
A keyboard case that makes your iPad look a lot like the MacBook Air. - bane
http://www.thebrydge.com/
======
ChrisNorstrom
This is just further proof that people don't really want an iPad, they want a
laptop with a better designed and easier OS. Computers run our lives, yet
there's only 2 major operating systems for consumers to choose from. Making
them duopolies of the most important technological advancement in history. Mac
and PC (and a bit of linux but we're talking consumers here, not sysadmins).
And this lack of competition, I think, has really stagnated the OS user's
experience.

Can you believe it's 2012 and operating systems still don't come with an
manual or a guide?! So of course people are flocking to iPads. They're
powerful yet brain dead simple. Which empowers people rather than making them
feel incompetent or stressing them out.

I think Steve Jobs made a mistake. Maybe the iPad should have come with a
keyboard and competed with the laptops.

~~~
kijin
What? No, we don't need operating systems that come with manuals. The last
manual I got with a software package ended up a doorstop pretty quickly. What
we need is an operating system that _doesn't need_ a manual because it's so
intuitive and well-designed.

~~~
DavidAbrams
Which is what the Mac once claimed to be, but Apple relies on unmarked, multi-
fingered "gestures" and two-handed hotkeys. Yeah, it's a clinic of hypocrisy
from the company that claimed two-button mice were "too complicated." Then it
comes out with one inept, piece-of-shit mouse after another, culminating in a
"multi-touch" mouse that you're somehow supposed to hold in place while
swiping horizontally with multiple fingers.

~~~
Bud
_what the Mac once claimed to be_

You mean what the Mac still is.

 _Apple relies on unmarked, multi-fingered "gestures"_

Actually, they are marked quite clearly, and only some of them are multi-
fingered, and they are remarkably easy to use.

 _and two-handed hotkeys_

Actually, Mac OS hotkeys are quite consistent and intuitive, and have survived
the test of time. command-c, command-v, command-x, command-z, command-s,
command-p all do what they did in 1984. It's simply not true that Mac hotkeys
are less intuitive than the alternatives; indeed, Windows copied the most-
common Mac hotkeys verbatim.

 _Yeah, it's a clinic of hypocrisy_

This is where you really start to run off the rails.

 _Then it comes out with one inept, piece-of-shit mouse after another_

You can argue with their ergonomics, but they certainly weren't pieces of
shit. I found at least some of those mice quite usable.

 _culminating in a "multi-touch" mouse_

The real culmination of Apple's input-device path is the Magic Trackpad, which
is the best trackpad I've ever used, and it's not even a close comparison. I
prefer it to any mouse, and I've used 28 years' worth of mice.

------
rizwan
That neon bright light that shines when it's on is about the only thing that
seems distracting from the design.

Would be curious to see real world photos of it, because that light has the
potential to cheapen the rest of the design (i'm thinking of lights like this:
[http://www.chelseadeals.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=27&...](http://www.chelseadeals.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=233))

~~~
drucken
Hmm, very good point.

It can be startling how incredbly annoying such bright (almost always blue)
LEDs can be. Especially being charged nearby while you sleep or if you are
watching a movie/screen from a distance.

~~~
kefs
Here is a very related article about the amount of thought and detail that
apple puts into their system lighting.

[http://floodmagazine.com/2010/10/14/apples-attention-to-
deta...](http://floodmagazine.com/2010/10/14/apples-attention-to-detail/)

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1634471>

------
latch
I guess I'll ask the obvious [to me] question. Why not just buy an Air?

~~~
keeperofdakeys
Having seen people use the Asus Transformer, they really like the fact that
they can have both a tablet and small laptop in the same device. Of course the
OS limitations of a tablet usually mean you can't use it for some serious work
like typing (although that isn't too much of an issue with some web apps these
days).

~~~
krakensden
I've got a Transformer at work, and it's a really nice device in a lot of
ways. The UI is much snappier than standard desktop operating systems, and the
build quality is head and shoulders above the netbooks you can buy at, say,
Best Buy that seem to already be crumbling when you get them home. But it's
worth noting that it's suprisingly heavy and the weight is poorly balanced,
because they need all that super thick glass over the screen. Furthermore,
after you use it for awhile, you don't ever really want to _touch_ the screen,
because it's faster to type or use the trackpad.

Hopefully there is some third way where we can get a snappy OS, vague nods
towards physical quality, and a netbook that doesn't feel like an accident
waiting to happen every time you pick it up.

~~~
yonaguska
How does the transformer work as a power tool? Can you open up a simple
development environment easily and actually get work done or is it more of a
media consumption device? I've been using a cheap netbook running arch(with
just a wm, it's snappy enough) as my primary device, but I really want a
practical reason to get a more portable transformer.

~~~
runn1ng
I have tried to do that, but I have ended up with just connecting to server
and running vim (with some hacks like nerdtree that make life easier)

I can imagine having that as primary device, but only with some other computer
to connect to via SSH (and constant internet connection).

oh, connectbot probably had some problem with Transformer's keyboard AND it
doesn't have "esc" button (which is kind of useful in vim), so I used some
custom-build version that maps the search key to "esc" (since you don't need
the search key anyway). But they maybe fixed it since then and I am still
using some ancient version.

------
nico_h
You could also already buy a full case that transform your iPad 2 into a
MacBook Pro for $88 :

<http://www.thefancy.com/sales/2273/ipad-notebookcase>

------
frogtown
Since I got my Macbook Air 11", I have regularly called it an iPad Pro. "Why
not just get an iPad," people ask. Well, this is my travel system for hacking.

------
rshm
Aren't all major manufacturers except Apple struggling to get access to a
aluminium lathes.

<http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110803PD222.html>

------
notatoad
a little like a macbook air, and a lot like an asus transformer.

~~~
bane
Without the extra battery, places to plug things in, and _with_ a battery
sucking bluetooth connection.

Still, it looks well designed and Apple-y in form and function.

------
sopooneo
I feel like the iPad is right near the border of an unstable equilibrium
between simple and useful. And this things just bumps it to the other side.

------
talentdeficit
serious question, do people not realize you can use the wireless apple
keyboard with the ipad? it pairs with bluetooth and it's fairly small of it's
own accord. it's also much cheaper than most of these 'laptop' accessories

~~~
pirateking
This. The Apple wireless keyboard solution adds no baggage to the iPad itself,
is very portable, and the compact height of the keyboard allows stacking the
keyboard and iPad vertically on your lap or flat surface (meaning touch
gestures don't require holding your arm up).

Personally, I use the virtual keyboard exclusively. I find it a nice change of
pace. Somewhat similar to how the thought process seems to change when writing
with paper and pencil, compared to hammering away at a physical keyboard.

------
padobson
Tablets are read-only. People are buying this because they love consuming info
on their tablet, but they can't create it. I'm typing this on my transformer
prime right now and I'd be done already if i just booted up my laptop.

Still, this is just a gimmick for early adopters. I bought my mother-in-law a
bluetooth keyboard for her iPad. She doesn't use it. Not because she doesnt
want to or has no reason to, but because she can't get through the bluetooth
sync process.

To know if there should be a keyboard for the iPad, just ask one question:
Does Apple make a keyboard for the iPad?

The first time these early adopters sit down with their new monstrosity and
have to reach out across the keyboard to use their fingers to select text or
copy paste or browse to a different app or website, they're going to realize
why this is a bad idea.

Now if Apple wanted to include a pointer in iOS that could be used with a
mouse (or trackpad built into this keyboard), then this starts to make sense.
Until then, ppl buying this are just trying to fit a square peg into a round
hole using money as lube.

------
twiceaday
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen#Gorilla_arm>

~~~
alan_cx
That sort of formalises something I have wondered about for a while. With a
normal PC, both screen and keyboard are where they need to be for comfortable
use of both. Putting both together in a touch screen is, IMHO, often too
uncomfortable for prolonged use.

------
rogerbinns
The "no cables" claim seemed a little far fetched and after digging through
all the pages you'll find that the keyboard has an integrated battery which
has to be charged via a micro usb cable.

So you'll need one cable to charge the iPad and another different one for this
device. In their shoes I'd try to make it possible to also have the iPad in
portrait orientation so that the keyboard can access the dock connector and
then have a dock connector on the keyboard for charging and passthrough
charging/data.

------
Tichy
Now all I need is a jump to conclusions mat and my setup is perfect.

------
gurkendoktor
I think Apple is still wiser than this project for advertising their keyboard
in portrait mode. The camera is less weird to use, you can have a slightly
less insane posture and the things that need a keyboard (Pages, some Safari
stuff) usually benefit from portrait orientation. I would much rather have an
MBA with a square screen. :(

------
saddino
If XCode ran on an iPad, then I'd be sold. As it is, it's the _only_ reason I
need to carry around my MacBook Air.

~~~
GuiA
iSSH + a bluetooth keyboard + your linux server of choice (I use EC2) makes
backend coding on the iPad feasible, and quite comfortably so.

~~~
terhechte
Also, VIM is almost the perfect editor on the iPad with an external keyboard
because one never needs the mouse and everything can be done with keystrokes.
There's even native vim on for iPad on the App store (though iSSH has much
better keyboard meta keys support)

------
tluyben2
This idea is rather trivial and there are a few of these announced already for
years. What annoys me is that you cannot buy them; they are just ideas. At
least de Prime actually is in the shops so I'll stick with that.

~~~
nico_h
Apparently you can buy at least one model now:
<http://www.thefancy.com/sales/2273/ipad-notebookcase>

The prime is something much different from an ipad with a semipermantely
attached keyboard. It's more of a slow laptop with a detachable screen that
can be used as an ok tablet, as opposed to a nice tablet with a heavy
bluetooth keyboard case.

------
Yarnage
That looks pretty neat! I'm always a little wary about the keyboard scratching
the screen but overall it's nifty.

I just hope it becomes a real product after the kickstarter stuff is over.

------
chj
iOS bluetooth keyboard API support is purely crap. No ESC/CTRL/Function Keys.
Otherwise this could be a good idea.

Another thing is the file system is locked up so completely, that is not in
any way could be used for professional purpose, for example, writing code. It
is still a casual device.

All these limitations are imposed by Apple themselves. Too bad, they really
had the potential to rule the world.

------
atarian
Looks more like the Macbook Pro. Black screen bevel and thick keyboard body.

------
ricksta
a quick comparison of the iPad and a apple wireless keyboard shows that the
brydge is squashed closer together, which won't be very good for blind typing.

------
ionforce
Gosh darnit, only works with iPad 2 and iPad 3.

------
Hovertruck
Doesn't this look more like a Pro than an Air?

------
pabloPXL
Apple suing in 3, 2, 1...

------
DavidAbrams
Yes, and after you cobble this asinine frankendevice together, you have
something with no proper I/O. Crippled Bluetooth. No user-accessible file
system. No way for third-party apps to sync data with companion apps on the
computer (without some hokey wireless or Internet-based workaround).

It's incredible how this ridiculous gimmickry is playing out in 2012.
Downright juvenile.

~~~
mattmanser
Um, a lot of that stuff most people don't use? Juvenile?

Why get angry about people liking their iPad but wanting a keyboard? Looks
pretty cool to me. Like a laptop with a detachable keyboard.

~~~
DavidAbrams
No, that's the point: That's what it is NOT. No straightforward way to get
files or information on or off the device. That's not a suitable computer.

It's a design dictated by Apple's fear and refusal to learn from the failure
of DRM. More hypocrisy.

------
recoiledsnake
The hardware is good, but the software will be limiting since it can't run OS
X apps. Such a case would be good for the upcoming Windows 8 x86 tablets,
which would allow you to run Eclipse or VS or any IDE that runs on Windows.

