

Brydge, the iPad Keyboard, Raised Over $200,000 on Kickstarter - michaelkscott
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/552506690/brydge-ipad-do-more?-bridge

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tferris
I know I gonna be downvoted for this, maybe I am wrong but I dare to say:

The success of this kickstarter project shows that there's no real use case
for tablets except surfing/reading/consuming/procrastinating on the sofa and
thus, people want their keyboard back—anything else can be done more
effectively with a computer/notebook and/or a smartphone—there's just no room
for a third device between notebooks and smartphones. Don't get me wrong I
appreciate all the innovations in application and OS design (iOS and the lean
ARM architecture could replace x86 designs) which came with tablets but I
doubt that tablets with their clumsy form factor will take over the world.

I still don't get the success of these devices. It's so much more convient to
type, to keep the finger movements small (with a mouse or trackpad or a small
touch screen in devices like smartphones), to have the right viewing angle
without holding anything warm or using ugly extra stands. Only when surfing
around and reading sites I see a real benefit but then again: moving fingers
to 'click' links or to go back is so much more work compared to a small
notebook like the MBA and I spend the entire day with the Internet anyway, I
have to force myself to do something else in the evening—I don't want to meet
again the Internet, Facebook and Google when I should go out, meet friends and
family. Or I just want to watch a movie and even this is totally cumbersome
with a tablet (compare this use case again to a notebook like the MBA, I just
put it on my lap lying in my bed and that's it: no stand, not getting warm,
always the right viewing angle, I don't have to hold something).

Again: if you disagree reply instead of voting this post down—this isn't gonna
be a flamewar—I just want to question, is there really a post pc era coming
where tablets replace computers (I would rather guess that smartphones and
_not_ tablets will fill the gap and could get the main distribution channel
for software).

~~~
jmitcheson
"The success of this kickstarter project shows that there's no real use case
for tablets except [...]"

I would like to point out, in a non-flamewar-inducing manner, that your
assertion above has some severe logical flaws. For example, the success of
McDonalds does not show that there's no real use case for healthy food..

At best it shows that Kickstarter is doing very well and some people dislike
the iPad on-screen keyboard enough to part with money for the option of having
a real one occasionally. Keep in mind you can optionally put a keyboard on an
iPad, but you certainly can't remove one from a Macbook!

~~~
homosaur
That's two posts in a row that began with a disclaimer to avoid downvotes.

Not that I blame you since I'll probably be downvoted for pointing that out.
Ahhhhhhhh HN.

You actually have a very good point about not being able to remove the Macbook
keyboard. That clearly has to be a focus of Apple R&D in the future, to make
an iPad like device that runs full MacOS and is convertible to usage with and
without keyboard.

We cannot be far off that, multicore iPads with fancy graphics can't be more
than... what, a year away?

~~~
lloeki
> _make an iPad like device that runs full MacOS_

iOS is designed for touch, OSX is designed for pointer. What you describe is
Windows 7/8 and I think this is a mistake.

I'd rather have iPad/iOS evolve to allow more things that we take for granted
in OSX. Thinks like:

\- possibility to tell what's my default web browser, mail client, whatever.
\- possibility for apps to schedule time- and resource-limited tasks (e.g for
Sparrow to poll IMAP without need for push+giving my credentials to a third
party) and maybe ability to deny that possibility to the app (similar to
location). \- a full-blown _local_ Unix access so I can run
zsh/vim/tmux/python/ssh/whatever, even if it's jailed in a sandbox/chroot. \-
full keyboard navigation when a hardware keyboard is plugged in (e.g cmd-tab
to work for switching apps instead of reaching for the home-button+screen is
_so obvious_ ).

This gap is today filled for me by my MacBook Pro, and for others by
connecting remotely to various machines via iSSH/Prompt. There's no technical
reason not to do it on an iPad 3. But I'd like, say two to five years from
now, to have such a shapeshifting device that I'd carry everywhere.

It looks like I would be interested in an Android tablet, but Android really
is not _there_ yet at the core (and by far, for a multitude of reasons), while
iOS simply _nailed it_ , deeply.

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ghshephard
I've watched their commercial about 20 times now - They hit 100% of the notes,
symbolism, sex-appeal, simplicity, emotional appeal. Even the shot of them
taking it out of the manilla folder on the white background is appealing to a
particular audience that remembers when the Macbook air was introduced.

Forget about making keyboards; these guys have a future in advertising.

~~~
epo
It's a very good (albeit overlong) copy of Apple's style of ad-making.
However, the advertising industry values originality a bit more than you seem
to think.

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sturmeh
This is not that great tbh.

If you compare it to the Transformer Prime keyboard-dock solution:

* It doesn't provide a battery extension, yet has it's own battery.

* It connects to the iPad via Bluetooth, both using A2DP and as a keyboard. (So it uses the iPad's battery.)

* The iPad doesn't clip OR dock in the keyboard, it just sits in it, however secure it is. (A large enough force could knock it out or have it slip out.)

* The Apple symbol is sideways! (Serious business this one.)

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nardi
It's funny to me that there are so many people on Hacker News that can't
imagine why anyone could actually want/like/love the iPad. Even if it doesn't
do what you want/need, it is a serious impairment to think that its success is
a fluke, or temporary. If you can't understand the world from the point of
view of the non-techie consumers for whom the iPad is a life-changing device
because of its sheer simplicity, then the things you make will suffer as a
result. Learn to empathize with the rest of the world. These are your
customers.

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Zopieux
That's funny, not a month ago, somebody on HN said “it seems the only
successful Kickstarter products are all related to Apple devices”. This goes a
step further in that direction.

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rphlx
So now you can integrate your own $800 iNetbook with lower performance and
fewer capabilities than a $300 Ubuntu netbook from 2008!

~~~
forgottenpaswrd
Tell me then where I can get a 2008 netbook:

with gps, microphones and telephone.

with accelerometers, gyroscopes, compass and cameras.

a reliable solid state memory so I can use it on the go(jumping or waving it
while moving).

10 hours of battery.

made in Aluminium and not cheap plastic.

Scratch resistant 2048-by-1536 resolution screen.

Please tell me because I always wanted this, unfortunately I bought a netbook
on 2008 that have none of the above.

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aresant
A common thread of these high-grossing kickstarter threads is the production
value of the demo vids.

My sense is that Kickstarter is less of a paradigm shift than it is another
venue for great marketers

~~~
homosaur
Yes, but this is something that's accessible to the masses. The first thing
that pops to mind is the Kash Maxwell's Hot Dog Cart where the fellas just
wanted to raise 3 and a half grand and get some exposure. The video was
hilarious, and you know what, next time I visit my old lady's family in
Rockford, IL, I'm taking the 30 minute trip over to Woodstock, IL to get a
dang hotdog because they looked DELICIOUS.

Yes, some of these are bullcrap. As long as the premiums are fair or exchange
for product, I'm okay with it.

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jbverschoor
Funny.. I think I saw the exact keyboard, already in production / for sale on
something like akihabaranews

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junto
When I first saw the photo I thought, oooh, a new MacBook Air!

Then I proceeded to laugh my socks off.

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shimsham
No t-shirts? :-(

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rorrr
$200,000 to research, develop, design and manufacture something like that is
VERY VERY low.

