Quote:
Originally Posted by VictoriaP
Eowyn, I know it sounds odd, but Scott's right on this one. It **seems** like there shouldn't be a learning curve with the iPad keyboard--after all, most of us have been touch typing for our entire adult lives at a minimum--but there really is a pretty dramatic difference between using the virtual keyboard and a regular one. Without direct physical feedback to guide you, it takes a certain amount of eye-hand coordination at first to get the right keys every time. Things like apostrophes will drive you nuts at first, because they're not where you expect them to be. Learning to edit on the touchscreen is an adventure in and of itself, because as you said, it's not necessarily an intuitive process to select a word, line, or paragraph. Using an iPad for more than just consumption means teaching yourself an entirely new way of doing things.
The first week I had mine, I HATED the keyboard. I hemmed and hawed about returning it. By the second week, I used it for surfing, but writing anything longer than a few lines was almost painful. Then I got fast with multi-finger one-handed typing (I still do this a lot with short posts). Eventually, I started forcing myself to use full touch typing, but I still had to watch the keys. Now, a couple of months into it, I can take my eyes off the keys about half the time and hit the right keys without constant mistakes--though it certainly helps to keep the iPad at the same angle each time or I'll find my hands drifting off into typos. LOL
There are still times I will pull out the Bluetooth keyboard even for short stuff, because let's face it, I have almost thirty years of touch typing behind me. With that kind of experience, it's probably always going to be easier to use a real keyboard. But I never expected to be able to use the virtual keyboard as much as I do, and the more practice I get on it, the easier it becomes.
In my experience though, the autocorrect sucks most of the time. I can't decide whether I lose more or less time with it on, because I often have to go back and correct for its mistakes. I can't wait until we can opt to add our own words to the dictionary they're using.
|
I totally agree, autocorrection sucks big time (kind of glad to hear, that it's not an issue with German, but in other languages as well).
What I really don't get (didn't get it on iPhone either): Why doesn't the unit learn? Why doesn't it build a user dictionary over time? It permanently suggests the very same nonsense corrections.
And why aren't there any abbreviations? On Pocket PCs (8 years ago!) for example I could define "mgm" and and some touch combo (for example a circle around the text) and Windows CE automatically did insert my name, my address or whatever I've defined.
BlackBerry can do similar.
That's why I still find it laughable, to call iPhone a "BlackBerry Killer".
In general, I find iPad and iPhone seriously lacking "professional toolsets".
A shame, as both in other areas really are great...