“It is an article of Faith, of course, that whatever Steve Jobs does, is Right. And so, since the iPhone currently has no keyboard on it, it must logically follow that it is wrong to have a keyboard, and therefore that Steve Jobs will never produce a version that does have a keyboard,” Guy J. Kewney reports for newswireless.net. “Fervent fans can therefore see no reason to change the iPhone from its current ‘type on the touch screen, or not at all’ design. As one of the more zealous remarked when the suggestion was even mentioned: ‘The only people who think it needs a keyboard, are people who have never used it.'”
“Rumours from inside Cupertino suggest that Jobs himself doesn’t have this sort of religious hangup about his own work. Reports from inside mobile operators show that whether or not he ever makes it work, he is already trying to make a ‘slide-out’ keyboard for a corporate version of the iPhone,” Kewney reports. “If this version does appear on the market, it won’t be this year, and certainly won’t be aimed at the consumer market. Consumers love the sleek, elegant design of the iPhone, and quickly fall in love with the on-screen keyboard.”
“But Steve Jobs can do the sums,” Kewney reports. “In America, iPhone has perhaps overtaken Blackberry in total sales – but these sales are in what they call ‘the executive corridor.'”
“Worldwide, it has not escaped the attention of mobile network execs that the bulk of corporate sales are not into the executive corridor. Rather, they are phones which are provided for staff, and the vast bulk of them have full-QWERTY keyboards; and all the best-selling ones, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and HTC alike, have slide-out keyboards. The popular Danger Sidekick, too, has a slide-out (spin-out) QWERTY keyboard,” Kewney reports. “The market which buys these phones, wants QWERTY and they don’t want to type on the screen. They ‘just know’ that they wouldn’t like it.”
“Arguably, they’re wrong, of course. Quite conceivably, after a week of sending emails typed on the touch-screen of the iPhone, they’d ‘get it’ and love it,” Kewney reports. “But how will they ever find out?”
Kewney reports, “Actual prototypes – not just mockups! – have been sent to senior executives inside the operators. I’m not allowed to even hint which operators…”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Kewney’s annual load joke? If you’re going to dump a rumor, when better than just before the long July 4th weekend, to let it fester? Last year, on Friday, June 29, 2007, Kewney wrote, “A new 3G (European) version of the iPhone will be launched Monday [July 2 2007] in the UK by Apple.” Suffice to say, it didn’t happen. Take this rumor with several tons of salt.
This guy doesn’t just write rumors… It’s a subtle attempt to negatively impact iPhone sales/adoption.
This article makes no sense whatsoever…
Can could Steve deride keyboards so much at MacWorld 2007 and somehow concede Apple’s Multi-Touch wasn’t practical, afterall? Steve doing an about face is nigh on mythical… he’s what, only done it twice? (The PowerBook G5 and the Apple TV).
I’m sure Apple experiment with all sorts of tech combinations within Cupertino’s walls, but most of them will never see the light of day – and certainly not the consumer’s eye. It’s possible Apple DO have an iPhone with a keyboard, but guess what, it’s only a testbed! (Read, not for sale!).
Given that iPhone interest and sales are off the charts, it stands to reason that guess what, Multi-Touch is actually a practical useful feature.
Afterall, aside from the usual suspects (Microsoft propagandists…), who’s complaining?
This article is nothing more than one man’s envy. “The iPhone is too revolutionary for me to handle – let’s make people want those gimmicky little keyboards again! My Nokia with crippled, backwards software is obviously better than a phone that has its own fully fledged OS and a multitude of practical functions to boot!”
The best course of action is to simply let people see the iPhone for itself. That alone will render articles such as this, irrelevant.
I heard the Brooklyn Bridge is on sale also. Better hurry up and bid on it now.
Apple may do a phone with a keyboard, but it won’t be because existing phones have them, existing corporate phones that they’re CURRENTLY not competing with due to software, software that is being revised shortly.
In a year or so, if the iphone has made no penetration into the business market then they may change their mind – at which point they’ll likely have something ready just in case. They’re certainly not going to make any decision on it anytime soon.
Who needs a hunk of bulk slide out keyboard when you have one that comes on when you need it!
OK, here’s a rumor for you all:
Apple will release Boot Camp Mini, a new option for the iPhone, which will allow your iPhone / iPod Touch to boot from OS X, Windows Mobile, Palm OS or Symbian, creating virtual partitions on the mobile device.
I just made it out, but, how about spicying it out and making it roll? Call it a social experiment. Perhaps Dvorak or Thurror will by it, hehe!!
There’s one simple reason Apple will not sell an iPhone with keyboard.
THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE OF APPS SOLD ON THE APP STORE WOULD NOT WORK ON SUCH A PHONE. Is any one of those developers developing for both virtual and hard keyboard? Of course not.
Instant obsolescence. Are they going to make a touch iPhone with a redundant keyboard? Don’t be absurd.
The only reason to do this would be to sell a cheap, non-multi-touch “texting” phone for the teenyboppers- the kind they give away free- and Apple could care less about trolling those waters.
Give me a break.
@ M.X.N.T.4.1
As I said, Apple probably has an iPhone with a physical keypad as a testbed (amongst other weird and wonderful combinations), but it doesn’t seem much likely they’ll ever include a physical keyboard on the saleable phone.
Why?
Well, given the huge amount of time and effort invested in perfecting a keyboard-less phone, conceding that some number of users ‘need’ a physical keyboard would render useless the entire concept behind the iPhone itself.
Apple thrives on overturning current industry dogma, and to include a keyboard would imply they have no confidence in their assertions that a physical keyboard is/was unnecessary.
Remember what Steve said? Keyboards are like crutches to phones, an interactive touch screen gives the user a more pleasant experience, and gives the developer much more scope to create applications to suit their needs and not be constrained by phone hardware.
And at the end of the day, nobody is forcing anyone to have an iPhone. If those so called corporate types are so married to their Nokias and Motorolas, let them keep them! The iPhone has plenty of an audience elsewhere.
Bluetooth foldable keyboard as a third-party option.
@PowerPhone
Perhaps, but it’s still antithesis to the iPhone. The iPhone’s virtual reason for being is that it quite deliberately lacks a physical keyboard.
I mean, if a physical keyboard is so doggedly important to some people, then why are they even considering the iPhone? To whine? To complain? To be bitter? To condemn Apple for actually lifting the cellphone industry out of a self-imposed technological stagnation?
There are plenty of phones out there with physical keyboard galore, and the iPhone isn’t, and doesn’t need to be, one of them.
hey ‘eldernorm’ are you one of those lsd people?
Andy
It’s not up to you to decide what people want or need. I am quite happy with the onscreen keyboard, but since last Sat. I have been away from home with my son, who is in ICU with a head trama. My iPhone has been my main contact. After each visit I can email a lot of people with updates. For situations like this, I would welcome a larger keyboard for my big fingers.
I feel sorry for your co-workers if you are in charge of the kitchen.
I don’t know about Kewney’s sources, but his logic is shaky.
a) The iPhone does not have a physical keyboard, but it does not follow that no iPhone will never have a physical keyboard.
b) Current middle-class corporate smart phones have physical keyboards, therefore all middle-class corporate smart phones must have physical keyboards.
He uses completely opposite lines of reasoning in those two pronouncements without supporting either.
Hopefully the slide-out keyboard signals the adoption of Safari code that doesn’t crash just about every session.
Safari mobile is highly incompatible with:
– espn.com
– macdailynews.com
– engadget.com
– sherdog.com
– newspaper websites
– etc…
The only reason phones with QWERTY keyboards sold more than those that didn’t is because no one had a phone with a virtual keyboard! They ALL had QWERTY keyboards. Duh!
This has nothing to do with the style of keyboard offered on the iPhone. The reason the iPhone hasn’t made big strides into the corporate world is twofold:
1. Apple marketed it at consumers because it knew the iPhone wasn’t business ready yet;
2. The iPhone had no true Exchange support or other corporate communications needs to rival Exchange or RIM.
Apple is adding Exchange support to iPhone 3G, and is going even further to offer an Exchange system (MobileMe) for those who want Exchange-style features without investing in Exchange.
Let’s see the numbers in 6-12 months.
@PowerPhone
What I want and need? It’s about what Steve wants and needs.
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Apple set out to design a phone to his specifications and requirements, one facet of which was the deliberate lack of a physical keyboard. As such, it follows… why does the iPhone need one ever? The iPhone has a bigger software keyboard than the keyboard of any BlackBerry or what have you, that I’ve seen.
Again, there are so many phones out there. The iPhone doesn’t suit your tastes or needs? Then buy something that does!
Demanding that Apple cripple their own pride and joy with a feature they hate is like asking them to make all their MacBook Pros and Mac Pro in Dell black plastic and run Windows 95 instead of OS X.
Part of the iPhone’s charm is its complete lack of stupid tacky buttons festooned all over the device. It’s a complete shift from the ingrained handset design, and a good one.
What next, is Apple going to be condemned by people with no hands?
Apple would never send prototypes to execs.
they would only send them to engineers, en never this early.
and, there is no reason to send a prototype to an operator just because it has a new keyboard.
this claim is not just stupid, it’s a lie
@Andy
i completely disagree, the iPhone is not AT ALL about lacking a keyboard, your computer has a mouse AND a keyboard, i don’t see why that should be different on a phone.
a hardware keyboard will not make the multitouch UI less interesting or efficient.
Andy
do you know what a Bluetooth keyboard is?
Either you are joking, which is kind of funny
Or you are seriuos, which is kind of pathetic
“… whatever Steve Jobs does, is Right. And so, since the iPhone currently has no keyboard on it, …”
Hmm. The iPhone has no keyboard?!
What have we been typing on?!!!
Steve Jobs made a remark during the recent 3G iPhone intro keynote that the software-based keyboard is what allows Apple to release the exact same hardware across dozens of nations speaking many languages.
That’s a significant advantage over phones with fixed keyboards.
WTF!
Why on earth would Apple design a phone with any physical keyboard when they have the best touch screen interface in the world???
This is absolute rubbish – Apple wont go back to the stone age and put a plastic keyboard on their iPhone.
If they do I certainly aint gonna buy it. Why should I when multi-touch is so great.
A message to ‘grubby teenagers’ and stylish ‘ladies’ with an iPhone.
1. Grubby teenagers – learn to keep your hands clean by using something called soap and hot water.
You will be amazed what happens when u mix the two!
2. Stylish ladies – Get your nails cut of even better take off those fake nails.
Since owning my iPhone from the day it was launched in the UK not ONCE have I ever thought I wish this phone had a physical keyboard.
Infact the opposite came to mind, the touch screen interface is so great that I didnt even realise until recently that I needed a keyboard on a mobile phone!
I have never missed not having plastic keys and its something I wont go back to either.
Mutli-touch is perfect for my needs, and you will find almost every other iPhone owner will say exactly the same thing.
Whenever I see a mobile phone with plastic keys the first thought that comes to mind is “God thats an old looking phone. Why does it have keys?”
And I think like that even when I see the latest models as well.
The iPhone is a design enigma, a device that makes every phone look ancient and a testament to genius level industrial design.
“but since last Sat. I have been away from home with my son, who is in ICU with a head trama.”
Well that’ good. At least he wont call social services when you ass rape him.