[fatboy97]

First, the iPhone, then the iPhone 3G.

Now:
Blackberry Storm
T-Mobiles G1 (HTC and Google)
HTC Diamond

And yesterday:
Nokia announced the XpressMusic 5800
LG announced KC910 Renoir and the KP500

I'm sure I've missed a couple. Is this the future, or is this just a fad?

[NXLTrauma25]

While not a fad...it is a "style" of a new generation.

Unless touchscreen reach a point where they render physical keyboards useless...there will always be 2-3 paths to choose from...

1. Touchscreen
2. Physical QWERTY
3. SureType

(4) Standard everyday phone pads...which in time may even be phased out and be replaced by SureType...who knows

[eve6er69]

i have a treo 800w and the combination of the physical keyboard and the touch screen is a nice combo.
the touchscreen is nice so you dont need scroll to select anything, you can just point and click.

[skylartoups]

i have a treo 800w and the combination of the physical keyboard and the touch screen is a nice combo.
the touchscreen is nice so you dont need scroll to select anything, you can just point and click.

TREO... gross. I kid. I kind of would have liked to see the Bold have a touchscreen with BB's AMAZING keyboard... that would have been something.

[eve6er69]

yeah yeah yeah i know. my curve is on the way, lol

[waldeck89]

While not a fad...it is a "style" of a new generation.

Unless touchscreen reach a point where they render physical keyboards useless...there will always be 2-3 paths to choose from...

1. Touchscreen
2. Physical QWERTY
3. SureType

(4) Standard everyday phone pads...which in time may even be phased out and be replaced by SureType...who knows

I don't think it would be practical to completely phase out a physical phone pad. since every one is different their will always be people who need/prefer that style. If a carrier did that i am sure they would lose customers BIG time.

[eve6er69]

i agree i am a tactile person. i do not like typing on my itouch and my old instinct.
i need an actual keyboard for me to feel comfortable

[The_Shawn]

Like with anything else, you'd get use to using a touch screen keyboard over time, esspecially if there was no other option anymore.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Keirkhaart]

It's a fashion trend at the moment, they look futuristic, despite not being reliable/repeatable for daily use. I used them for the last 8 years and since getting my bold a few weeks back, I can't believe I put up with touchscreens for so long. Touchscreens are like a childs idea of the future - nice idea but fails to work in the real world. You end up cleaning the screen loads, making mistakes, data entry is slow and error prone.
All just to try & look more futuristic instead of being a workhorse and just getting the job done.
In a decade or two they'll refine touchscreens to give the same response and feedback as a hardware keyboard, but for now they're jus toys for people who don't know better.
Just check out the defence and aviation industries - how many touchscreens are there for mission critical issues? ,one at all - too unreliable/risky for real work

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com