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Comment by schpaencoder | Hacker News Reader

Perhaps they aim to get rid of the keyboard completely, replacing it with a haptic feedback capable device and a glass plate with the keys inscribed?

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That would have all the pleasures of typing on a table, hitting your fingertips on a hard surface. Try it.

For all people love to talk about haptics, they miss the point: haptic feedback is feedback. As in, it happens after you do something.

Typing, unless you don't know how to type, is done entirely by feel. You have raised spots to align your hands, and then you work off muscle memory and the feel of the keys. Things you feel before you push the keys...

Initially I was in agreement, but.. I don't know. The iPhone's virtual click does have a strange feeling to it, but you really do get used to it feeling like a click, without it even moving. Maybe they could pull that concept off on a keyboard scale?

I actually think that there might be something to it. The current keyboards already have a small key travel. A solid-state keyboard with “taptic” feedback from individual keys could feel ok.

The current haptic feedback on the touchpad works fine because all you need to know is that you pressed the touchpad, not where you pressed it.

That's no longer true once you have a range of keys that you are pressing. You need to ensure your fingers are properly aligned so that you press the key you intend before you press it. Without some actual structure, you don't get that feedback.

You may be on to something.

They did the same thing with the iPhone 7. They removed the physical home button and simulated feedback with vibration. Then they got rid of the home button for the iPhone X.

Or you know, every smartphone and tablets with a hard glass cover touchscreen?

Obviously that is not a good enough solution for people who type a lot, or they wouldn't need keyboard cases for the iPad.

I already have a touch bar so I know what it's like.

It's like a keyboard, except flakier and with improved accidental inputs!

It's not like a keyboard. It's like hitting something hard that hurts your fingertips. And you can't compare it to a phone either, because on a phone you type one-handed. The two-hand keyboard typing experience uses much more kinetic energy.

Repetitive Stress Injuries for the masses. How fun! As if using a laptop wasn't bad enough for RSI sufferers. Leave it to Apple to make it worse. I wouldn't be surprised though. The Apple of the last few years has been putting out shit product after shit product. Broken. Bad design. Overpriced. Shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA

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