When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone back at Macworld 2007, he prefaced the introduction by saying what was wrong with current not-so-smartphones -- the hardware keyboard. They don't go away when you don't need them. They don't change if you switch from text entry to bitmap editing, for example, And if you come up with a great idea later, you can't go back an add an extra button.

Now it's 2009 and Apple has released the iPhone 3GS, yet many people, including notable technologists, have called the lack of a physical keyboard a deal-breaker.

Is it? Let's take a look after the break.

Dieter, in his review for the Palm Pre, had this to say:

I've been using QWERTY keyboards on phones for over seven years now and I had no problem adjusting to the Palm Pre. If you're looking for a comparison, I'll say that it's not as good as your standard BlackBerry keyboard, but for 90% of people it's going to be much better than the iPhone's on-screen software keyboard. I know the keyboard is a big X factor for a lot of people, so the best I can say is that you not only need to try it for yourself, but you need to give it at least a couple of days of use before you turn in your verdict.

Personally, I'm on record as saying I vastly prefer the iPhone's virtual keyboard to either the Treo, Windows Mobile, BlackBerrys and G1s I've owned or test-driven. My dislike for hardware keyboards and the pain-in-the fingers and arms they'd given me pretty much made me avoid them entirely until the iPhone came along. Zero. Stress. Typing.

Also, as we've said before, for those who need to switch frequently from English to Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, or even other Roman input method, hardware keyboards just can't compare. (And let's not forget those who need to out-type netbooks during car races...)

Daring Fireball, in response to Tim Bray saying he'd never use an iPhone sans hardware keyboard, summed up the argument:

(1) that all phone-size keyboards — hardware or software — are poor compared to real honest-to-god full-size put-your-eight-finger-across-the-home-row-keys keyboards; but (2) given a week or two of use and some trust in the auto-correct system, most people can thumb-type just as well, if not better, on an iPhone as they could on a BlackBerry or a slider-style keyboard like the G1’s.

DF also believes Apple will never make an iPhone with a hardware keyboard, and that Apple will not suffer in the market for this (for our part, we've suggested the aforementioned Palm Pre could be considered the iPhone with a keyboard, given Jon Rubinstein's history).

Given the over 40 million iPhone and iPod touch software keyboard devices already sold, and the 1 million iPhone 3GS's sold opening weekend alone, it's hard to argue that point. While there certainly is a niche that will never forgo the lack of a hardware keyboard, Apple seems to have proven there's a far bigger market of those that will embrace, or at least tolerate and adapt to it.

What's your take? Is the lack of a hardware keyboard holding the iPhone back? Is it just old-school hardware keyboarders that miss the action? Is it a deal-breaker for you? Or do you think Steve Jobs was right, a next generation smartphone needed a next generation keyboard?

It took a little while for me to get used to the iPhone's "soft" keyboard -- large hands + tiny keyboard = baby elephant playing piano.  Even though I've become rather proficient with the iPhone's keyboard, I'm always on the prowl for anything that will help with my speed and accuracy.  This week's Tip is all about some keyboard shortcuts, brought to you by and with special thanks to George by way of Adam Pash's article at lifehacker.com.  Keep reading for some helpful keyboard Tips (and check out Adam's article for yourself)!

Unless you are building aircraft, skyscrapers or bridges, shortcuts/cutting corners are a GOOD thing.  Take typing on the iPhone, for instance.  There are a number of time-saving (and finger-tapping) ways to maximize your iPhone's keyboard.

When entering a web address, and you need something other than a .com (.com key already provided on your iPhone), then just tap and hold on the .com key and three other common domain options will appear.  Just tap the one you need and you are on your way.

Similarly, if you are entering an email address, you'll notice that you don't even get the .com key on your keyboard.  I believe this is a serious (VERY serious) oversight on Apple's part, but at least they provided a solution by enabling a pop-up list of domain options when you hold down the period ( . ) key.  If you get in the habit of using this shortcut, it's just a matter of time before you are, well, saving time!

For those sending out Spanish language texts, emails, etc., did you know that if you hold down the " ? " key or the " ! " key, you can invert those characters?  Give it a try!

Finally, what if you need to accent a letter?  The name "Chloe", for example, may need an "acute" accent above the "e", like this: "é".  To do this, just hold down the "e" key and a pop-up will give you several options to choose from, as illustrated above.

Try experimenting on your own with the iPhone keyboard and see what kind of surprises may be waiting for you.  This experiment can be particularly handy and satisfying while waiting in the long line at the DMV.

That's it for this week's Tip.  If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@tipb.com.

Disclaimer:  Tip o' the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (but it could be fun adding accents to everyone's name that you know.  Kinda weird... but fun).

A study has been performed about the error rates of mobile keyboards. The three keyboards picked were the iPhone virtual software keyboard, QWERTY keyboards (like those on BlackBerries and Treos), and T9 numeric keypads. iPhone users erred at a rate of 5.6 errors per message, T9 users erred at a rate of 2.6 errors per message, and QWERTY users erred at a rate of 2.1 errors per message. The test was done with 20 folks in each group, and the iPhone owners had to have used their device for at least a month to qualify as eligible.

There are some doozies in the press release:

While the iPhone's corrective text feature helps, this data suggests that iPhone users who have owned the device for a month still make about the same number of errors as the day they got it," said Gavin Lew, Managing Director.

Compared to hard-key QWERTY devices, the iPhone may fall short for consumers who use on their mobile device heavily for email and text messaging. The iPhone was clearly associated with higher text entry error rates than a hard-key QWERTY phone. The finding that iPhone owners made more texting errors on iPhones than their hard-key QWERTY counterparts (on their own QWERTY phones) suggests that the iPhone may have a higher fundamental error rate. Specifically, the high rate of false alarms for iPhone keys adjacent to high frequency letters is troubling. The iPhone’s predictive and corrective text features do alleviate some of the errors users make while texting, but it does not catch them all.

"iPhone is a great switch from a numeric phone. But if you're switching from a hard-key QWERTY phone, try the iPhone in the store first."