Its just a patent at this point so no telling if it will ever materialize, but you can bet I’m sticking with PCs if Apple switches to a touch keyboard on their laptops. That’s fine for phones and tablets but I need physical, tactile keys when typing on a computer. What are your guys’ thoughts?
https://gizmodo.com/new-patent-hints-that-apple-could-get-rid-of-physical-k-1823513657
By Luke, 5 March, 2018
Forum
Hardware and Accessories
Comments
I'd not worry
It's been a long time since apple has taken a chance with a new concept, not since the iPhone in fact. Every other technology has already been in circulation until apple established whether it was worked, then they'd refine it and include it in a simplified way, such a big step for them is very unlikely.
Also, patents are not only to secure intellectual property rights for oneself, but it also prevents others from developing the technology. I feel that some of apples patents could be restrictive for other companies rather than to create viable products for itself.
My hope is that, at some point, a keyboard will be able to pop out of a screen, or a bunch of sliders and dials, or a game controller... All technologies that are being researched. People, and not just blind people, need real world interaction in some cases, and speed typing is one of them.
A note on patents
Patents are also generated so that they might be traded for other patents or groups of patents. This is why you often see so many more or less useless patents, just to bulk up the numbers when companies are negotiating patent portfolios with each other.
--Peteg roups
Just a thought
While I have yet to read the article, think about the way Apple has forced innovation in hardware config. Apple first took out optical drives from laptops and made it so you wer forced to download applications/contentfrom the net, or purchase a pricey stand alone optical drive. This trend has slowly become an industry standard, The Dell laptop I have now (in addition to my MacBook) has no optical drive. Then consider it was Apple who first took away the home key (I may be wrong on this one), and now others have followed in the same steps. I would not be so sure to dismiss the notion too quickly. That said, it would be fairly easy to sync a blue tooth, or a USB dongle KB should this happen.