Seriously Verizon?!? Are you releasing ANY new phones with Keyboards?

[Phydeaux]

There are three main reasons why phones with hardware keyboard and being phased out.

1. Hardware keyboards have been shown to be for people who have limited/poor hand-eye coordination. These people are a minority and studies have shown that these types of people require the extra sense of feeling a physical key to accurately acknowledge location where as normal people only require the physical movement of the thumb to accurately acknowledge a location of a virtual key on a screen. If you have trouble using on-screen keyboards then unfortunately you fall into this category of dysfunction.

2. On-screen keyboards are ridiculously faster to type on than the slow pressing of hardware buttons.

3. Hardware keyboards make phones massively thick which people do not want.

Im sure there will still be new hardware keyboard based phones for sale but only on mid-to-low end phones from now on.

Got a study or three to back this up, or does this represent your own rambling opinion? A whole heck of a lot of loyal Blackberry users would disagree with you. Try administrating a unix box with a virtual keyboard and you'll likely go insane. No, swype won't help.

 

[pyro6128]

There are three main reasons why phones with hardware keyboard and being phased out.

1. Hardware keyboards have been shown to be for people who have limited/poor hand-eye coordination. These people are a minority and studies have shown that these types of people require the extra sense of feeling a physical key to accurately acknowledge location where as normal people only require the physical movement of the thumb to accurately acknowledge a location of a virtual key on a screen. If you have trouble using on-screen keyboards then unfortunately you fall into this category of dysfunction.

2. On-screen keyboards are ridiculously faster to type on than the slow pressing of hardware buttons.

3. Hardware keyboards make phones massively thick which people do not want.

Im sure there will still be new hardware keyboard based phones for sale but only on mid-to-low end phones from now on.

Everyone else has said it already, but these are pretty huge generalizations that don't seem true. Its for people with poor coordination? This has got to be one of the more absurd things stated on this board. And for the record, just because something is in a study does not make it true. Anyone can conduct a study (I still doubt that there is conclusive evidence backing up your statement). Just because dinner comes after lunch doesnt mean lunch caused dinner, remember that.

Ridiculously faster? Nope. They make phones massively thick? Not even close.

Some other people said it already. When you have to type out a business email, that most of the time ends up being on the longer side, a keyboard helps dramatically with accuracy and formatting, not to mention making corrections. Document creation and editing, same thing. Not everyone uses their phones to only play angry birds and send their friends a text saying "OMG i think that girl may have looked at me for a sec".


Also, for anyone with a droid 1 whos itching to upgrade. I was able to get a brand new droid 2 on craigslist for $200. And was able to trade in my old droid for $52 to verizon (the camera didnt work and it was all beat up). $150 for a new phone without using an upgrade is a pretty sweet deal. You guys should look into it. Its def holding me over until the newer bad ass phones come out.

 

[mjforte]

I not only like the keyboard for typing and having screen real estate, but also for game emulators. I couldn't imagine having to play them with the touch screen controls, and i dont want to carry a wiimote with me everywhere either. It's sad that it looks like most high end phones will be keyboardless while the phones that do have keyboards are stuck with mid to low end specs.
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[Zargon]

I won't buy another phone with a physical keyboard. I hate them.

 

[gflam]

I feel u d1 is the best thing out still in my opinion cause of the keyboard which btw I'm using right now. Would love to see something like the bionic with a keyboard it'd be my next phone

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[kodiak799]

I can't type on a physical keyboard to save my life. With swype (or voice to text) it's much more efficient to get my message down and then spend the time I've saved going back to edit. In the end, may not be faster or more efficient but it is far less frustrating. And with swype and voice-to-text getting better, the need to edit is becoming less and less.

 

[cereal killer]

I think I'm the only one on this forum who really dislikes swype. I cannot for the life of me swype at all. Actually slows me down.....used it for one day never to go back

 

[mjforte]

I think I'm the only one on this forum who really dislikes swype. I cannot for the life of me swype at all. Actually slows me down.....used it for one day never to go back

I'm not a big fan of swype either. I use either the HTC IME keyboard or my physical keyboard.


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[pyro6128]

It gets better the more you use it. However, sometimes it repeatedly gets words wrong, and you have to go back and correct it, which ends up taking a lot longer than if you never had it.

 

[nbucko]

Try administrating a unix box with a virtual keyboard and you'll likely go insane. No, swype won't help.

Couldn't agree more. That along with needing to see more than two lines of text sometimes while I'm typing something make a full keyboard a necessity for me.

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[shoot2scre]

I'm happy that I'm not the only one itching for a new phone packing a physical keyboard. It gives me hope that there will be another in the pipeline (hopefully soon).

While I don't pretend to LOVE the keyboard on my OG Droid... I still ca't imagine buying a phone without one.

 

[huskerkate]

I think I'm the only one on this forum who really dislikes swype. I cannot for the life of me swype at all. Actually slows me down.....used it for one day never to go back

CK, you are mos def not alone! big +1 here...

 

[born2golf]

those are some pretty bold, broad statements Grim. personally, i can use a virtual keyboard just fine. i'm actually faster with it than a physical keyboard. BUT, i would still like to have a physical keyboard, with the primary reason being screen real estate. accuracy, in sending emails to business clients, is another. and, concerning the Solana, there remains the possibility that the physical keyboard may be capacitive/touch, and not have moving parts hardware. imo, this would be perfect blend - the sensitivity and speed of an on-screen keyboard, while allowing plenty of screen real estate (for editing docs, selecting text, etc).

+1 to this post. I think virtual keyboards are fine, but prefer the physical one for the real estate it provides. I use my phone for business and my emails are more comprehensive than a txt message such as "yo dude, wats up?". So I want to be able to see as much of my typed message as possible, and am willing to deal with a little more heft to do so. Let's be honest, the D2 is only fractionally larger than the incredible and the incredible has no keyboard.

One other point I'd like to make is that everyone wants a tiny little phone, but honestly, I find it impractical. The smaller they are the more fragile they seem and they just don't feel good in your hand. That is, Assuming you have a real size hand and not a teenage pansy hand that has never worked a day of hard work in your life. (Note: that is directed at a whole generation and no one person in particular)

lastly, I don't doubt that today's younger generation can operate faster on a virtual keyboard, since that is what they have grown up into. But there is a still a very large population that enjoys the tactile feel of an actual button. And for speed, I am using swiftkey which has vastly increased my typing speed and recommend everyone to at least try it.

 

[forstir9]

My son feels exactly like most if you. I on the other hand loves swype. I can just get close to a letter and the phone gets the word I am looking for 98% of the time. I hope you get the phones with keyboard like you want. Give your carrier a call to let them know. Enough phone calls and request and you guys will get what you want.

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[kodiak799]

I can just get close to a letter and the phone gets the word I am looking for 98% of the time.

Almost seems like the faster I swype the more accurate it becomes!

I also use it in portrait mode, so I have more screen real estate to see what I'm doing.