 8300 series, and all of these were purchased for me by the company I work for. I’ve also tried out the 8100 (Pearl). Of all these devices I enjoyed typing on the 8300 Curve series the best.
Same deal with the touchscreen keyboard on the iPhone (Yes, I own one of them too, except this one I bought for myself). At first, I honestly didn’t like it at all. In fact I hated it. But as I began to use it, I started to appreciate the way it recognized words and phrases, and after not a long time I was already up to the typing speed I had reached on the BlackBerry. The ability for the controls and keys to change on the fly was also a hit with me.
So why am I not a fan of either? To tell you the truth I can’t exactly pinpoint one exact reason. Perhaps I’m just an all around grouch, or perhaps it’s just very, very uncomfortable for me to clutch onto my device, while pecking away with my thumbs or fingers on a device no wider than the width of my hand. It’s uncomfortable. It’s a social no-no to do it while in the company of friends or family… and often times it is simply a huge distraction, especially when I’m driving around.
Is it just me that feels this way? (Please tell me it isn’t!) Maybe I need to join some sort of self-help group on this one, but I don’t think so. You get what you want out of the devices, and most of the time I choose to use them sparingly when it comes to email and messaging.
So, if you were to ask me, ‘Grump, what do you prefer… typing on a device with physical keys like a BlackBerry or Treo… or typing on the virtual touch keys of devices like the iPhone?’ My honest answer would be I don’t like either. Both do the job equally well (or should I say ‘un-well’) for me. I’m not a fan of either. My hands weren’t meant to scrunch up into that claw position.
If these devices weren’t constantly given to me for work, I’d never use them. Give me the freebie phone from the local carrier and let me be.
Ok, that’s enough of a grumpy rant for today. Now I want to know…What do YOU prefer?
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TAGS: blackberry, iPhone, keyboard, Treo
