The Disadvantage of the Touch Screen Keyboard is Not That It Lacks Keys

After two weeks w/ the iPhone, I thought "Anyone who is worried about not having a keyboard b/c they don't think they'll be able to type just hasn't tried it before."  After 24 hours w/ the T-Mobile/Google/HTC G2 I still agree with that statement, but realized that it misses the point.  The problem w/ typing on the iPhone (or any other phone w/o a physical keyboard) isn't the typing per se ... it's that the keyboard takes up half the screen!  I was perplexed by the decision to include a physical keyboard on the G2 initially, until I started using it and reallized that for applications requiring text imput (which includes web browsing, maps, SMS, twitter, and most other social applications in addition to email) it makes the effective screen size much bigger than the iPhone - or even the mammoth 4.3" Droid X phone.

So, while for short bits of text or applications in which key input is secondary or limited to a lesser number of keys, such as dialing, I use the on screen keyboard with no problem, for longer text writing (including this and my last post), I use the slide out keyboard.  The extra weight is slightly annoying, but I'm willing to put up with it for the best of both input worlds.

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Some thoughts for the future:
- I wouldn't be surprised if in the next generation or two of phones we saw phones w/ a slide-out second screen instead of a slide out keyboard, where the OS automatically moved the keyboard to the second screen in typing applications.
- In Korean this probably won't be as much of a problem due to the uniquely fast method of inputting the Hangul alphabet on a feature phone keyboard

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The Problem w/ Attacking 'Fair and Balanced'

Everybody thinks that they, personally, are fair and balanced.  People who don't are exceptionally intellectual and/or reflective.  Don't believe me?  Try telling a friend that you think that they are unfair and judgmental.  See how far you get.

Therefore it's logical that when someone hears an opinion that they agree with, they will most likely think that it to is fair and balanced, and likewise whomever said it.  Otherwise the cognitive dissonance in holding said opinion would be too great.

And herein lies the problem with the complaints that liberals make about Fox News claiming to be Fair and Balanced: they're preaching to the choir.  Only people who disagree with Fox News will disagree w/ their slogan, while people who like Fox are going to defend them.

And I say this as one who tends towards the liberal and thinks Fox News is full of sh!t.

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Btw if you think the current media situation is untenable and represents the demise of democracy as we know it, you'd do well to read this:  http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/10/26/2009-10-26_unbalanced_even_for_abe.html. I'd say we're slightly better off now from a media perspective and that our democracy has survived just fine in the last 150 years ...

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