You read this too fast. No, I assure you that I believe that the physical kyboard is not a crutch, nor is it going away for many users such as myself for a goo

You read this too fast. No, I assure you that I believe that the physical kyboard is not a crutch, nor is it going away for many users such as myself for a good long time. And it turned out, oh yes you can (some people reach in the 80+ WPM). I suppose if you are typing regular text this might be possible with a lot of practice. My main gripe is that a smooth flat rectangle doesn't provide enough positioning feedback for me. Others feel the same way, though I won't try to speak for the majority. This study[0] shows 43 WPM for touchscreen vs 61 WPM for netbook. I must first point out that unless you have tiny hands, a netbook has a poor physical keyboard. You seem to be arguing two different things. Most people don't know how to touch type, and they'd do just about as well with an iPad. My response to that is "maybe". When you make blanket statements like: My main issue is that I view the physical keyboard as a crutch Then you are saying on-screen keyboards are fine for everybody. I disagree with that, vehemently. When typing with a physical keyboard, I'll sometimes feel that I've made a mistake, and I'll start correcting it right away. Without looking and the part of the screen where I'm entering text. With an on-screen keyboard, my attention must stay focused on where my hands are in relation to it, and on the text entry itself. I can't feel if I've made a mistake (or typed correctly) I can only see if I've made a mistake. As a long-time touch typist, this lack of feedback bothers me greatly, and slows down my overall process, not just the text entry itself.