5 ms·

Bold prediction: it will be a total flop. A tiny minority of people want a keyboard at the price of a bulky device

by 781 8y ago

smt88 8y ago
I’m not sure why the device would have to be bulky. BlackBerry phones were less massive than most flagship phones today.
- badfrog 8y ago
  The example in the article appears to have the same screen size as a current-gen flagship phone. If you're going to keep the same screen, battery, etc and add a keyboard, it pretty much has to be bulkier.
  - v_lisivka 8y ago
    With bluetooth keyboard and cover it even bulkier.
  - smt88 8y ago
    Yes, but the point I was trying to make is that it's a design decision. It's perfectly possible to make a small phone with QWERTY hardware keyboard and flagship specs, even if no one is planning to do it right now.
Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
Not that bold of a prediction. Motorola was leading the way with Android-based phones with physical QWERTY keyboards, but they stopped making them in 2012, with the Droid 4 being the last one. I had one and I loved it! The sad thing is, I saw polls at the time showing over 50% of smartphone users said they wanted a physical keyboard, yet most people hadn't even HEARD of the Droid 4. It sold poorly and was the signal that people didn't actually want physical keyboards, they just thought they did.
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  The only thing that killed the Droid line was Google buying Motorola. A Droid 5 was in development right up until Google bought it and decided that everyone should have the same form factor of phone. You can find pictures of the 5 online.
  - Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
    They still produced phones with the Droid name (I replaced my Droid 4 with the Droid Turbo), but they lost the keyboard. And IMO, Google failed to market the Droid phones. In a world where everyone's crying for better battery life and stronger screens, the Droid Turbo came out with a whopping 3900 mAh battery when everyone else was in the 2000-2,500 mAh range, and a screen that was damn near indestructible, probably the top two most asked for features from a phone...yet nobody ever heard of it. Meanwhile people flock to iPhones and Galaxy phones which would crack their screens if you sneezed.
    - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
      By "killed the Droid line", I was referring specifically to the keyboard slider line Droid/Droid 2/Droid 3/Droid 4. And I think that happened almost solely because Google did not like the keyboard slider form factor. A surprisingly large contingent of consumers liked keyboard sliders too. Silicon Valley folks pretend that users didn't want them, but the truth was that at the time, phone technology was moving much faster, and keyboard sliders usually came out running a year older chipset, and were the last to see software updates. People didn't want to give up their keyboard sliders, but the OEMs just weren't serving the market.
- nradov 8y ago
  I also would prefer a phone with a slide out physical keyboard. But due to economies of scale, manufacturers now want to produce a single hardware design for worldwide sale. It's just too expensive to produce separate models for every language.
- elagost 8y ago
post_below 8y ago
We're into 2 generations of people now that have been raised on touchscreens. It's a guaranteed flop. If people are going to be sold on bulkier devices, it will be for functionality other than a keyboard. Besides, bluetooth keyboard cases are already a thing if you want to trade bulk for easier typing.
- rini17 8y ago
  Or more people will discover they actually hate touchscreen keyboards, but they had no other option. Not everyone is like you. It's not about bulk. I gladly traded display size for physical keyboard, on my BB KeyOne. This very comment is written on it, with pleasure.
  - post_below 8y ago
    You're going to give up something, whether it's bulk, water/dust proofing, or other specs. Or in the case of this device, all of the above and more compared to flagship phones. I have no particular love for touchscreen keyboards (though I find that I can type just as well on them as I once did on my droid's physical keyboard). I'm thinking about the mass western market, which isn't going to want to make the tradeoffs this phone offers. Possibly that isn't the market they want, but rather a low volume niche.
marssaxman 8y ago
I bought a Blackberry KeyOne last summer. It took a week to adjust, but I'm content. I hope this option continues to be available - after years putting up with all-glass phones, I'm happy to have a keyboard again, and I'm willing to pay extra for it.
nabla9 8y ago
It will be a hit with business people. Blackberry and before that Nokia Communicator were hits. When you need to work with the phone, like write emails, instead of just browsing the social media, small keyboard is great.
- Eiriksmal 8y ago
  And people who hate touchscreens. I got my first smartphone in the summer of 2017, when I moved from a Samsung clamshell phone to a Blackberry KeyOne. The KeyOne was in such high demand, they were sold out on every online store! I ended up buying a used-like-new one off eBay for slightly over MSRP. Since then, I purchased a new KeyOne Black Edition just to ensure they keep making these devices. Being able to scroll without touching the phone's screen? Game changing tech, folks. Every time I'm forced to use someone else's smart phone, I struggle to type on the virtual keyboard. Even after years of poking at the things, I can't type without typos on those awful screens. Somehow, the KeyOne's keyboard is incredibly easy to type fast on--even with my huge fingers.
  - SI_Rob 8y ago
    I'm a long time Galaxy Note (2-8) user considering a Key Two instead of waiting for the N10. I realized that my dissatisfaction with smaller devices is not a want of screen area, but of better input ergonomics, and that an ever larger expanse of glass delivers diminishing returns that never quite replace or compensate for the loss of tactile key feedback and off-sightline muscle memory typing. It's come to the point that I still keep an old BB Curve around, tethered to hotspot on my primary phone, just to use BBSSH with minimal risk of stray (or sniffed) keypresses. Have you tried one of those K2 units and if so, what was your opinion vs the K1? Is there anything particularly unique to the BB flavored Android on these devices? I loved the system-wide search from within any app, even more than the stellar messaging system.
    - Eiriksmal 8y ago
      Unfortunately, I've never used a K2. I had someone sitting next to me at a restaurant show me his, he was psyched to find another KeyX user!, but I didn't ask to try out the keyboard. Reviews of the Key2 mention they made the keys slightly larger to make them easier to use. Whatever the change, I can't imagine it'd be any less pleasurable to type on. I have huge hands, but don't have a problem typing on the Key1. The K2 should be more comfortable for epic typing sessions. BB's Android is bone stock in appearance. Their built-in BB apps are excellent--especially the camera app. I much prefer them over Samsung and HTC's apps. They're similar in function to my wife's Sony Xperia. They still have the classic suite of BlackBerry tools, such as that system-wide search. The map-to-whatever-you-want key on the right hand side can be setup to launch that search. And you can map every single key on the keyboard (and combinations of keys!) to shortcuts from the "desktop." It's a great phone. It's not going to be as fast as the Galaxy Note, but if you're interested in incredible battery life (I charge mine once a week) and a fantastic typing experience... You won't regret trying the K2. Worst case? You use it for a few weeks then sell it for the full purchase price on eBay. Resale prices seem to still be running high, last I checked.
bamboozled 8y ago
Here’s the thing, you’ve got a bigger phone anyway, look at the size of iPhones now compared to iPhone 5. I loved the smaller form factor as it could be used with only the thumb. I’ve surrendered and now own a “manbag” so u can bend at my hips properly when carrying my phone.

Bold prediction: it will be a total flop. A tiny minority of people want a keyboard at the price of a bulky device

by 781 8y ago

Bold prediction: it will be a total flop. A tiny minority of people want a keyboard at the price of a bulky device

I’m not sure why the device would have to be bulky. BlackBerry phones were less massive than most flagship phones today.

badfrog 8y ago
The example in the article appears to have the same screen size as a current-gen flagship phone. If you're going to keep the same screen, battery, etc and add a keyboard, it pretty much has to be bulkier.
- v_lisivka 8y ago
  With bluetooth keyboard and cover it even bulkier.
- smt88 8y ago
  Yes, but the point I was trying to make is that it's a design decision. It's perfectly possible to make a small phone with QWERTY hardware keyboard and flagship specs, even if no one is planning to do it right now.

Sohcahtoa82 8y ago

Not that bold of a prediction. Motorola was leading the way with Android-based phones with physical QWERTY keyboards, but they stopped making them in 2012, with the Droid 4 being the last one. I had one and I loved it! The sad thing is, I saw polls at the time showing over 50% of smartphone users said they wanted a physical keyboard, yet most people hadn't even HEARD of the Droid 4. It sold poorly and was the signal that people didn't actually want physical keyboards, they just thought they did.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
The only thing that killed the Droid line was Google buying Motorola. A Droid 5 was in development right up until Google bought it and decided that everyone should have the same form factor of phone. You can find pictures of the 5 online.
- Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
  They still produced phones with the Droid name (I replaced my Droid 4 with the Droid Turbo), but they lost the keyboard. And IMO, Google failed to market the Droid phones. In a world where everyone's crying for better battery life and stronger screens, the Droid Turbo came out with a whopping 3900 mAh battery when everyone else was in the 2000-2,500 mAh range, and a screen that was damn near indestructible, probably the top two most asked for features from a phone...yet nobody ever heard of it. Meanwhile people flock to iPhones and Galaxy phones which would crack their screens if you sneezed.
  - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
    By "killed the Droid line", I was referring specifically to the keyboard slider line Droid/Droid 2/Droid 3/Droid 4. And I think that happened almost solely because Google did not like the keyboard slider form factor. A surprisingly large contingent of consumers liked keyboard sliders too. Silicon Valley folks pretend that users didn't want them, but the truth was that at the time, phone technology was moving much faster, and keyboard sliders usually came out running a year older chipset, and were the last to see software updates. People didn't want to give up their keyboard sliders, but the OEMs just weren't serving the market.
nradov 8y ago
I also would prefer a phone with a slide out physical keyboard. But due to economies of scale, manufacturers now want to produce a single hardware design for worldwide sale. It's just too expensive to produce separate models for every language.
elagost 8y ago

post_below 8y ago

We're into 2 generations of people now that have been raised on touchscreens. It's a guaranteed flop. If people are going to be sold on bulkier devices, it will be for functionality other than a keyboard. Besides, bluetooth keyboard cases are already a thing if you want to trade bulk for easier typing.

rini17 8y ago
Or more people will discover they actually hate touchscreen keyboards, but they had no other option. Not everyone is like you. It's not about bulk. I gladly traded display size for physical keyboard, on my BB KeyOne. This very comment is written on it, with pleasure.
- post_below 8y ago
  You're going to give up something, whether it's bulk, water/dust proofing, or other specs. Or in the case of this device, all of the above and more compared to flagship phones. I have no particular love for touchscreen keyboards (though I find that I can type just as well on them as I once did on my droid's physical keyboard). I'm thinking about the mass western market, which isn't going to want to make the tradeoffs this phone offers. Possibly that isn't the market they want, but rather a low volume niche.

marssaxman 8y ago

I bought a Blackberry KeyOne last summer. It took a week to adjust, but I'm content. I hope this option continues to be available - after years putting up with all-glass phones, I'm happy to have a keyboard again, and I'm willing to pay extra for it.

nabla9 8y ago

It will be a hit with business people. Blackberry and before that Nokia Communicator were hits. When you need to work with the phone, like write emails, instead of just browsing the social media, small keyboard is great.

Eiriksmal 8y ago
And people who hate touchscreens. I got my first smartphone in the summer of 2017, when I moved from a Samsung clamshell phone to a Blackberry KeyOne. The KeyOne was in such high demand, they were sold out on every online store! I ended up buying a used-like-new one off eBay for slightly over MSRP. Since then, I purchased a new KeyOne Black Edition just to ensure they keep making these devices. Being able to scroll without touching the phone's screen? Game changing tech, folks. Every time I'm forced to use someone else's smart phone, I struggle to type on the virtual keyboard. Even after years of poking at the things, I can't type without typos on those awful screens. Somehow, the KeyOne's keyboard is incredibly easy to type fast on--even with my huge fingers.
- SI_Rob 8y ago
  I'm a long time Galaxy Note (2-8) user considering a Key Two instead of waiting for the N10. I realized that my dissatisfaction with smaller devices is not a want of screen area, but of better input ergonomics, and that an ever larger expanse of glass delivers diminishing returns that never quite replace or compensate for the loss of tactile key feedback and off-sightline muscle memory typing. It's come to the point that I still keep an old BB Curve around, tethered to hotspot on my primary phone, just to use BBSSH with minimal risk of stray (or sniffed) keypresses. Have you tried one of those K2 units and if so, what was your opinion vs the K1? Is there anything particularly unique to the BB flavored Android on these devices? I loved the system-wide search from within any app, even more than the stellar messaging system.
  - Eiriksmal 8y ago
    Unfortunately, I've never used a K2. I had someone sitting next to me at a restaurant show me his, he was psyched to find another KeyX user!, but I didn't ask to try out the keyboard. Reviews of the Key2 mention they made the keys slightly larger to make them easier to use. Whatever the change, I can't imagine it'd be any less pleasurable to type on. I have huge hands, but don't have a problem typing on the Key1. The K2 should be more comfortable for epic typing sessions. BB's Android is bone stock in appearance. Their built-in BB apps are excellent--especially the camera app. I much prefer them over Samsung and HTC's apps. They're similar in function to my wife's Sony Xperia. They still have the classic suite of BlackBerry tools, such as that system-wide search. The map-to-whatever-you-want key on the right hand side can be setup to launch that search. And you can map every single key on the keyboard (and combinations of keys!) to shortcuts from the "desktop." It's a great phone. It's not going to be as fast as the Galaxy Note, but if you're interested in incredible battery life (I charge mine once a week) and a fantastic typing experience... You won't regret trying the K2. Worst case? You use it for a few weeks then sell it for the full purchase price on eBay. Resale prices seem to still be running high, last I checked.

bamboozled 8y ago

Here’s the thing, you’ve got a bigger phone anyway, look at the size of iPhones now compared to iPhone 5. I loved the smaller form factor as it could be used with only the thumb. I’ve surrendered and now own a “manbag” so u can bend at my hips properly when carrying my phone.