The Case for Physical Keyboards on Phones – Why I use(d) a Blackberry in 2018?
Last year (2017), BlackBerry did what it should’ve done a decade ago. It switched to Android OS on a Blackberry carrying a Physical Keyboard – called the KeyOne.
Physical keyboards is still an essential hardware for modern day computing. It’s a device which is not broken, just not as necessary for a smartphone. A Touchscreen reproduce the effect of a keyboard/mouse on a display and more. It was the obvious tradeoff for a device characterized by compactness.
Why we still use Physical Keyboards?
While smartphones is a good balance of the many ways we express and interact, people do have some predominant methods. Some capture, some draw, some speak and some write. 2017 was the year we saw different smartphones cater to specific use cases like Gaming (Razerphone), Filmmaking (LG V30), and now writing — BlackBerry KeyOne. That’s what I see it as – not just an email machine but a device for long-form content. A physical keyboard is an instrument to a writer. A pianist can interact with a software to tell a computer to produce specific sounds at specific times, but he can never compose that way. For him the best interface is a piano. He needs physical keys that syncs muscle memory with thoughts.
The physical press against a key does require effort but people actually need it. We constantly modulate how hard we press against a paper. We do the same on our physical keyboards. I jam through my keyboard, even when I don’t need to. This feedback is missing when typing on a touchscreen; which can be a bit disorienting and doesn't setup a rhythm for words to pour out. This is one of the reasons why many prefer a physical keyboard for long content.
It’s the rhythm. The way we learnt "playing" is on a physical keyboard. The feedback from the effort required instills confidence. Typing with confidence is important. Ideally, words should come out the moment you decide to. Errors breaks the rhythm.
Effort demands attention. I am sure that I commit less spell errors while writing on a paper than typing. You just tend to be more conscious, and less error-prone.
All this is to say one simple thing: Physical Keyboards do have a reason to exist in a world of Touchscreen Keyboards and Voice Input.
But do we need it on a phone?
When I cite writing as my reason to buy BlackBerry, people say JUST FUCKING SIT IN A INFRONT OF A DESKTOP. But I am often on the move. Thoughts come at random times at random places without a word limit. And mobile physical keyboards really allows for a higher word limit. Having a physical keyboard can be oddly rewarding. I am very much comfortable writing and publishing this article on BB, than I would ever have been on Touch screen.
But it’s more than that…
Less is More.
BlackBerry’s software allows to heavily customize the physical keyboard. They see it as 26 more buttons on the hardware and each can be short/long pressed to any app or an action inside an app. So to open YouTube, I think Y, press Y and launch. These steps is oddly making me more intentional with my phone. Instead of always presented with a grid of “Black Hole” Apps beneath your thumb ready to be launched, and then you invariably launch `em. Now, they are all hidden in an app drawer which I now rarely need to open. Your habits change as you now have to intentionally think of pressing a particular key to launch.
BB software wants your thumbs to be anchored to the keyboard as much as possible. For example, the space bar conceals the fingerprint sensor which makes me grip my phone by the keyboard as I take out of my pocket to quickly unlock.
“Physical keyboard has made my phone use less addictive, more intentional.”
BlackBerry’s focused approach is why many including me prefer a two-phone setup — one for the use case BB focuses on, which is also the professional workflow for many people and another phone for multimedia consumption & creation. I can understand if you can’t afford the two phone setup, assuming you agree to the burden at the first place. Sometimes, I fantasize that the keyboard on the KeyTwo flips out to reveal a full touch screen. In my utopia, I will attach a flip out physical keyboard to any phone possible. It actually existed on a Sony Ericsson Touch Screen Phone, like 14 years ago.
Smartphones with more specific use-cases can be less distracting — and as in this case, improve the experience. For example, the keyboard packs Ctrl shortcuts for Formatting, Cut, Copy, Paste …and wait for it, UNDO. It’s not even an option on most touchscreen keyboards. I have switched to a BB as my only phone for quite some time.
Just communications and work. KeyOne and KeyTwo are very focused devices. I am a part of the BlackBerry audience now, a niche.