Damnation!
Oh this is just stupid. A Strategy Analytics study has found that some Palm Pre users are complaining about the lack of an on-screen keyboard. Unbelievable.
That’s stupid, of course, because the whole raison d’être of the Palm Pre is to provide a QWERTY device with all the bells and whistles of a touchscreen cellphone. A halfway house between the BlackBerry Bold and the iPhone, if you will.
Here’s the money shot, as told by a Strategy Analytics:
Although users liked having a physical QWERTY keyboard, they did not want to have to slide it out every time they wanted to type something
Yeah, because that’s such a hassle! Did these people not know what they were getting into when they shelled out $300?
Photo: Oryl of MobileBurn on Flickr
While I certainly understand your contempt for someone who buys a phone with a hardware keyboard instantly asking for a software keyboard I do have to somewhat agree.
I have used the Palm Pre as well as a plethora of devices that had a slide-out keyboard and it can be a huge pain to have to actually slide the keyboard out to use it. For example on my T-mobile G1 I almost never use the hardware keyboard and almost always use the software one. However on my Treo Pro I would never dream of using the software keyboard.
It may be more of a comment on the common cell user’s laziness(myself included) but the physical sliding of a keyboard can become a huge pain in the ass.
Just ask N97 users…
I had a HTC TyTN as a phone before my HTC Magic now. I bought it because of the hardware keyboard, because I though its one of the best features… However, when using it, I found it more and more as too much effort (unbelievable!) to pull out the keyboard for every little keystroke. I was glad that I had the little crappy virtual keyboard as alternative…
I can understand, people buying a phone for the hardware keyboard and only realizing when actually using it, that a virtual keyboard as alternative is quite handy…
Some things you can’t judge, before using it. Thats definitely the case for the keyboard question.
Funny you mention the Ty Tn, that was definitely the first phone where I decided slide-out keyboards kinda suck.
Perhaps its because with those phones, sliding out the keyboard readjusts the phone to a landscape view, I have avoided using mine at times not because I didn’t want to use it but beause I didn’t want to re-orient the screen.
Agreed. I had a HPC Tilt and the sliding kbd was a waste of space. Always used the software kbd an hated the landscape re-orientation for typing messages on the go
That’s why I love the Blackberry…no slide out nonsense.
exactly, a non-slide hardware keyboard will always beat a slide-out or virtual keyboard.
Except of course with the centro because that keyboard sucked hard.
I have and still love my centro. The non-slide out keyboard is the perfect size qwerty for dainty little girly fingers like the ones found at the end of each of my hands. I’m almost positive they had women in mind when designing that device. My husband’s bulbous knobs hit the wrong key, but it works like a gem for me and I love it!
I agree with the first post. I have a G1 and prior I had a HTC Wizard (I know crazy upgrade!). Anyway, I love the slide out keyboard. Very useful. However nowadays I find myself using the VK much more often. Now certain apps like the terminal emulator or nesoid or one of the other console emulators wouldnt work without the physical keyboard. So Im happy I have it. Its nice to have both though.
Wow, harsh! Landscape screen-board would be nice.
That’s why I bought the BlackBerry Storm…. the landscape on-screen full QWERTY keyboard. I will not buy any phone without a landscape keyboard.
Why not? The Pre keyboard pretty much sucks, it’s utterly tiny, and the razor edge makes it dicey challenge to use.
There is no side slide to a virtual keyboard for landscape alone would be handy even if you can type of the tiny hardware keypad.
Every device is not going to have every feature for every person. There are trade offs. If the users want a touch screen, they should consider the iPhone or G1.
Pre cost 199 bones just so you know.
As a person using a Pre, I prefer a physical keyboard to a virtual one, BUT it also depends on the quality of each.
Probably the absolute simplest change to have made the Pre a more usable device would have been to have the keyboard slide out as landscape rather than portrait.
Touch screen is great, WebOS is great and has great potential, but slide mechanism, tiny keyboard, battery life, and fragile feel are negatives.
(On screen virtual keyboard would be easy to accomplish I suspect, for those who want it.)
*Looking at BlackBerrys*
“Although users liked having a physical QWERTY keyboard, they did not want to have to slide it out every time they wanted to type something ”
Actually, every Palm Pre owner I know complains about this, and I agree, it IS stupid to not include one. They did a lot of stupid things with the software design, such as having A SINGLE SOUND EFFECT FOR EVERYTHING FROM GETTING A TEXT MESSAGE TO A SYSTEM NOTIFICATION TO THE BATTERY RUNNING LOW!!!
Anyway, this article seems heavily peppered with persional opinion instead of tech journalism, why do you feel the complaint is invalid just because you feel it is worthless? There are dozens of reasons one would not want to slide out the keyboard.
You can’t totally fault customers for not knowing what they were getting into. First, they’re Sprint customers so they’re not used to getting a straight answer about anything. Second, let’s not forget that Palm constantly showed the Pre having a virtual numbers keypad for calling, and how much Palm initially boasted that the Pre would be the best of both worlds with a touchscreen and a hardware keypad. So of course people should be disappointed that the phone ends up not having a virtual keyboard for typing. Without that it’s no more special than a HTC/Google phone.
…uh….so the dullards didn’t notice the keyboard till after they gotten on the short bus and received a text ?
I have owned the palm series for a long time. All had key boards on the screen and on the body of the unit ie 755p was may last one before the PRE. I was one who thought becasue it was a PALM it would have the on screen key board. They will get it on there I would bet. The Pre is an amazing piece of technology. I love how you can set what ringer or noise goes with each actions ie alarms text notices and email. The WebOS is very good along with the response time to go from landscape to protrait. I also have found that most of the Web applications from the Iphone work on the PALM through the web browser. I have 30 applications that came with the PRE and well over 40 online apps through the web browser. There will be more coming soon, if the rummors are true. I have no compliants about the phone. I have had it for 40 plus days and it is doing great.
I have been with sprint for over 9 years, no they are not the cheapest but the service I get from them when I need it is always there. My wife has a PRE as well and in her job as a Hospice Nurse the GPS is the main key for her in the 8 counties she roams in for her job.
People are ridiculous… They’re just complaining to be complaining, nothing more.
Nice blog. You should develop it eveen deeper.
having a hardware keyboard is WAYYYY! better than having a software keyboard but I do admit when reading a website in landscape it would be cool to have a software k/b pop up *ONLY when attempting to enter in text. That way you wouldn’t have to turn the phone and slide out, enter the text, and rotate and get back to the position you were in before.