What Tablet Developers Really Need to Work On
There are lots of things we want from the next iPad, but what would really sell me on it is if it presented a way to make touch-screen typing easier.
I don’t think the final solution should have to be something like this Kickstarter project geared to make typing feel more like touch-typing.
Tablets aren’t going to reach their peak of usability until we can easily input data into them without slowly fumbling over keys or sticking them in a diaper. (OK I’m being way too mean to this project. I do kind of want one.)
It may be time that we move beyond touch typing.
The Android platform’s swipe technology is a huge step in the right direction. It’s the totally intuitive idea that almost no one would ever think to come up with. I was shocked recently when I watched a friend send a rapid-fire text politely blowing off a guy she’d met the night before with nothing but a few casual swipes of her thumb. That same message would take me minutes on an iPhone.
What Apple needs to do if they want iPads to be able to take on traditional laptop roles is completely revolutionize typing. Swipe is great, but it still requires looking at the keyboard (as far as I know).
I’m not sure what the solution is, but Apple has a good track record of inventing what other people can’t figure out, so fixing this problem would keep them right in stride.
-Becky Lang