A recent survey of Palm Pre owners found that a large number of them want the addition of an on-screen keyboard. The Pre has the physical QWERTY keyboard, but users want a soft keyboard for entering short bits of text as needed. This fires up the old debate of “physical keyboard vs. on-screen keyboard,” but that’s not the issue here. The real issue is ease of use — we smartphone owners want it.
The same debate reared up over T-Mobile’s G1, the original Android phone with a physical keyboard. Owners liked the keyboard but wanted an on-screen version to pop up whenever appropriate, such as for entering quick bits of text. Google listened, and the latest version of Android added a soft keyboard to keep everyone happy. What drove this apparent fickleness in G1 owners is the same thing driving Pre owners. It’s all about ease of use — whatever is easiest to get the task done, that’s what we want. It’s pretty straightforward.
It’s not a “physical keyboard OR soft keyboard” issue, it’s really about wanting a physical keyboard AND a soft one. We just want to get the job done, the easy way.
(via electronista)
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