SAN FRANICSCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — Before the 2012 edition of the expo wrapped yesterday, I had the opportunity to take one last pass on the exhibit hall floor to check out what the Saturday crowd was showing interest in. There was one product that grabbed my interest as a writer, especially considering how much I use my iPad for creating articles.
I’m not the best typist — not by a long shot — and I’ve used a keyboard for my iPad for longer posts over the past year. Whether it was a keyboard that was part of a case or my trusty Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, I had one with me at all times. That’s where the iKeyboard comes in.
The iKeyboard was another Kickstarter success story at Mocworld / iWorld 2012, garnering over 6 times what the required threshold was for funding. Its mission is to “addresses the one drawback of a tablet computer” which is the inability to touch type on the iPad’s virtual keyboard. Again, I’m not a fast typist — I definitely need to work on that to improve my overall productivity when writing. The iKeyboard gives me the opportunity to work on that on what is often my primary writing tool.
The apparatus is thin and when I used it to type it reminded me of the old “Pop-o-matic” dice contraption that was popular with board games (and I wasn’t the only one who felt this way). The fact I had a tactile keyboard to write with — this piece was written using it — took some getting used to on the iPad, especially considering it was attached directly to the device. It adheres to the iPad without leaving any permanent residue — and the sticky strips can be cleaned using scotch tape or a lint roller. And because I wasn’t using the screen to type with, my iPad stayed fingerprint free….which is a rarity. That came in handy when I switched to an app that didn’t require the keyboard, and with the virtual keyboard out of the way, I simply moved the iKeyboard to the top bezel of my iPad to get it out of the way as well.
When I was done using the iPad, I closed my DODOcase over top of the device with iKeyboard placed so that it didn’t even look like it was there. There was little added bulk to my case because the iKeyboard is so thin.
Admittedly, I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy using the iKeyboard. But once I got used to it, I rather enjoyed using it for the longer written pieces I’ve been working on. I may not use it for everything I write, but I’ll definitely slap it on for some of the opuses I need to crank out.
The iKeyboard is now available in black from the iKeyboard website and it works with both the iPad 2 and original iPad. The website currently redirects you to Amazon, and the price is listed at $35.00. There is also a white model coming soon, but as of this writing there was no availability.
