Wednesday, February 20, 2002
The Wonderful HP Pocket Keyboard
Posted by Tycho Morgan in "THOUGHT" @ 04:11 PM
I, like just about every other Pocket PC user that follows mobile technology, have seen one thumb style keyboard after another for the past year or so. First on the RIM Blackberry, then on many of the two way pagers that followed the Blackberry; then thumb keyboards were introduced for most of the Palms, and finally we saw these nifty gadgets for Pocket PCs. There are options for all iPAQ models as well as the HP560 series. (affiliate link)
The idea behind the thumb keyboard is that you hold your device in your hands like you would hold a Gameboy while you type with your thumbs (you could use any method that you like, but this seems to be the generally accepted method.) At first I thought that this looked like a fairly stupid and ineffective method for entering data when I have a stowaway portable keyboard that I can type 60+ words a minute on. Why settle for what amounts to hunting and pecking on a small keyboard when you can touch type at a speed that is comfortable for you?
So with out giving it much thought, I had completely dismissed the entire concept of thumb keyboards. Later as, I was reexamining my usage patterns when I upgraded to the Jornada, my conclusions about thumb keyboards began to change. Like I said before, the Stowaway is the best solution for entering a large amount of data on the run, if you spend most of your time in a few locations and you dot move around all that much. Unfortunately, in the real world, full sized keyboards aren't practical for a lot of mobile users: they take too long to set up, they require a flat surface, and for far to many situations they are just far to cumbersome.
Thus enters the thumb keyboard. It's easy to setup, in the case of Jornada, it integrates into the flip cover and is always there when you need it, and the other models are almost equally as easy. It is way faster than any onscreen method (unless you are that guy who can hit 50 wpm on Fitaly) and you can use it in almost any circumstance.
Having said all that, I don't think that thumb keyboards are the perfect input solution for Pocket PCs. Besides having more of a learning curve than you'd think, or I'd like (ok, I'm inpatient, but that's just me), in their current incarnation they limit the usefulness of the device by blocking access to the directional pad, the action button, and the shortcut buttons, which for a lefty who finds the jog toggle awkward to use is a bigger deal than you'd think. In the end though, I think that the thumb keyboard is a great idea that probably fits the usage patterns of many Pocket PC users.
The idea behind the thumb keyboard is that you hold your device in your hands like you would hold a Gameboy while you type with your thumbs (you could use any method that you like, but this seems to be the generally accepted method.) At first I thought that this looked like a fairly stupid and ineffective method for entering data when I have a stowaway portable keyboard that I can type 60+ words a minute on. Why settle for what amounts to hunting and pecking on a small keyboard when you can touch type at a speed that is comfortable for you?
So with out giving it much thought, I had completely dismissed the entire concept of thumb keyboards. Later as, I was reexamining my usage patterns when I upgraded to the Jornada, my conclusions about thumb keyboards began to change. Like I said before, the Stowaway is the best solution for entering a large amount of data on the run, if you spend most of your time in a few locations and you dot move around all that much. Unfortunately, in the real world, full sized keyboards aren't practical for a lot of mobile users: they take too long to set up, they require a flat surface, and for far to many situations they are just far to cumbersome.
Thus enters the thumb keyboard. It's easy to setup, in the case of Jornada, it integrates into the flip cover and is always there when you need it, and the other models are almost equally as easy. It is way faster than any onscreen method (unless you are that guy who can hit 50 wpm on Fitaly) and you can use it in almost any circumstance.
Having said all that, I don't think that thumb keyboards are the perfect input solution for Pocket PCs. Besides having more of a learning curve than you'd think, or I'd like (ok, I'm inpatient, but that's just me), in their current incarnation they limit the usefulness of the device by blocking access to the directional pad, the action button, and the shortcut buttons, which for a lefty who finds the jog toggle awkward to use is a bigger deal than you'd think. In the end though, I think that the thumb keyboard is a great idea that probably fits the usage patterns of many Pocket PC users.
