SnapKeys calls for the death of the QWERTY keyboard

**maddie1128** · 05-12-2012, 11:17 PM

Am I the only one that would like to seriously try this out? I am probably in the "older" population using smart phones- but I love learning new things. I think this would be interesting if it works the way they show it on the video. If it comes to Blackberry, I will be checking it out.

**Alex_Hong** · 05-13-2012, 12:36 AM

As mentioned above, the problem i see with this keyboard is names. Especially asian names. how is the virtual keyboard able to learn that? from what i see in the video, it is relying very heavily on predictive input. preset? or a way to select a particular alphabet in the 4 boxes? That would mean T9 except without alot more key presses and more time consuming.

Then there is continuity. On a PC, there is still a need for physical keyboard. That's going to be in QWERTY. Then suddenly on your mobile device you have to use a different system for input.

What i see is a nice idea, to solve the problem for the virtual keyboard taking up too much screen real estate. But that in turn creates more problems.

**belfastdispatcher** · 05-13-2012, 02:03 AM

If it's not broken, don't fix it! There's other problems to be solved in the world.

**_StephenBB81** · 05-13-2012, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by FSeverino

I know this is off topic so I wont say much... and this is NOT anything against you personally, just the idea you mentioned.

As an Ontario Certified Teacher I find it totally ridiculous to say that parents MUST teach their children anything that should be covered by the curriculum. Dont get me wrong, both of my parents taught me A LOT of things that I would have never learned in school and they also helped me with some of the more difficult subjects the very few times I needed help. I understand that I may have been in a great academic situation/environment... but that only proves my point. For many of these students the only place where they can receive help is IN THE CLASSROOM because parents are working double shifts, and in many cases English isnt even the first language of the parents.

When your house is on fire you call the fire department, and when you have heart attack symptoms you go to the hospital... so why is it 'a parents job' to 'teach' their children math? Im sorry, I know that teachers are very busy, believe me, but if a teacher is too busy to help the students then what makes anyone think that a parent has all the free time in the world? There is a critical flaw in the curriculum, not just in math, and because of that students are suffering... and the way to fix it is to make their parents teach them, yet the parents have no proper training or experience??? Again, would you go to your parents to 'heal' you from heart attack symptoms?

I had this discussion with a parent from the community center I currently work at. He was 'told' that the reason his daughter was failing math was because he wasnt giving her enough help. He puts in more work hours then his daughters teacher and HE is tasked with teaching math to his daughter. The teacher asked ALL the parents if they could think of any 'interesting' ways to teach the students math... I suggested deferring her salary to my bank account and switching jobs, I dont think that was what she was looking for though.

We need to get all the 'teaching pays well' teachers out of the system and get the 'this is my calling' teachers into classrooms. Im sorry, but there is NO REASON for ANY student to have difficulty with ANY lesson OTHER then the teacher not knowing how to do their job. If I dont get the message across to my students then it is MY fault, and the next day I will approach it from a different angle ... I understand there are many problems with the curriculum, but my job is to get THAT INFO to the students IN ANY WAY I CAN, and if i cant find a way then IT IS MY FAULT.

- Damn, I said i wasnt going to say much... but this really irritates me. Sorry

Hey it irritates me too!

I had great teachers in school who went outside the curriculum to help students learn and I appreciated them
My statement was a statement form MacLeans Magazine which I later linked to in another post.
I have no kids currently in the school system, though I coach Wrestling at the highschool and have many teacher friends who complain about being strangled with the teaching practices they must follow

**_StephenBB81** · 05-13-2012, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by tchocky77

I don't know about qwerty keyboards, but physical keyboards are definitely dying.

you don't use a X86 Based computer I assume?

**_StephenBB81** · 05-13-2012, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by lak611

Does anyone know why the DVORAK keyboard never took off?

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

There was a study in 1956?? (+/- 1year) that addressed the cost of retraining typists to learn DVORAK if they already knew QWERTY and the costs associated with doing so would never be recaptured by the increase in typing speed.

It is actually my Opinion that QWERTY and DVORAK are flawed for the smartphone world, as the "Home row" is no longer the ASDFGHJKL(qwerty) or AOEUIDHTNS (DVORAK)
on the BlackBerry the "Home ROW" would be TGVYHB as they are the center rows for each thumb with 2 hand movement, and the easiest 6 keys to hit with single hand movement, so the TGVYHB should be changed to include AOETHS

but that wont really ever happen

**world boss** · 05-13-2012, 09:04 AM

now this is a fine example of innovation. why didnt RIM think about this? ideas like this will just pop into your head when youre not worrying about security all the time

**avt123** · 05-13-2012, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by mtblanc

now this is a fine example of innovation. why didnt RIM think about this? ideas like this will just pop into your head when youre not worrying about security all the time

Because why would RIM want their entire user base to have to relearn how to type in order to use their devices? It doesn't make too much sense at this point.

**Flexin** · 05-13-2012, 10:02 AM

I just watched two videos on it and I don't like it. I can't stand predictive text. I don't mind how the PlayBook does it because I don't have to use it. But I can if I need to. QWERTY or bust.

James

**southlander** · 05-13-2012, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by avt123

That number seems a little low. It's probably higher than that.

Agreed. Close to what 50% of users in NA still use feature phones. Lots of these are sliders with real keyboards for texting. You can not assume 100% of these folks will choose all touch at any point.

**avt123** · 05-13-2012, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by southlander

Agreed. Close to what 50% of users in NA still use feature phones. Lots of these are sliders with real keyboards for texting. You can not assume 100% of these folks will choose all touch at any point.

Exactly, although I think the poster was talking about the smartphone market only. Even if you only compare the smartphone market, the number shouldn't be that high.

**tchocky77** · 05-13-2012, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by deRusett

you don't use a X86 Based computer I assume?

Very little. But I was referring to keyboards for mobile devices.

**tchocky77** · 05-13-2012, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by southlander

Agreed. Close to what 50% of users in NA still use feature phones. Lots of these are sliders with real keyboards for texting. You can not assume 100% of these folks will choose all touch at any point.

Sorry. I thought it was clear I was talking about smartphones.

**_StephenBB81** · 05-13-2012, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by tchocky77

Very little. But I was referring to keyboards for mobile devices.

Mobile devices still have more keyboards than none keyboard models seeing as the US has finally just tipped the scales of 50% using smartphones, and globally we still are not there.

And why would you ever use a x86 computer with a Keyboard if they serve no purpose? one can buy a PC without a Keyboard now. though the sales are less than a single % of a single % of sales

**tchocky77** · 05-13-2012, 05:34 PM

I didn't say they serve no purpose, guy. They're clearly still the primary means of interfacing with desktop computers. I just think we're going to see more mobile (with virtual keyboards) computing and less desktop computing. Is that not the trend?

**_StephenBB81** · 05-13-2012, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by tchocky77

I didn't say they serve no purpose, guy. They're clearly still the primary means of interfacing with desktop computers. I just think we're going to see more mobile (with virtual keyboards) computing and less desktop computing. Is that not the trend?

That will be the trend for sure, as more people are consumers of content than creators of content, for a consumer of content a big screen is their primary need, for a creator, They Keyboard is as important if not more so than the screen

The keyboard does not deserve to be dismissed as "dying" as there are more keyboard smartphones today than there were keyboard smartphones 3 years ago, and I would suspect 3 years from now, again there will be more keyboard smartphones than there is today, their percentage of over all numbers may be lower, but that doesn't mean it is dying.

**FSeverino** · 05-13-2012, 10:06 PM

Originally Posted by deRusett

Hey it irritates me too!

I had great teachers in school who went outside the curriculum to help students learn and I appreciated them
My statement was a statement form MacLeans Magazine which I later linked to in another post.
I have no kids currently in the school system, though I coach Wrestling at the highschool and have many teacher friends who complain about being strangled with the teaching practices they must follow

yup. i know their pain.

**canuck_67** · 05-13-2012, 10:52 PM

Gif njhus lolpo nhhusytd kllpob sjhuyht.

(typed on the new keyboard). Its perfect, exactly what i was thinking!

I'm in!

**southlander** · 05-15-2012, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by tchocky77

I just think we're going to see more mobile (with virtual keyboards) computing and less desktop computing. Is that not the trend?

It is a trend because most all of this adoption of mobile computing on phones and tablets is content consumption based use, as derusset is saying.
Once the device makers run out of the low hanging growth "fruit" and try to enable easy/powerful content creation on mobile devices (writing code, web design, serious image manipulation, etc.) What's the first requirement? A physical qwerty keyboard.

Sent from my BlackBerry Bold 9930 using Tapatalk

**tchocky77** · 05-15-2012, 11:14 PM

I reckon I just don't see why it's such a requirement. I don't write code,....but I know that when a need is identified in the market, developers respond. With the ubiquity of virtual keyboards, it's just a matter of time. As I see it.

**sportline** · 05-16-2012, 01:33 AM

just like hybrid cars spells death to the gas guzzlers. yeah. i can feel it

**belfastdispatcher** · 05-16-2012, 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by tchocky77

I reckon I just don't see why it's such a requirement. I don't write code,....but I know that when a need is identified in the market, developers respond. With the ubiquity of virtual keyboards, it's just a matter of time. As I see it.

I'm not even saying programmer, if you ever watch a graphic designer at work you would see that without the keyboard shortcuts it would take them 10 times longer to perform a task.

Keyboard is never going anywhere, it's a perfected tool here to stay.

**_StephenBB81** · 05-16-2012, 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by tchocky77

I reckon I just don't see why it's such a requirement. I don't write code,....but I know that when a need is identified in the market, developers respond. With the ubiquity of virtual keyboards, it's just a matter of time. As I see it.

There is data about repetitive stress injury's due to over use of touchscreen keyboards, vs physical keyboards, that case would only be increased with the loss of the physical keyboard all together for people who actually create content.

take your shoes off and run 1 mile on concrete, then run 1 mile on grass, the concrete is the touchscreen, the grass is the keyboard, your fingers and hands feel the same way typing as your feet and shins do running

**ubizmo** · 05-16-2012, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by deRusett

take your shoes off and run 1 mile on concrete, then run 1 mile on grass, the concrete is the touchscreen, the grass is the keyboard, your fingers and hands feel the same way typing as your feet and shins do running

I'm not sure this comparison holds up if you include something like Swype in the touchscreen class. The physical feel of using Swype is fluid and smooth, compared to tapping.

I am someone who generates a good amount of written content on my phones. On my BB, the key has been the gradual development of a personal auto-text shorthand. With hundreds of entries (and I'm still adding more), I save many many keystrokes in just about everything I write. I realized that even saving one keystroke by using an abbreviation is a large economy if it's a high-frequency word. So I have "evn" to get "even", and "jst" to get "just", and so on. And I include the various grammatical endings, so "int" is "interest"; "intg" is "interesting"; "intd" is interested. This system is uniform in my shorthard, even with irregular forms. "kn" is "know" and "knd" is "knew".

Comparing hard keyboard plus auto-text shorthand with Swype, my speed and overall feeling of efficiency are similar. Entering "bcs" on my BB to get "because" is faster than swyping "because" on my Android, but entering a word that's not in my shorthand is faster with Swype than typing it out on the BB.

**tchocky77** · 05-16-2012, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by ubizmo

I'm not sure this comparison holds up if you include something like Swype in the touchscreen class. The physical feel of using Swype is fluid and smooth, compared to tapping.

I am someone who generates a good amount of written content on my phones. On my BB, the key has been the gradual development of a personal auto-text shorthand. With hundreds of entries (and I'm still adding more), I save many many keystrokes in just about everything I write. I realized that even saving one keystroke by using an abbreviation is a large economy if it's a high-frequency word. So I have "evn" to get "even", and "jst" to get "just", and so on. And I include the various grammatical endings, so "int" is "interest"; "intg" is "interesting"; "intd" is interested. This system is uniform in my shorthard, even with irregular forms. "kn" is "know" and "knd" is "knew".

Comparing hard keyboard plus auto-text shorthand with Swype, my speed and overall feeling of efficiency are similar. Entering "bcs" on my BB to get "because" is faster than swyping "because" on my Android, but entering a word that's not in my shorthand is faster with Swype than typing it out on the BB.

Precisely. If you're assuming the virtual keyboards that come stock on iOS and Android devices today are the same thing we'll have in 5-10 years time, I think you're short-sighted.