Will iPhone kill the Treo franchise?

[Pearl_Diva]

Can we leave it at "yes it's a VIRTUAL keyboard, but not a PHYSICAL keyboard", otherwise this will never end! LOL! From the horse's mouth:

Intelligent Keyboard
iPhone’s full QWERTY soft keyboard lets you easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. And the keyboard is predictive, so it prevents and corrects mistakes, making it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones.

So yes, Apple believes it qualifies as a keyboard, even if it is virtual.

 

[mdavis]

It's a virtual keyboard. Like virtual money, virtual reality, virtual virtue. Make believe.

 

[Pearl_Diva]

OK how about "intangible"? I've used these types of keyboards before and they're certainly real, just not hard keys. I guess it's some kind of program they use, I really don't know.

 

[mdavis]

Definitely. It's a real image, a genuine image, just like great art, an actual tangible representation of something that's not really there. It's not a keyboard, but it's a really good representation of one. And the representation is really really real. Otherwise all those museums would be empty. There's real stuff in there. Representing stuff that's not there. Except for the stuff that is--like medieval armor, furniture, old instruments, old ruins, and canoes. And usually a nice cafe or restaurant.

 

[oalvarez]

taken from the iPhone site:

Intelligent Keyboard
iPhone’s full QWERTY soft keyboard lets you easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. And the keyboard is predictive, so it prevents and corrects mistakes, making it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones.


see, it has a keyboard.

 

[Pearl_Diva]

I posted that already, he/she just won't concede that a fully fuctional but virtual keyboard is still a keyboard. While I prefer hard keys myself, I would still call this a keyboard. There're other things with touch interfaces too, doesn't mean they're not real, just not physical.

 

[samkim]

So does the iPhone come with a striped fish too, since it seems to have a picture of one? I mean, the fish is there, but you can't feel it.
That's a pretty good deal. You get a phone AND a tropical fish.

 

[Pearl_Diva]

Isn't that a screensaver?

 

[duanedude1]

Just because you can't physically touch or feel something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

"I'd like 3 feet of Love, with a side of Compassion, and a pinch of Sarcasm... hold the Melancholy!"


"But do you want fries with that?"



Actually- the phone's case is just filled with water,
and a clownfish is enclosed in each i-phoQuarium.
The fish sees your finger movements, and translates them into messages they relay via sonar through the water, (like the Incredible Mr. Limpett) and air, to other iphoQuarium users. No FCC approval needed, but they did have to get permission from the Department of Fisheries.

 

[marcol]

Not only are th fish not real, the bloody lock's a fake too

And the clock!

 

[marcol]

The fish sees your finger movements, and translates them into messages they relay via sonar through the water, (like the Incredible Mr. Limpett) and air, to other iphoQuarium users.

FMS?

 

[duanedude1]

FMS = Fish Messaging Service

The carrier logo is fake, too!

We all know there is no such a carrier as Cingular (anymore).

 

[oalvarez]

what happens when the fish die?

 

[mdavis]

Good example. Virtual Toilets. Virtual Keyboards. Virtual Value.

 

[Pearl_Diva]

What the heck is a virtual toilet?

 

[marcol]

It's where this thread seems to be heading.

 

[mdavis]

What the heck is a virtual toilet?

Excellent Question.

 

[whmurray]

Excellent Question.

Marco's was an excellent answer.

 

[mdavis]

What was the question?

 

[Pearl_Diva]

I just bought a touch screen MP3 player. The interface is also "virtual", but it recognizes all I'm doing, so are the controls "real" or not?

Now you all have me interested in what type of technology these devices use.