The Rhythm of Your Thoughts and the iPhone Keyboard

Khoi has a good post over at Subtraction, in which he talks about the fact that while he has become adept at using the iPhone’s keyboard, his progress has reached a plateau. The problem, he indicates, is that this top level of proficiency is still much less than what he would like.

I think Khoi is right, there is a plateau. As I see it, it does not seem so different than the plateau one reaches in regular keyboards. The problem for me, however, lies in the difference between the types of learning one is left with after becoming proficient in either device.

In my case, the learning I acquired at my proficiency plateau in normal keyboards resulted in a certain level of deftness: reaching keys without looking, correcting without looking. All the while, my progress was being reinforced by the correctly typed words that would appear before me with ever increasing frequency. It’s safe to say that for me, the less typos I made, the smoother my writing process was and the faster my thoughts made it to print, more or less intact.

I must say that nothing beats longhand for me ~.~;

In the iPhone’s case there is nothing “directly” reinforcing your typing progress. You type, make a mistake then see if the iPhone’s spell check got it, then accept the suggestion. It’s a constant dialogue with the writing instrument that really has nothing to do with the thought process. In the end, the determining factor on whether the word gets spelled correctly becomes a kind of collaborative venture in which the iPhone plays an active part. This can put off a lot of people. I, like many others, like my writing to be a completely solitary endeavor in which I can find a bit of focus and purpose to my thoughts.

So the short answer is, yes the plateau does not feel good to me either. The iPhone is an awesome device, and now the iPod touch as well. The software keyboard is a superb achievement and I think indispensable to the Apple handhelds. The key for me was not to rely on it for more than it is: short messages, numbers, addresses, searches and quick texting. Anything beyond two paragraphs makes me pine for a new accessory: a compact fully supported bluetooth keyboard.

You know they can make a great one ^^;