Input Device #1
Written on July 29, 2010 by Katherine W. Prawl
I’m typing this post on my iPad using my new Apple Wireless Keyboard. It is a much better experience than trying to use the on-screen iPad virtual keyboard for more than a few characters at a time.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not complaining about the great portability provided by the inclusion of the virtual keyboard in my favorite device. But for doing serious input when I’m not out and about, a real physical keyboard can’t be beat.
So, why did I name this post “Input Device #1″? Next week I’m expecting delivery of device #2 — Apple’s new Magic Trackpad. Yes, I’ll write about it then.
Both these gadgets connect to their host device(s) using Bluetooth. Yes, I tried out the keyboard on my desktop computer, too, where it also works beautifully. In fact, I bought the thing in the first place to replace the USB keyboard that is worn out. This time I didn’t wear the letters off the keys (which I have done on older keyboards), but the USB cable where it enters the keyboard had frayed and finally won’t make a reliable connection. This is the second Apple USB keyboard I’ve had experience this failure, so I decided to try again with the wireless version. I’d had a wireless Apple keyboard a number of years ago, but wasn’t happy with the fact that the Bluetooth signal dropped frequently. Now, after a number of OS updates, that problem has been addressed, so we’ll see how well it works. I think it will be better now, based on other recent Bluetooth experience I’ve had, connecting the iPad to both my desktop (iMac) computer and my iPhone. Crossing my fingers!
Meanwhile, here’s how I paired the keyboard with the iPad. First I pressed the power button on the right end of the keyboard’s cylindrical battery compartment. This makes the indicator light flash. That’s a tiny green LED on the upper right of the keyboard, that otherwise is almost invisible. Then, I opened the Settings app on the iPad, selected General and Bluetooth, where a button appears that said “Keyboard – Not Connected”. I clicked that button, and a message apppeared instructing me to type a string of numbers, followed by the Return key. I did that, and the button changed to “Keyboard – Connected” and I was done.
Interestingly, when the Wireless keyboard is paired with the iPad, the virtual keyboard doesn’t pop up on the screen when I tap in an input field. Instead, the wireless keyboard becomes the only way to enter text while it is paired. That is good in a way, since the virtual keyboard can take up a lot of screen real estate, but if the keyboard isn’t handy, but is still within range (33 feet, or about 10 meters), it would make it awkward to try to use the iPad. A simple solution is to go back to Settings and unpair the keyboard, but that is an extra step. Maybe future apps will provide a screen button to do that, but unless the wireless keyboard sees very broad adoption I doubt that will happen. It’s up to app developers to implement such a feature, and it would require a lot of user demand to push them to add it.
Ultimately, in spite of the hypothetical inconvenience of having to unpair when I want to use the virtual keyboard on the iPad, I am very happy with the wireless keyboard, on both the iPad and iMac.
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