By Graham K. Rogers

The iPad is a bit of a mystery to me in terms of a full-scale tool for productivity. I tend to do most work on a MacBook Pro 15" and a lot also on the iPhone when I can within the limits of that device. I have greatly enjoyed using all my iPads: for drawing, some image manipulation, for email, reading, news and a number of other ways in which I have been able to use the features of the device. There is obviously more potential with the way I am using it, but until now I had not been able to release this.

Background

I have always claimed that the computer was invented for me because of my poor handwriting and even poorer handwriting -- back in the 1980s when I first used a PC, the idea of being able to fix the errors before my professors saw them, was a new luxury.

I need to be mobile with my computing and over the last few years a series of PowerBooks and MacBook Pro computers have served me well. I also like to carry a DSLR camera with me. There are always other accessories, files, books to bring along, so during the working week I carry at least two bags: computer case and a backpack.

After a fix to my back a couple of years ago, I now try to limit the contents as much as I can/. Recently I have tried to leave the MacBook Pro at home, relying on the iPad, iPhone and an iMac in my office. If I am to give a presentation for example, I can ready the slides on the Mac and run it from the iPad; or if I do not have that with me -- some days I travel light -- from the iPhone.

Potential Solutions

The keyboard was the main problem. The solution was easy: a keyboard for the iPad. Things in this part of the world take a little slower to trickle down and while there may be suitable accessories in the US or Europe, it may be several months before they arrive here. Buying online is not always possible (some companies will not ship certain items here) or practical with high shipping charges that some levy.

I tried the iStudio stores here: these are Apple authorised retail outlets and as well as Apple stock will carry a range of accessories. I tried several, but each time was only offered the Apple Bluetooth keyboard (2,390 baht).

This is of course, beautifully designed and looks like a small version of the USB keyboard I have with the iMac. This is not the solution I want. It is not the price, but because I would be slinging this into the backpack along with all the other things I carry and even with the limited extra weight (325 grams) this was not my prime solution.

Not that I could find one, but the keyboard dock would also be a no-no with the weight and the lack of stowability. What I really wanted was a case with an integrated keyboard.

"No have" was the usual answer, although a nice young lady at an i-Beat (the iStudio within a store like PowerBuy here) told me her friend had brought in some suitable cases (minus keyboards) from the US. I also found some information about a nicely-designed Logitech case for the iPad, but was not able to order online. An email query redirected me to India: the regional distributor. A company needs to be pitching to me; not me chasing them round the world.

Case and Keyboard

Later in Siam Paragon I had a look around a number of the IT stores there, but none, including the iStudio (same concession as in Siam Discovery - Copperwired) had anything remotely suitable, so I decided to head home. However, on the same floor is another store, called .Life (dot Life) that carries a fair range of accessories. While looking at the iPad cases, an assistant picked up a whole rack of them and re-sited them in another part of the display. He saw my wide-eyed reaction and we both laughed, but right where he put the rack was the same iPad cover with a keyboard that I had seen earlier.

Its full name is the iPad Bluetooth Keyboard Folio BRK3500BC and right now it seems to be the only one in town.

I pulled it off the display and asked if I could look. The cover looked like leather or animal skin but with disarming honesty he suggested this might not be. There was a fairly strong chemical smell, perhaps from tanning or the black dye. The keyboard had a soft feel to it with rubberised keys. After a quick look, I thought that for the price (1796 baht) it might do the job.

At the cash desk, the young lady there asked if I would like to try it. I did not have the iPad with me, but she said immediately, "It will work with an iPhone too".

There was no fumbling here and the staff were properly trained. The device was turned on and she started the Bluetooth pairing process, reminding me that I needed to use Settings > General > Bluetooth. The iPhone recognised the device right away and she typed in the pairing number that was displayed on the phone. She was able to type English and Thai right away (I used Notes). On the credit card slip I later saw that this was also part of the Copperwired group: the same as the iStudio outlets in Siam and elsewhere.

The Case

The case is in three sections: a sleeve for the iPad; the keyboard and controls; and a flap with magnets to secure the case when closed. Despite what the young man in the shop suggested, I am reasonably certain the whole is made of animal skin because of the detailed stitching all round and which secures the keyboard. On the left side of the keyboard, however, the stitching was a little untidy (perhaps it was the gluing during assembly) and there was a slight gap by the keyboard. I examined this closely, but do not feel this is in danger of failing any time soon (if at all).

The iPad slides in (sideways) at the top of the case and is secured by a flap that tucks inside the sleeve. The fit is snug. All controls are fairly easy to access, although when I used the front-facing camera there was some vignetting round the image until I moved the iPad around a little. There was a clear image with the rear-facing camera. I closed the case a number of times and found that it needed the iPad to be adjusted slightly for the cover to be firmly shut. This was not a major problem.

At the bottom of the sleeve there is a small groove which matches a raised bar at the top of the keyboard. This is to raise the iPad for viewing in use. It does not slot in, but just rests on the bar at an angle of about 21 degrees (I used the iPhone app, A Level to measure this). This gave a reasonable viewing position.

Keyboard

A small switch beside the micro USB port turns power on and off. When turned on, the Bluetooth light also comes on initially to re-pair with a device, or to seek out a new one. It is (rightly) only possible to connect with one device at a time. When I tried to pair for a second time with the iPhone, the connection to the iPad was lost and had to be re-established. This was easily done each time. The device is also able to connect to Windows and Linux devices, according to printed information included. The MacBook Pro identified the keyboard but I could not pair as "the device does not have the necessary services".

The keyboard was covered with a rubberised material which gave good grip when pressing keys which are a little smaller and more closely spaced than those on my MacBook Pro. I also have wide fingers, so found myself making a number of errors when typing, but then I usually do make a few. Sometimes I missed the key, typed nothing or there was a double input. I did notice that after a little practice, when I tried the following morning, the accuracy had improved slightly, so I may need to try some more and sit up, instead of my usual slouch. I am not a professional typist.

As well as the normal QWERTY keys, which were all dual-marked with Thai characters, there were 12 Function keys, as well as Fn, Control, Option and Command keys. Not all function keys worked: F6 took me to the Search screen; F7, F8, F9 controlled media; and F10, F11, F12 were for controlling speaker volume. As far as I can tell, none of the function keys worked with the Fn key.

To the right of the Function keys was a Del/Insert key and beside that a Home button. When pressed once, the Home screen was shown, when pressed again, the Search screen. Pressing again took me back to the Home screen again. However, when pressed twice the recently-used apps were displayed.

I could find no way of navigating to the other (11) screens using the keyboard. This meant that I needed to lean forward and scroll the screen by hand, which I also had to do when working in apps as certain features were not available via keys. This gave me a limited proof of what Steve Jobs had said a while back concerning touch screen experiments with an iMac: it does not work as well on a screen that is near-vertical as when it is flat. In class and for presentations, I expect I will be sliding the iPad out of the case and holding it in my hands as usual, especially for presentations.

Applications

Most of the apps that work in portrait and landscape modes worked well, and I found an added bonus in the use of Command + C, V and X, to Copy, Paste and Cut. That was useful when it came to the one recalcitrant app that I tried, Documents to Go, but this also declines to accept input from the virtual keyboard at times on my iPad. That was the sole app that gave me any problem, apart from the above (portrait mode).

With the iPad displayed 20 degrees from the vertical and the screen a few inches from the keyboard, I kept finding myself reaching for a trackpad that wasn't there.

Comments

While this Neolution keyboard/case is a solution, I am not sure if it is the solution. I hark back to the first sight we had of the device when Steve Jobs, Scott Forestall and Phil Schiller together all made a clear statement about the device by running demonstrations while seated on a comfortable chair. Like the original "no apps" approach on the iPhone, however, the market has applied some control on the way the device has developed and is now used.

I am inclined to think I will use the iPad as a touch device still, but give myself the luxury of keyboard input for the occasional times it may be needed. Trying to make the iPad into a computer is -- as Tim Cook said at the recent Apple Q2 financial report -- going to create a compromise: typing may become easier, but the essence of the touch device is reduced.

I wonder if I can pair that Magic Trackpad too?

Notes

1. While trying to find out the weight of the Apple Wireless Keyboard, I found a look at the iPad dated 30 May 2010, from Charlie Stross, with some comments on use of keyboard (pre-clamcase).

2. The image at the head of the page and that of the Apple Wireless Keyboard are both courtesy of Apple.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.