ABC Keypad Vs QWERTY

[arnuld 12]

My friend had NOKIA E72, I tried typing an SMS on it. Whne you type your fingers move automatically without any intentional direction (e.g. your hand moves away if someone puts a burning paper on it even when you are thinking something deep and looking in opposite direction. Its just nervous system's reaction for which you don't need to focus). I was surprised to notice that when my fingers moved to type some letters, those letters were either opposite or somewhere else as compared to where my fingers were. In fact, I felt a lot of discomfort while typing an SMS (at the same time my friend felt itw as easier, because he practiced a lot):

I was reading on net about computer keyboards when I came across this:

http://www.abckeyboard.co.uk/

http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/

So QWERTY keypad puts a lot of stress on fingers/hands. I came across LAVA B5 ABCD keypad phone. I know that build quality will be poorer and for the person who wants to send lots of SMSs I think ABC keypad would be a good idea.

[digitalnirvana 646]

On a computer I can touchtype i.e. type without looking at keyboard so those like me who are accustomed to QWERTY would find it easier. QWERTY is an international standard, so ABC keyboard would be like reinventing the wheel.

[kshah 452]

Its about the practice but it is said that DVORAK keyboards are less prone to repetitive stress injury than qwerty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

[raccoon 53]

QWERTY on comp keyboards is ok, since most who can touch type (like me) are used to it, but I don't understand the rationale behind using qwerty on small phone keypads. In any case one can only use 2 thumbs to type here and not 10 fingers. At least phones with full keypads should come with ABC keyboards. I doubt even other standards like DVORAK make sense when you are typing with 2 thumbs. Edited March 29, 2011 by raccoon

[digitalnirvana 646]

^

Think it is so that users do not need to adapt to a new keyboard as most are used to QWERTY.

[sougatadc 358]

^

The rationale behind using a full keyboard on a mobile phone will be best understood if there is SWYPE. If anybody is comfortable in touch-typing, be it on QWERTY or DVORAK, he will find it fantastic and incredibly fast to type on virtual keyboard of SWYPE, either QWERTY or DVORAK.

But I'm afraid, physical keyboards on mobile are QWERTY always. Anybody who loves DVORAK, will have to practice QWERTY for use it on physical keyboards of mobiles. Personally I prefer soft keyboards. And after using SWYPE on my Fascinate, there is no question of looking back.

[raccoon 53]

I guess nobody has got the point. QWERTY is for touch typing with 10 fingers without looking at the keyboard. Is this relevant for typing with 2 thumbs on a mobile? Consider normal phones without qwerty - those which use multitap/T9/iTap. The letters are in normal alphabetical ABC, CDE, etc. sequence. No QWERTY here. And does that make it difficult for people used to QWERTY comp keyboards? No. Then what is the need for QWERTY in phones with full keybards only? Sounds really illogical to me.

[arnuld 12]

I guess nobody has got the point. QWERTY is for touch typing with 10 fingers without looking at the keyboard. Is this relevant for typing with 2 thumbs on a mobile? Consider normal phones without qwerty - those which use multitap/T9/iTap. The letters are in normal alphabetical ABC, CDE, etc. sequence. No QWERTY here. And does that make it difficult for people used to QWERTY comp keyboards? No. Then what is the need for QWERTY in phones with full keybards only? Sounds really illogical to me.

Exactly my point, there is no need to put QWERTY on mobile keypad as its very different from keyboard. I tried 3 more times to use my friends QWERTY and I found my usual ABC/DEF/T9 keypad better. Anyway, LAVA claims that its world's first phone with ABCD keypad. I guess I will give it a try, flipkart says it costs around 2.8K

[sgiitk 32]

Incidentally, the QWERTY was designed to slow down the typist, and also to reduce the risk of keys getting jammed. Germans have QWERTZ and the French AZERT!

Dvorak seems to have fallen out of grace.

[sougatadc 358]

I guess nobody has got the point. QWERTY is for touch typing with 10 fingers without looking at the keyboard. Is this relevant for typing with 2 thumbs on a mobile? Consider normal phones without qwerty - those which use multitap/T9/iTap. The letters are in normal alphabetical ABC, CDE, etc. sequence. No QWERTY here. And does that make it difficult for people used to QWERTY comp keyboards? No. Then what is the need for QWERTY in phones with full keybards only? Sounds really illogical to me.

No, Racoon, I got the point. Somehow, I failed to make you understand what I was telling. Typing on physical QWERTY pad on mobile phones with two thumbs might be not very helpful, but if somebody is comfortable with touch-typing, he will save considerable time and effort on SWYPE virtual keyboard, which is much much better than tap-typing (ABC keyboard). SWYPE is the fastest text input method on a touchscreen mobile phone, and the world record for text input on a mobile stands for 60 words per minute using a Samsung Galaxy S phone and this is possible with QWERTY keyboard only. Thus QWERTY can be used with one finger also

[copperco2 24]

whatever it is, practice gets the work done.. be it abc, qwerty or suretype..

[raccoon 53]

I guess nobody has got the point. QWERTY is for touch typing with 10 fingers without looking at the keyboard. Is this relevant for typing with 2 thumbs on a mobile? Consider normal phones without qwerty - those which use multitap/T9/iTap. The letters are in normal alphabetical ABC, CDE, etc. sequence. No QWERTY here. And does that make it difficult for people used to QWERTY comp keyboards? No. Then what is the need for QWERTY in phones with full keybards only? Sounds really illogical to me.

No, Racoon, I got the point. Somehow, I failed to make you understand what I was telling. Typing on physical QWERTY pad on mobile phones with two thumbs might be not very helpful, but if somebody is comfortable with touch-typing, he will save considerable time and effort on SWYPE virtual keyboard, which is much much better than tap-typing (ABC keyboard). SWYPE is the fastest text input method on a touchscreen mobile phone, and the world record for text input on a mobile stands for 60 words per minute using a Samsung Galaxy S phone and this is possible with QWERTY keyboard only. Thus QWERTY can be used with one finger also

Swype on touch screens is a different thing. I was taking about mobile QWERTY keyboards only. I still feel they do not make sense any which ways. As for which is more efficient/faster/better, between hardware QWERTY and Swype, there are proponents of both camps saying their respective camp is faster, so can't really comment on that. Personally, I feel bit more inclined to hardware QWERTY, though I like SWYPE too. Also for me its not just about saving an extra second or two, but also about the "feel" of doing it. SWYPE really does not give a "feel" of doing things. Yes, haptic feedback helps, but I keep it off to save battery, so in reality it does not help. With the kind of pathetic battery back ups which most smartphones give, I'm sure most people must be having to keep it off.

And I still didnt quite understand your statement "but if somebody is comfortable with touch-typing, he will save considerable time and effort on Swype virtual keyboard,". IMO, touch typing on full (comp) QWERTY keyboards is quite a different skill from Swyping.

Edited March 30, 2011 by raccoon

[sougatadc 358]

^

As you have rightly said, it is really a personal choice...physical or soft keyboard; mine is soft one.

Please read the detailed topic on Swype here you will find how fast it is. There is no question of reaching 40 WPM with physical keyboard of a mobile, and tap-typing (ABC keyboard) is much slower, everybody knows that.

It's really bad that I'm repeatedly failing to make you understand what I'm intending to say. Anyways, I can type really fast as I can touch-type on computer keyboard. And that's the reason why I can type really fast on Swype too.

And there is an added advantage of Swype... once a new word is tapped, it stores that word in its custom dictionary. Thus Hinglish/ Benglish etc messages can also be Swyped fast from next instance. Every friend of mine gets astonished about the speed with which I reply their text messages from my Fascinate, be it in English or Bangla (written with English alphabets).

[digitalnirvana 646]

Raccon I got your point too, and I meant to say that I prefer a full hardware QWERTY keyboard on mobiles too rather than a new standard like ABCD, because I am so accustomed to QWERTY on computers.

[KumaarShah 143]

I also feel that a Qwerty is better than the multi tap ABC. This is because you know where a particular letter is, that is , if you are an avid computer keyboard user. No comments about Swype as yet.