[conbrio29]

Okay, so I have a physical keyboard on my Classic and it's definitely not an inferiority complex. I type more because the keyboard FACILITATES this for me. I actually find it very pleasurable to use and it's because of this that I type more with it, and not because of some "inferiority complex" that someone mentioned above.

Think about this: do people that drive a manual transmission car do so because of an "inferiority complex"? Of course not, they do so for the pure joy of it. Same thing with people using physical keyboards, we use it because we enjoy it and it's a choice. Stating one's choice is not an inferiority complex.

I enjoy using a physical keyboard because I like the tactile feedback, and I like the control I have in what appears on the screen without relying on autocorrect (just like how stick drivers say they like having control over the gears and not having to rely on the car's auto tranny to choose for them). I like the feeling of depressing individual keys, I like hearing the click, and I like knowing that I can. It's my preference.

Auto vs manual, virtual vs physical... it's all preference.

[skstrials]

donnation and TgeekB getting pwned as usual.

Posted via CB10

[jpoq]

Since I moved from a VKB to a PKB indeed I have noticed I write longer messages and notes. Also can see that during an instant message exchange, people with a VKB tend to write single line messages more often. Never edited a document on the phone during my Iphone years, with the Passport and Classic I am actually doing it.

Posted via CB10

[blueberrymerry]

I've gone the other way - I type longer messages on a good VKB like Fleksy on Android than on a PKB. I find most PKBs, including the Passport's, a bit cramped and the key travel makes my thumbs hurt. I like Fleksy because I can set each key's height to be really tall; on a big 5.5" phone, each virtual key is a lot larger than on a PKB. Couple that with good error correction and next-word prediction and I'm flying

Why is it that VKB coders love tiny keys? Both Google Keyboard and BB10's keyboard have narrow and short keys.

[Z_Tasreen]

Yep, at least I do. I write full sentences, with proper grammar; properly reply to e-mails instead of just an infuriating �OK�. Long live the PKB!

[idssteve]

Absolutely a matter of personal choice. Some brains are wired differently than others. Different lives are prioritized differently than others.

"Monolithic group think" sometimes doesn't provide humanity's finest moments. Diversity is a wondrous thing!

[menshawy]

I have no auto correct set on my Z30 and I'm typing fast and with minimal mistakes. So for me vkb (of BlackBerry 10) is way better than any other pkb

Posted via CB10

[svelt]

I like PKB and prefer it, and is really the last valuable thing left of BlackBerry hardware. I don't go around believing I write more important messages or that because I am an important communicator, I choose to use a PKB. I simply prefer it, and I disagree with the trend of people here, on a forum of about the only remaining handset manufacturer that even does PKBs, think people who buy PKB phones just do not want to adapt to VKB phones or give it a fair shake.

I've used VKB phones for years and simply have gone back because I prefer the tactile feedback, and it does enable me to write longer and more accurately punctuated emails and documents than I used to when I had VKB. It won't automatically make every phone user a better, more precise typist, but it isn't solely restricted to "people who can't get used to VKB"

[donnation]

donnation and TgeekB getting pwned as usual.

Posted via CB10

Hahaha, yeah its shocking that on a Blackberry forum that pkb users would come in and defend their pkb's. Truly shocking.

[khlover520]

Yep, at least I do. I write full sentences, with proper grammar; properly reply to e-mails instead of just an infuriating �OK�. Long live the PKB!

Same here! I use full words with proper spelling and grammar. Except for cuss words I don't let my BlackBerry learn any improper spelled words hahah

Posted via CB10

[Elephant_Canyon]

So many anecdotes, so little actual data.

[Matt J]

I wrote my doctoral research proposal on my Palm Tungsten E, using a stylus

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I wrote my doctoral research proposal on my Palm Tungsten E, using a stylus

Too be honest, our company's move from Palm to BlackBerry... was painful. No touchscreen, no stylus... it just didn't make sense. And then Apple released full touch device... yet the Bolds and Curves stayed "touchless"?? The Classic was about seven years too late.

Yes BB had push email and you didn't have to wait 15 minutes to get a reply, and you didn't have to carry three batteries. But too ignore touch technology????

[flyersfan76]

I do not necessarily write LONG messages but I do like to type coherently (is that right?). Correct spelling, punctuation, complete sentences, etc regardless if it is a text, BBM or email. I am more prone to answering an email on my PKB phone also.

I had an iPhone for about 8 months. During downtime (waiting in lines, bathrooms, etc.) I would normally play a game or read drivel (facebook). When I finally got my Q10 I did more email with it in the first weekend with it than I did during my entire iPhone usage.

Nothing gets me more than reading someones email signature that goes something to the effect of, please excuse my spelling, punctuation, yada since I am using my phone. These are BUSINESS EMAILS mind you.

The touch screen is letting people be lazy it seems. Not all mind you but a lot of them.

[Zedd88]

While I'm admittedly faster and slightly more precise on my 9900 (due primarily to its' perfectly-sized form factor) vs my Classic, it does not affect the length of my content whatsoever... Now, if I use the Priv where the keyboard is less than comfortable or a glass slab with VKB where I am even more uncomfortable, I tend to find myself getting straight to the point to just send it and be done... "Just get it over with" being the mantra... Like a swift pull of the band-aid for the least painful experience possible. A well crafted keyboard on the other hand, leads me to want to keep typing from it... A guilty pleasure I suppose
Posted via CB10

I agree. It's all about the comfort.

Although I have never had a 9900 nor a Classic, I do find typing with my Passport comfortable. My history with smart phones have all been with Virtual Keyboards (from iPhone 3G/4/4s/5/5s, HTC Wildfire, LG Optimus One, Galaxy S3/S5, HTC M9+, Lumia 1020, etc). My Passport is my first PKB phone and now I have always found myself typing longer messages on my Passport. Not that I can't on my other VKB phones but that it takes a lot more concentration to do so. It takes a lot more concentration to type on a VKB because your eyes need to be glued on the virtual keypad as well as on the screen (seeing if what you typed corresponds to what is registered on screen). It's like my eyes have to dart from virtual keypad to the actual message then back again. With the PKB I find my eyes are glued more to the screen than to my fingers or the keyboard. Similar to when you are typing on a laptop, your eyes are on the screen not on your fingers or on the keyboard. But with a VKB that just isn't possible for me. Your eyes need to be on your finger and the VKB and at the same time the screen. Again, am not saying this isn't possible but it gets tiresome. Thus my tendency when using my phones with VKB is to write a short response then maybe whip out my laptop when typing a longer response.

I agree that it's a matter of preference but PKB does have it's other merits. One of which is the shortcuts. Another is touch typing. I know others have claimed to have touch typed on a VKB but in my years of owning a VKB I have never done it. I can type fast especially with swype typing but again it requires my eyes to be glued on the virtual keyboard. With PKB, I have been able to touch type a quick email (to my staff) while on a meeting with another person and never looked at the screen until I was about to click send.

But in the end, I think VKBs are more popular because of multi media. The iPhone, which arguably started the trend, was a multi media product after all with the iPod as it's "predecessor". And like it or not, we consume a lot of multi media. Consumers will choose a product that will suit their needs while compromising the capabilities that they deem are not as important.

So, I do get what the OP is trying to say. But writing long contents is not only exclusive to PKB users. VKB users can write long contents as well.

[JamesW_UK]

idssteve

Absolutely a matter of personal choice. Some brains are wired differently than others

Exactly Steve... I'm no Coleman Hawkins, and wouldn't know one end of of a black hole from the other, but I'm not stupid. I just can't "make it work". I read the recent posts on my Z10 and contemplated replying on the device, but I'd never have been able to do it like I have here, on my laptop pkb.

@James, myself and a couple dozen coworkers endured similar experiences for nine months with our then new Z10s and another 3 months on Q. Our use is very specialized but our productivity & precision recovered only after returning to our old 9900s.

[snip] you might find Classic worth looking at. Fwiw.

That I can appreciate.. I too work in a place awash with dreaded 3LAs ("Three letter acronyms!" ;-) ), and if I had to compose system outage messages to send on to my bosses without my laptop pkb, I'd really struggle, especially when they need to convey so much specialist information and as quickly as possible. Typing "WOPR", "IMSAI 8080", or "Ally Sheedy" gives all sorts of autocorrect issues for me. Thanks for the tip on the 9900s too.

georgef

Pkb is far superior. Much easier to type with much reduced errors. Also something nobody mentioned is that you can type normally when sitting in a moving car, as a passenger of course.
I find it impossible however hard I try to aim at the right letter to tap.

Yes George, ONLY as a passenger, of course... ;-)

I'm exactly the same; I have an old TomTom, and no matter what I try, can I EVER hit the right letter on it's vkb when I'm driving, in an emergency "need to divert" situation? Nope, I can't. In fact, before I gave up on it, I used to have a stylus on a cord hanging down from it, and had to resort to using it in a Homer Simpson-esque "Dialling Wand" style.

oakakaemmy

<snip>

I don't know about all of ya'll, but i have huge fingers and even bigger thumbs.

Now, that I can understand being the issue for most guys in my situation Oak, but personally, I don't really have large fingers. Size 12 / 12.5 feet (13 US / 48 EU) yes, but not so big fingers. If I find it hard, you guys must find it near impossible. :-(

Perhaps that it is a big part of the problem; the size of the virtual keys? Leads on nicely to this post;

blueberrymerry

I've gone the other way - I type longer messages on a good VKB like Fleksy on Android than on a PKB. I find most PKBs, including the Passport's, a bit cramped and the key travel makes my thumbs hurt. I like Fleksy because I can set each key's height to be really tall; on a big 5.5" phone, each virtual key is a lot larger than on a PKB. Couple that with good error correction and next-word prediction and I'm flying

Why is it that VKB coders love tiny keys? Both Google Keyboard and BB10's keyboard have narrow and short keys.

I've asked myself time and time again the same thing, BBM... I appreciate there needs to be a balance between what you can get on the screen at once, and just how big you can make the individual keys. I'd forgotten all about apps that allowed you to set the individual letter dimentions, so thanks for bringing that up. I'm going to head off shortly and look at that aspect next.

Dunt Dunt Dunt

I think that texting and messaging in general has been replaced a little.

Most still do it, but just not to the frequency they did five years ago.

Posting a message or a picture on a social site seems to have replaced sending thousands of messages a month.

That's a good observation, DDD. That does seem to be the way most people are "communicating" these days, for want of a better word. Perhaps it's an age thing; my parents, in their 70's and 80's like texting from a simple phone, and I could never see them using Snapchat or similar. They just wouldn't get it.

CivilDissident

<snip>

I do not use most Social Networks (no instagram, FB, snapchat, etc for me) But I DO send massive amounts of SMS... My Classic at 2x the SMS vs my Priv, but combined I clearly still go Beast Mode in the messaging field...

<shuffle>

I have an Alcatel burner phone I use on specific occasions that reminds me of the 3109... Handles calls and texts #LikeABoss Lasts several days without fail also... Comes in handy from time to time, can take a beating and live, but on the off chance it does get destroyed, it's basically free to grab another as a disposable option... Old Skool tech still serves its purpose...

Yes, indeed... same here, in the past. I used to purchase monthly "unlimited text" add-ons for my 3109 such was my own texting quantities. With the Z10 and the bundled "unlimited" texts, I find I hardly scratch that allowance, despite it being one of the reasons I switched provider.

I still love that 3109 and always will. I could charge it on Monday and it would often last right through until Friday before it needed a charge. I'm very much a recycle person, and so took full advantage of my company "dumping" bucket-loads of 3109s (some still boxed, sealed, and never used) by stocking up and switching them out over the years when the screens got too scratched or whatever. But they were like tanks in the mobile device world, as you say.

I even suggested to the Powers that be one idea where we gave all the sites in our Estate one of these old 3109s loaded with a SIM, and then we could SMS them all en-masse (using free Microsoft bulk sending tools or a dedicated system, which we already were paying for) with any major service outages. Would have been handy for when we lost network connetivity and / or email and / or VoIP telephony to those sites. Of course, that was never even contemplated, and so I still hear the same loony comments like "We've got no LAN to anywhere, no email, no phones or nuffink." "Oh, better send an email around then to say it's all down" !!!!!!!!!

I don't have any social media accounts either myself. Just never really had the need of them. Anything I want to share I tend to share via email or via a physical USB drive, if it's that large a set of files.

Thanks for the picture too.

georgeeipi

Ergonomics studies, for decades, have shown consistently superior data-entry performance when tactile feedback is present....I hate to say it, but it's not rocket-science.

Thanks for that, George. Can you point me to any links for that? I'd like to read up on it, if I can as it all interests me greatly.

Oshasat

Well you convinced me. I've been vacillating on whether to buy a Passport -- the three row keyboard and pocketability kept me away -- but I found a used, pristine Passport on Kijiji yesterday, and I just bought it this morning.

If any of the banter helped, then great stuff. ;-) The whole thread is proving to be an enjoyable read for me. If I've picked up just one thing, it's to try turning off autocorrect on the vkb and see how that pans out.

Regards

James

[idssteve]

For anyone who does much mobile spreadsheet work, 9900 is still tops, IMO. I'll grab it over a PC, most times. Classic second. PP third. Z&Q are abject miseries, IMO. Fwiw.

[Originalloverman]

Yes

The power of the force and the  passport.

[Oshasat]

I do not necessarily write LONG messages but I do like to type coherently (is that right?). Correct spelling, punctuation, complete sentences, etc regardless if it is a text, BBM or email. I am more prone to answering an email on my PKB phone also.

I had an iPhone for about 8 months. During downtime (waiting in lines, bathrooms, etc.) I would normally play a game or read drivel (facebook). When I finally got my Q10 I did more email with it in the first weekend with it than I did during my entire iPhone usage.

Nothing gets me more than reading someones email signature that goes something to the effect of, please excuse my spelling, punctuation, yada since I am using my phone. These are BUSINESS EMAILS mind you.

The touch screen is letting people be lazy it seems. Not all mind you but a lot of them.

This message parallels my feelings and experience. I too like to make the effort to write correctly and coherently. I am what you might call punctilious.

punc�til�i�ous/ˌpəNG(k)ˈtilēəs/
adjective
showing great attention to detail or correct behavior.

Like you, I ran an HTC for about a year, and could not answer emails with more than a few words -- anything more was an act of extreme frustration.

Posted via CB10

[Oshasat]

So many anecdotes, so little actual data.

Were you somehow under the impression that we were conducting a scientific study?

Posted via CB10

[Elephant_Canyon]

Were you somehow under the impression that we were conducting a scientific study?

Nope, fully aware that this thread is about self-congratulatory back patting.

[SunshineStateFlyer]

The thing is, a physical keyboard is a very dedicated tool which accounts for quite a big part of the whole hardware, hence, drastically reduces the screen to body ratio.

Most people just don't want to pay that price for a slightly better typing experience. We also have to see that virtual keyboards also have their perks, like that they are highly versatile and customizable.

The idea that touchscreen users are less productive cannot be proven and is very likely to be just wrong.

Posted via CB10

[idssteve]

Most people don't use BlackBerrys. Of the 23M, or so, users still using BlackBerrys, 12M are legacy. By numbers discussed in other threads, at least. Pretty safe to say most, over half, of existing BlackBerry users are still using PKB. Any surprise we congratulate ourselves?

BB's PKB/TB is the best tool for SOME of us. No shortage of Glass devices to choose from. What choices are there for those of us who truly value PKB? BB never had Apple's resources for transition to glass. They've wrecked themselves trying. Now that they're nearly in the grave, glass lovers cheering them on can merrily run to Apple & Samsung. Where do us pkb users turn to? Thanks.

[crucial bbq]

I'll add that I think physical keyboard users have an inferiority complex. Kind of like short man's disease. They have to constantly shout out "I am a superior typist!!!" In here they act like they are the only ones that can type any type of message of meaning because they have a plastic keyboard. The reality is that either you haven't been able to adapt to a virtual keyboard or you just haven't wanted to adapt to one. Either way its fine, but the nonsense of "I have a pkb therefore I am one of a select few that type important messages on my phone" is absolute comedy.

Now the small group of you that have these keyboards can pat yourselves on the back in this thread and discuss how you are the only ones left in the world typing meaningful things on your phone because you have raised letters on them. I won't stop you from congratulating yourselves, but I'll be laughing.

Your use of the word 'they' and 'you' here indicates inclusiveness. Considering that I for one have never once wrote that I feel superior for using a pkb over a vkb proves you false.

I've met people who can type really long messages on the iPhone or a Samsung phone with very little errors. It's just that smartphone users have moved on from the physical keyboard Era. Now it's considered old school and a gimmick.

Posted via CB10

By the same token touch screens should also be considered old school. Physical keyboards disappeared largely because it was/is simply cheaper to produce a device without one.

Seriously, since I'm constantly lectured that my PKB is the equivalent to a buggy-whip, and that the so-called market isn't interested in PKB, that it's a niche market, that the vast majority reject PKB because they want to (passively) play games and watch videos, it occurs to me that there must be a correlation between those who DO like to type 'content creators'?) and have a preference for a physical keyboard. There must be something to it, because the typos in VKB-generated messages are laughable.

Then again, maybe we're just a verbose bunch. A gaggle of pontificating loons who prefer to cling to their plastic keys. Maybe we're allergic to glass...

Posted via CB10

To be frank, I think the answer to your OP is 'yes'. The reasoning: why would anyone even get a phone with a pkb if they did not intend to use it specifically for composing longer pieces? Or to simply spend a good amount of time communicating via written word in general? The Priv is an anomally: if you want the latest BlackBerry or an Android BlackBerry, you have no choice but because of the format you could also chose to never use, let alone never see, the pkb.

[fkornre]

I can only speak for myself on this but YES I definitely type more and longer on a physical keyboard than I do on a touchscreen phone. On my Moto X I find that swipe works very well but my mind wanders as I am typing a message and sometimes I get off track of what I am trying to say. The constant swiping and fixing mistakes leads to bad messages and long-winded responses. When I am typing out the message on my Q, 9930 or Classic, I find that my messages are written more clearly, more accurately and with less effort. While reading emails, browsing the web and the apps are awesome on my Moto I always find myself longing for my keyboard anytime I want to type anything.