A couple weeks ago Steve Jobs announced to the world Apple’s willingness to join the rest of the smart phone world by allowing multitasking of 3rd party apps, as well as including one handy feature, the inclusion of bluetooth keyboard access. This very post is being done in a classroom with my iPhone and keyboard.
Keyboard
There’s no denying that a FULL SIZED physical keyboard is faster, more responsive, and easier to use than a virtual keyboard. Since I have the apple branded keyboard it has all the buttons listed, and with the exception of Expose and Dashboard the buttons correspond to the iPhone feature. Apple even included Mac OS style indicators for brightness, and pressing the eject key will hide/reveal the keyboard. There was a real concern that when the BT keyboard is on the iPhone ceases to show the virtual keyboard. If you press the eject key and show the keyboard it’ll let you continue using the virtual keyboard while keeping the BT one on.
What is of issue is whether toting a keyboard around with you is easier than lugging a laptop. If you carry a laptop around already, then you can ignore my opinion — it simply doesn’t apply to your case. Some people (myself included) don’t usually carry a computer around, but carry an iPhone or iPod and the idea of adding a small keyboard into your bag only when you know you’ll need it is more reasonable than taking a computer.
What does this mean for the iPad, will it fall to the same arguments I’m using against a laptop? Since I haven’t had a chance to play with one I can only go with the internets opinion of having a 9 inch window into another world. The main them has been it’s not a laptop, if you want a laptop go buy one. They feel it justifies its own weight in your carry on, and I will let it be.
Multitask/Fast App Switching
Unfortunately my favorite applications haven’t been updated to utilize the multiple APIs available for multitasking. The first party apps are mundane enough that I won’t espouse how freaking awesome it is. We’ll all have to wait for the next updates for that opinion.
As for fast app switching I’m becoming accustomed to double clicking Home and then tapping the app I just used. Badges are present in fast app switching too, letting me see which application just buzzed me.
Folders
Calling this feature folders is misleading, as John Gruber said in his post (http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/15/mathis-iphone-4), “Regarding “folders”, I’ll add that they’re not really folders at all, not in the sense of the Mac. There is no “folder” icon, nor any folder object that you create as a first step. There is no nesting. You just pile icons on top of each other.”
All in all, the 4.0 is something everyone should look forward to.
