Being flexible with the location of input and visuals, far outweighs the space tradeoff for the unadaptable and extremely limited functionality of a physical keyboard that may be rarely used. There are simply far more functions that do not require keyboard input, than functions that DO. This is particularly true with the iPhone and it’s endless ecosystem of software.

That’s just my pair of pennies.

Perhaps I’ll get the opportunity to use an iPhone one day… when Apple kills the AT&T exclusivity deal – I just refuse to pay AT&T’s fees.

Also note… deploying a hardware keyboard is also an effective screen unlock — so perhaps it’s not so “inconvenient.”

Regarding #2, I haven’t found the lack of tactile feedback to be an issue. I have my typing clicking sound enabled so perhaps that helps psychologically.

Regarding #3, am I the only one who noticed that Apple widened the iPhone 3G last year with that black border on the right and left of the screen? For me at least, the wider dimensions enable me to comfortably thumb type in portrait mode versus the original iPhone.

Regarding #4, I’ll take it compared to a chunkier phone that won’t fit in my jeans pocket. Harry obviously didn’t receive the memo that many professionals dress casually nowadays and that man purses never took off in the US.

Like you noted, there’s tons of benefits to a software keyboard (which I think outweigh the negatives), but some of the “negatives” presented aren’t present for many.

I, for one, thumb type on the iPhone’s software keyboard (even in portrait) all the time. Granted, when I first got my iPhone, all I could do was simple index finger hunt-and-peck, but just like with anything, if you use it enough, you get used to it and what some see as problems aren’t problems for you.

But maybe Apple should rollout the iPhone3G[K] (K stands for Klunky) and put a hardware keyboard on it so the whiners won’t have anything to whine about anymore ;) .

Whenever they try to fit two (or, God forbid, more) languages on a hardware keyboard it ends up being significantly less usable because of the visual clutter and often times the necessity to add extra keys for certain languages.

Some devices already have them. Haptics of course supposedly add ‘feel’ to touch screens but haven’t tried them so don’t know how well they work or power consumption etc.

However, it is in fact wildly popular overall and available on almost every phone out there.

The reason is that people will actually put up with a heck of a lot if they don’t have a choice. If the only way to text from a cell is by using T9, then T9 will be popular. Likewise, if there was nothing other than software keyboards on everything, most people will just muddle through with it even if they don’t like it.

As long as the software keyboard is somewhere to the north (usability-wise) of T9, then it’s “usable” and probably will stay around forever. Given the other advantages it provides in terms of flexibility of product design, it will eventually probably win out over the hardware keyboard for mobiles of a certain size.

I get that. I’ve got very wide fingertips, so I type the wrong key more frequently than I’d like. But the wide fingertips are also what are responsible for the typing multiple keys on the hardware keyboards, but the difference is that autocorrect will generally catch a wrong keystroke, but doesn’t do well with multiple keystrokes.

Consider misspelling the word “thumb” on the two keyboards. If I hit multiple keys (hardware) and misspell it as “thunmb”, it takes an extra stroke of the backspace key to correct this than if I hit the wrong key (iPhone) and type “thunb”, since I have to go back over an extra letter. It’s a pretty minor issue, but it’s just annoying enough to make me prefer the iPhone keyboard.

PC: 1. Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools –> Character Map
2. Scroll through hundreds of characters, select é, copy and paste.

Mac: Option, e, e

iPhone: press and hold the letter e. Select the accented character from the pop-up menu.

True, you can create accented characters with shortcuts on a PC keyboard, but who can remember “alt + 0233″?