| Monday, May 5, 2008 |
23:21 - Eat up Martha
http://daringfireball.net/2008/05/regarding_the_iphone_keyboard
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Something about this feels awfully familiar:
But here’s the rub: if it takes a week of use to get the hang of the iPhone keyboard and a month to get good at it, how does Apple convince a current BlackBerry/Treo/Sidekick/BlackJack/whatever owner who is particularly skeptical about the keyboard? A few minutes pecking away on a demo unit in an Apple Store are likely to yield disappointing results.
In other words, the iPhone really is a do-over of the Newton.
The Newton was hobbled by the same it-takes-some-time-to-get-used-to-it learning period. The difference was that the Newton had only the Mac's installed base of faithful to buy it and put up with it long enough to get to where they would evangelize it. The iPhone has an iPod-sized evangelism base—much bigger, much more willing to make that leap of faith. And it doesn't hurt that the learning curve is a lot less steep and protracted on the iPhone than on the Newton.
So while the Newton didn't achieve escape velocity—being overtaken by the likes of Garry Trudeau and Nelson Muntz, dragging it back to earth before it could win their hearts and minds—the iPhone has at least managed to climb to an altitude where it's safely above such forces and can concentrate on bigger things.
At least for now.
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Brian Tiemann
