When Apple announced the original iPhone back in 2007, perhaps the biggest thing that Steve Jobs spoke about at the time was the new way of inputting data onto the device. Before then, smartphones had clunky hardware keyboards and small screens but now, post-iPhone, things were going to change, with large screens and software keyboards becoming the norm.
The problem with that though is that while typing on a software keyboard is something that we’ve all become accustomed to, it’s never really going to be able to compete with typing on a full sized desktop or notebook computer’s hardware keyboard. As good as the iOS and Android software solutions have become over the years, it’s just not going to compete.
This very fact is the reason that phone accessory stores are awash with all kinds of Bluetooth-enabled keyboards that are designed to make typing on mobile devices as easy and as fast as possible, or just ensure that typing goes to a whole new level. Some are good, some are bad. Mostly, they’re just adequate, which isn’t exactly a great endorsement. That’s why the myType hit Kickstarter, and it’s probably why it overshot its $10,000 target by a whopping $70,000.
Available in five different colors, the myType is made of flexible silicon, and thanks to its interleaving keys, the entire thing folds onto itself and takes up next to no space in a bag or indeed, a pocket. The people behind the keyboard went through fifteen different designs when coming up with the myTime, and claim that up to 75 words per minute is a realistic target with the device.
Often mobile keyboards can be some of the most boring things in the technology world, but when one offers something a little different, we take notice. The sheer portability and ease of use of the myType intrigues us, and with the claimed 8-hour battery life, we’re sure it will deliver on all it promises.
The myType is currently available on Kickstarter for $59, and if you’re in the market for such a keyboard we recommend you give this a look before ordering anything.
Anyways, are you willing to invest in the keyboard? Or, are you good with what your iOS or Android device has to offer in the form of an on-screen keyboard.
(Source: Kickstarter)
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