[Macworld]

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[GregoriusM]

Once again another enjoyable piece. Thanks.

[scottjennings]

Sorry for running you down with my van back in the '80s on the way to Wall Drug. Glad to see your writing paw has healed. Keep up the the good works.

[natmusak]

The Macalope said:

If there was ever a device screaming out for a virtual keyboard, it?s the Kindle. Now it?s just screaming louder.

No keyboard, physical or virtual, could make typing on a device like the Kindle comfortable.

1) If you position the Kindle so its display is at a comfortable viewing angle?i.e., the angle you have your laptop's display set to?its keyboard is now at the same angle, which is not a comfortable typing angle for your writs.

2) If you position the Kindle so its keyboard is at a comfortable typing angle?that is, the angle your writs are at when typing on your laptop's keyboard?its display is now at the same angle, which is not a comfortable viewing angle for your eye (and it requires you to crane your neck uncomfortably to view the display).

Using a wired or wireless keyboard, which is impractical, would only solve half the problem because you would still have to find a way to prop up the device's display for comfortable viewing. This might be easy on a hard, flat surface, but this fabled Mac tablet isn't supposed to be a desktop replacement, it's supposed to be a portable computer.

The iPhone avoids these conundrums because 1) it's compact and light enough to hold in your hands while typing, 2) you're only typing with your thumbs (if the Macalope had thumbs), and 3) your eyes are looking at the text just barely above the virtual on-screen keyboard typing out those words.

No amount of Apple magic can fix the impractically of tablet devices because tablets are flawed by design.

[gballey]

[quote name='natmusak']
>

The Macalope said:

> If there was ever a device screaming out for a virtual keyboard, it?s the Kindle. Now it?s just screaming louder.
No keyboard, physical or virtual, could make typing on a device like the Kindle comfortable.
...
No amount of Apple magic can fix the impractically of tablet devices because tablets are flawed by design.

While reading your comments, it occurred to me that they could put a hinge between the keyboard and display sections, and add some sort of fold-out support gizmo behind the display, so that the user would have a horizontal keyboard, with the display tilted up to a comfortable viewing angle. Just a thought.

[natmusak]

gballey said:

While reading your comments, it occurred to me that they could put a hinge between the keyboard and display sections, and add some sort of fold-out support gizmo behind the display, so that the user would have a horizontal keyboard, with the display tilted up to a comfortable viewing angle. Just a thought.

Now that would be something. But what would they call such a thingamajig? You rest it on the top of your lap. Hmm... :D

If that wasn't sarcasm in your post...third parties already do touchscreen installations for MacBooks and iMacs. Hardly revolutionary or even innovative. Just impractical and expensive.

[alterbentzion]

>But is this the best we as a species can do?
"We?" Which species? Horns or crewcuts?

[Sigil]

Apple could acquire Twitter, so Steve Jobs can run Apple from home. Yes, he could do this via teleconferencing. However, having many Twitters following both Apple & Steve Jobs gives the appearance of Mr. Jobs running Apple indefinitely. OK! FINE! YOU TRY AND MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

[grovbergian]

So I'm really not sure I understand why people are so concerned about the usability of the keyboard on the Kindle. Yes it would be nice if it were comfortable, but you're not writing the great american novel on it. You use it to type in a search and then handily ignore it for the other 96% of the time you're using it.
It only now occurs to me that this may be why people are saying it should have a touch screen. Never mind.

[whybird]

bq.

natmusak said:

2) If you position the Kindle so its keyboard is at a comfortable typing angle—that is, the angle your writs are at when typing on your laptop's keyboard—its display is now at the same angle, which is not a comfortable viewing angle for your eye (and it requires you to crane your neck uncomfortably to view the display).

Er, I don't have a Kindle, but isn't e-ink easily viewable at any angle? This ain't no LCD we're talking about.

[whybird]

(sorry 'bout how the forum formatted my quoting of natmusak - hopefully you got the point anyway)