Why my iPad is a physical keyboard-less device
A while back, I reviewed an iPad case that came with a keyboard. For the most part, both the case and the keyboard were flops: the case wasn’t meant to be used on its own or in a (pardon the pun) lap-top setting, while the keyboard was just awkwardly laid out.
I’ve tried other iPad keyboards in my personal – i.e. not Pocketables – testing, too, but I haven’t found one that matches the reliability and frankly usefulness that the iPad on-screen keyboard offers. Since they all have to be relatively thin to be considered mobile enough to take around with an iPad, these external keyboards almost always have shallow key travel and overall horrible typing feedback.
On top of the lack in usability of these keyboards, most of them just make the iPad seem too thick. Sure, hardly any of them top a quarter of an inch thick, but any amount of thickness still adds up. In the case of the IPEVO accessory, my 0.37-inch new iPad swelled up to a thickness of 1.5-inches.
But most importantly, the iPad does come with a keyboard already. It’s unobtrusive: it stays out of the way when I’m doing something else and only appears when I need it. It’s incredibly responsive, too, since there are no actual key presses to be done: just touch the screen and a “keypress” is registered. It’s instantaneous and I love it.
I’m sure there are very specific use cases for external keyboards, but I can’t think of any of them. The keyboard on the iPad has every key that is necessary, while lacking the ones that aren’t. What am I going to use a Mac Command key for on the iPad? And the arrow keys? Unless I’m forgetting about an awesome feature that utilizes those keys, they are completely pointless.
Then again, I’m just one man, and maybe some of you couldn’t live with your iPad without a keyboard. If you’re one of those people, let me know in the comments what task you use your keyboard for!
