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Ipad morphs..... Asus may be on to something — Parallax Forums

Ipad morphs..... Asus may be on to something

LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
edited 2011-01-04 09:26 in General Discussion
Asus of the EEEpc fame has gotten a bit of a different idea of what a Pad should be -- Apple beware.

http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=213356&ctNode=5

Comments

  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-01-03 00:34
    My Dell Streak tablet has several advantages over the iPad, including the size.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-01-03 04:56
    iPads have begun to appear at the local Starbucks here in Kaohsiung and the users seem a bit perplexed by the lack of a keyboard. So we will just have to see what 2011 holds in store for us. I personally am a laggard. I refused to get a laptop until they got down to lighter weight and smaller size - the EEEpc was my first. And I strongly suspect that Apple is currently riding a wave based on tiny luxury products.

    It took me a long time to realize the majority of big laptops never went outside the home - they just allowed one to not have a corner of the home cluttered with a mass of dusty cables and a noisy printer. They were the ideal computer for a couch potato.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-01-03 09:30
    Interesting and fantastic technology but I wonder how long it takes to get used to the touch keyboard, i.e. if you're not a kid. In the demo, my fingers continued to accidentally touch wrong keys due to wanting to rest the fingertips somewhere, among other issues. Samsung has a big advertising campaign in the mainland for their version but if it's anything like my now former Samsung phone you couldn't pay me to take one.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2011-01-03 09:51
    You can use a Bluetooth keyboard with both the iPad and the iPhone. I have a small folding one made by ANYCOM that I've used with my iPhone. I don't actually do much typing because of the small screen, but there have been some occasions while travelling where it's come in handy.

    Keep in mind that the Dell Streak tablet and other announced tablets, although competing for market share with the iPad, are not really equivalent. They're competing mostly with laptops and netbooks. The iPad is mostly an information consumption device for viewing media / data either downloaded from a desktop / laptop device or wirelessly over the internet (WiFi / 3G). Although it has a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application, these are more intended for viewing and modifying existing files rather than for extensive creation. The on-screen keyboard is more than adequate for that task despite some (like fat fingered me) having a hard time with it. I seem to get better at it the more typing I do with it, but rapidly lose the "edge" if I don't use it for a while.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-01-03 09:52
    I've been using a beta version of the Swype keyboard on my Streak since I got it, it's marvellous. The recent Android upgrade had it bundled and it's also supplied with some Android phones. It's another reason to avoid the iPad, as it will probably never be made available to Apple.

    I could use a Bluetooth keyboard, but Swype is faster.

    The Streak competes directly with the iPad, it's completely different from a laptop or a netbook.
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-01-03 10:45
    Mike Green wrote: »
    You can use a Bluetooth keyboard with both the iPad and the iPhone. I have a small folding one made by ANYCOM that I've used with my iPhone. I don't actually do much typing because of the small screen, but there have been some occasions while travelling where it's come in handy.

    They finally fixed this !?? Its about time .
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-01-03 12:17
    I think the ultimate input interface for these tiny devices would be Morse code: just one fat-fingered virtual button required, and you wouldn't even have to look to see what you were doing. In a demo on David Letterman awhile back, a couple teen texters were challenged in a texting speed contest by a couple (much older) radio amateurs who used Morse code. The hams won handily!

    -Phil
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2011-01-03 12:31
    Phil,

    Yep, but it's really hard to buy a decent Morse key now a days:)

    I'm not sure the touch interface on my Samsung Galaxy S is up to it.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-01-03 13:25
    Heater,

    Yes, tactile feedback would be a plus for sending Morse.

    -Phil
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2011-01-03 19:40
    Apple's been down this no keyboard road before. Remember the MacBook Wheel fiasco?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-01-03 20:03
    LOL! The onion rocks! But, seriously, I had one of these as a kid:

    The keys weren't real; they were just printed on the metal case. You had to rotate the correct letter into place, then press down to make an imprint on the paper -- kinda like one of those Dymo label printers.

    -Phil
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-01-04 07:41
    @Phil
    MORSE CODE? That was required for my First Class rank in the Boy Scouts. Do you really want to sit in a Starbucks with 25 people sipping lattes and tapping Morse Code into their iPad? And of course, it would be so easy to eaves drop. Di..dah Dah..di..di..dit. Da..di.da..dit..

    The keyboard is an ergonomic eye/hand/brain extension - and hard to do completely without for productive input of text. I do have a Palm Zire72 PDA and that recognizes both Chinese and English via a stylus. But my real doubts with the iPad are based on the simple fact that people will grow weary of smudged, dirty screens. Tiny touch screens are acceptable - like my PDA. And it is in part due to having the ability to grip the device in one hand and to write with the other. But big touch screens have to sit upright in a holder or flat on a table top - neither seems very ergonomic to me. And then, you have all your beautiful graphics smugged up with fingerprints.

    There also seems to be a blur occurring between netbooks, notebooks, iPads, and PDAs. People aren't going to have one of each - too many items at the charger station and too much money out of pocket. So the market isn't going to grow in the leaps and bounds that past format shifts have offered. Did Apple really out grow Microsoft or did Microsoft merely shrink enough for Apple to become Numero Uno? Meanwhile Asus is the brand name of a company that is making a huge market share of all the computers in the world, maybe even a few Apples.

    BTW, when I touch type at 50WPM here, it scares Taiwanese people - they can't believe anyone can input on a keyboard that fast ;-D
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-01-04 08:48
    I don't have a fingerprint problem on my Streak, which has a 5" screen, and I don't think I've ever cleaned it. I do have very dry skin, though, because of major gut surgery. One thing I like about it is being able to use it lying on my back in bed if I wake up up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep again. I'm quite sure that the larger iPad can be used in the same way, but might be harder to hold.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-01-04 09:26
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    Yes, tactile feedback would be a plus for sending Morse. -Phil
    Just DIY your own 1900 keyer. Add some spark suppression and interface it. I may still have a circa 1960s keyer from those ham radio days. Though training instructed the use of two fingers to depress the knob lever actuator.
    :)
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