Comments on: Where is the external keyboard for the iPhone? http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/2008/06/where-is-the-external-keyboard-for-the-iphone/ Sun, 23 May 2010 18:47:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Staffan http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/2008/06/where-is-the-external-keyboard-for-the-iphone/comment-page-1/#comment-3560 Staffan Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:15:46 +0000 http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/?p=81#comment-3560 Greg, it has probably not been ignored by apple, just not acknowledged, as they never acknowledge anything (well, rarely) until they have found a solution. I am absolutely certain that there will be bluetooth or connected keyboards in a nearby future. Not sure if it will be produced by apple though. However, i cant imagine that they would be afraid that the iphone ever will compete with macbook air, thats two completely different products. But hopefully they could open up for external bluetooth-keyboards sooner rather than later and wait for people to hack it. Greg, it has probably not been ignored by apple, just not acknowledged, as they never acknowledge anything (well, rarely) until they have found a solution.

I am absolutely certain that there will be bluetooth or connected keyboards in a nearby future.

Not sure if it will be produced by apple though. However, i cant imagine that they would be afraid that the iphone ever will compete with macbook air, thats two completely different products.

But hopefully they could open up for external bluetooth-keyboards sooner rather than later and wait for people to hack it.

]]> By: Greg G http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/2008/06/where-is-the-external-keyboard-for-the-iphone/comment-page-1/#comment-2961 Greg G Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:26:55 +0000 http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/?p=81#comment-2961 There IS quite a demand for it, which for some reason has been largely ignored by Apple. For whatever reason, the iphone was released with a downright insipid bluetooth stack (mono headsets only!) and this has yet to be fixed. There's no reason why the iphone hardware should be unable to interface with existing bluetooth keyboards, but the software doesn't allow it. There are a number of possible reasons why Apple might not want to fix this. 1) Apple's marketing is geared towards asthetics, simplicity and entertainment. They work hard to associate their products with fun, not getting work done. Making the iphone get a haircut and buy a tie (i.e. marketing it to businesses) would go against the image they're trying to cultivate. 2) It costs money to do things. Apple won't spend money trying to impress business/professional users. This is why we waited forever for JDK/JRE 6 support in OSX and will never see it in 32-bit OSX. 3) Why would anyone buy a Macbook Air (other than to slide it into an envelope) if you could type efficiently on an IPhone? 4) Apple still wants to believe that the iphone is a closed platform. Opening up more ways to get information in and out of it endangers this belief. Adding better I/O support also creates new ways for less competent users to screw up their IPhone. 5) Bad PR associated with admitting that there was no good reason to disable this feature (HID support is intentionally crippled). 6) ??? I'm sure there are more reasons. Until someone hacks together decent bluetooth (or even wired keyboard) support I won't be sending any money in Apple's direction. There IS quite a demand for it, which for some reason has been largely ignored by Apple. For whatever reason, the iphone was released with a downright insipid bluetooth stack (mono headsets only!) and this has yet to be fixed. There’s no reason why the iphone hardware should be unable to interface with existing bluetooth keyboards, but the software doesn’t allow it.

There are a number of possible reasons why Apple might not want to fix this.

1) Apple’s marketing is geared towards asthetics, simplicity and entertainment. They work hard to associate their products with fun, not getting work done. Making the iphone get a haircut and buy a tie (i.e. marketing it to businesses) would go against the image they’re trying to cultivate.

2) It costs money to do things. Apple won’t spend money trying to impress business/professional users. This is why we waited forever for JDK/JRE 6 support in OSX and will never see it in 32-bit OSX.

3) Why would anyone buy a Macbook Air (other than to slide it into an envelope) if you could type efficiently on an IPhone?

4) Apple still wants to believe that the iphone is a closed platform. Opening up more ways to get information in and out of it endangers this belief. Adding better I/O support also creates new ways for less competent users to screw up their IPhone.

5) Bad PR associated with admitting that there was no good reason to disable this feature (HID support is intentionally crippled).

6) ???

I’m sure there are more reasons. Until someone hacks together decent bluetooth (or even wired keyboard) support I won’t be sending any money in Apple’s direction.

]]> By: Ryan http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/2008/06/where-is-the-external-keyboard-for-the-iphone/comment-page-1/#comment-2389 Ryan Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:41:46 +0000 http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/?p=81#comment-2389 How can there not be bigger demand for this??? It would be so much easier to reply to emails with an external keyboard. They exist for other handheld devices. I'm just so confused about why all the information on the web about this is 6 months to a year old. Maybe we're the only people in the world who want this. How can there not be bigger demand for this??? It would be so much easier to reply to emails with an external keyboard. They exist for other handheld devices. I’m just so confused about why all the information on the web about this is 6 months to a year old. Maybe we’re the only people in the world who want this.

]]> By: Sean LeBlanc http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/2008/06/where-is-the-external-keyboard-for-the-iphone/comment-page-1/#comment-1049 Sean LeBlanc Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:21:06 +0000 http://ajitanthonyprem.com/blog/?p=81#comment-1049 Let me know if you find an external keyboard. My Blackberry is starting to show it's age, and I might just buy an iphone 3G if an external keyboard of some type is available. If not, I may wait to see what comes of other projects: OpenMoko, Google's project, or the BlackBerry Thunder...I'm not sure if The Steve is the one who is holding back an external keyboard or what - doesn't seem like a hard problem to solve, if Apple allows it to be solved. Of course, many users apparently DO view it as a problem, in spite of the dogma about not needing an external keyboard, which you and I know both know is hogwash. Let me know if you find an external keyboard. My Blackberry is starting to show it’s age, and I might just buy an iphone 3G if an external keyboard of some type is available.

If not, I may wait to see what comes of other projects: OpenMoko, Google’s project, or the BlackBerry Thunder…I’m not sure if The Steve is the one who is holding back an external keyboard or what – doesn’t seem like a hard problem to solve, if Apple allows it to be solved. Of course, many users apparently DO view it as a problem, in spite of the dogma about not needing an external keyboard, which you and I know both know is hogwash.

]]>