Handheld device keyboards (was: Nokia N810)

[Ben Scott]

On Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 11:35 PM, Bill McGonigle <bill at bfccomputing.com> wrote:
> I was surprised how I really didn't type any faster on the n810 keyboard
> than the Treo 650's.  I guess a thumboard is a thumboard no matter how
> small.

  I've did some hands-on with various handheld computers (the kind
with a built-in mobile phone) in a store today.  I was unimpressed
with the keyboards on most of them.  The current crop of Treo/Centro
models was strictly average, and the average was not high.  Many were
even worse.  Some were better.  Few I liked as much as the one on my
Sony Clie PEG-TG50.  It seems that little human-factors thought goes
into the keyboards.  Some common flaws I observed:

  F1.  Some are perfectly flat, with the keys flush to the bezel.
What's the point of a hard keyboard if you can't actually feel the
keys?  Might as well give me the flexibility of a touch-screen with
soft keyboard then.

  F2.  Many have very narrow keys (taller than wide).  When holding a
thumboard, the tips of my thumbs (the contact surfaces) are oriented
more-or-less horizontally.  That means keys should be wider rather
than taller, or at least square.  Since a typical phone has a narrow
body, they have to reduce the "width" dimension.  I guess they think
they can compensate by making the keys taller, but that doesn't
actually help much.  Worse, it wastes valuable space.

  F3.  The biggest flaw is that most put the keys too close together
-- often edge-to-edge.  Us humans don't actually need big keys, but we
*do* need a certain amount of space *between* the keys.  It's hard to
hit a target precisely every time.  By leaving a margin for error
around the target, things get easier.

  The PEG-TG50 has tiny keys, but square, raised, and -- most
important -- decent room between them.  It's amazing what a difference
2 mm makes.

  From pictures, it looks like the N810 suffers from F3, and maybe F1.

  Aside: I got to try the BlackBerry Storm for a minute.  The OS is a
tad slow, and the touchscreen seemed erratic on occasion.  The
salesweasel claimed that VZW does something to the store demo units
that makes them act that way.  I can totally believe VZW would shoot
themselves in the foot like that, but it could just be a lie to make
me think the one I bought would be better.  The web browser I didn't
get to try.

-- Ben