

How Two Guys Raised $100K To Make A Magical Keyboard - vdondeti
http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/05/the-touchfire-chronicles-how-two-guys-raised-100k-to-make-a-magical-keyboard/

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neonkiwi
There are two issues with extended text entry on an iPad: the lack of tactile
feedback, and the tradeoff of typing and viewing ergonomics. They've added
tactile feedback, but you still need to keep the iPad near horizontal in order
to type on the screen.

I've got a bluetooth keyboard/case/stand made by Zagg (branded by Logitech),
and although I haven't tried the TouchFire, I would prefer my current setup. A
side bonus is easy accessibility to all characters—I don't do any programming
on this, but I write LaTeX and Markdown regularly, so making curly brackets or
asterisks easier is a nice plus. I thought I would benefit from the increased
screen real estate (when using a bluetooth keyboard, the on-screen keyboard is
hidden), but in practice I don't think it actually helps.

Here's a non-affiliate link to the product I've got:
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054JE706>

And here's an affiliate link, if you're into that sort of thing:
<http://tinyurl.com/dy4skxe>

_edit:_ You can't really see how the product is also a case on the Amazon
page. Here's the product page, in another non-affiliate link:
[http://www.zagg.com/accessories/logitech-ipad-2-keyboard-
cas...](http://www.zagg.com/accessories/logitech-ipad-2-keyboard-case)

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steveis99
iPad 2 weight: 21.2 ounces

Zagg keyboard weight: 13.6 ounces (64% of an iPad 2)

TouchFire weight: < 1 ounce (4% of an iPad 2)

Zagg keyboard: $92

TouchFire: $45

~~~
neonkiwi
It's about $10 cheaper than that from Amazon or in stores, but sure. It adds
weight. Neither are a large enough weight to impact your carrying of an iPad
(the smart cover is nearly 5 oz! :), and if you lift the iPad up to look at
something, you aren't also lifting the case.

I'd say a better dimensional concern to have is that when you're using it as a
case, it more than doubles the device thickness.

One of these products is a case, stand, and keyboard, the other is a keyboard
accessory. I tried to explain why one is better than the other... this makes
my iPad feel like an awesome laptop when I bring it along. Apples and oranges.

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e1ven
I still fail to see how this improves over a thin Bluetooth keyboard, that
wirelessly communicates with the iPad..

It seems like it takes up just as much space as phyiscal, but requires
covering the screen, like the software KB does.

~~~
steveis99
TouchFire actually takes up much less space than a Bluetooth keyboard. The
wall thickness of the silicone keys is half the thickness of a credit card,
and it is flexible so it can fold with the iPad's cover.

And you can quickly retract it off the screen when you want to do non-typing
tasks. There are magnets in all four corners which snap it into the retracted
position. Take a look at the iPad 1 video on the Kickstarter site. That shows
retraction in use...

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numeromancer
I think for programmers a keyboard which projects a screen should be a better
idea than a screen which projects a keyboard.

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dixie5000
Looks interesting - I didn't realize the first tablets were developed 20 years
ago.

~~~
freehunter
Apple likes to take a revisionist history approach to their new products. They
explicitly label them as innovative devices (which they may be) but implicitly
attempt to create the perception that they've invented the device. See: iPod,
iPhone, iPad. There's a huge number of people who didn't know MP3 players,
smartphones, and tablets existed before the day Apple showcased them.

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gurkendoktor
Is there any tangible proof for this? Is it just that they don't label it a
tablet, smart phone or MP3 player? It might just as well be people who are
angry that their products don't receive the same media attention. I'm not
saying the media are fair, but I don't buy that Apple's marketing is actively
revisionist.

~~~
freehunter
Take a look at the announcement of the iPad [1]. "You can browse the web on
it. It's the best browsing experience you've ever had. To see a full web page
you can manipulate with your fingers." "You can turn the iPad any way you
want, it automatically adjusts." "You can see your photos and flip through
them."

Note that I said they explicitly state that it's a tablet, a smartphone, an
MP3 player, but they implicitly imply that every feature they have or device
they've created has just been invented. The above quotes go a long way toward
showing that. Touchscreens, even larger than the iPad, had been around for a
long time. Gyroscopic screens had been around for a long time. I had one on my
Lenovo tablet before the iPad was even announced. Job didn't announce it as a
new tablet, he announced it as _the_ tablet, and described the features as if
they were new. Looking back on the featureset he took pride in, no one would
ever present something as mundane as a touchscreen picture slideshow unless
they were, with a least some part of their conscious mind, trying to imply
that it was a new thing.

And it was easy to believe, at every launch. Tablets, consumer smartphones,
and MP3 players were not hugely popular, there was a huge consumer market that
had not heard of them. Did Apple enlarge the market? Sure. But Jobs implied,
with a straight face, that everything they were doing was new and original. It
simply wasn't. It's akin to driving a truck into the jungle and showing the
natives your four-wheel-drive invention.

Remember the classic Slashdot post about the announcement of the iPod in 2001.
Even then, gadget-minded folks knew that the iPod was a flashy but ultimately
unoriginal product.

[1] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PpeSbDoeAE>

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steveis99
Yeah, a lot of people aren't aware of the history.

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danbmil99
Hey, they're even old like me, so cool

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fbru02
off-topic : was kinda cool that in the video there was a guy with a Punta del
Este T-shirt, that's where I'm from.

