iPhone’s keyboard is “2x slower” than “other phones”

It seems that a survey company, namely one conducted by Chicago-based consulting firm User Centric, seems to indicate the following: The iPhone’s keyboard is slower than your average phone keypad. How much slower? Roughly 2x as slow, taking study participants almost twice as long to compose messages than it did on other QWERTY-equipped handsets. Okay…we’re willing to entertain the idea, but there are a couple of glaring issues here that bear exploration. First off, the study participants were not iPhone users. They were all given an iPhone, and asked to type 6 messages. 6? That’s assuming one heck of a quick learning curve, as it took me way more than 6 emails to get used to the new keyboard layout on my BlackBerry 8800, let alone an unorthodox design such as the iPhone’s touch-screen. Second, the study explored the habits of just 20 participants, hardly enough to establish the groundwork for such a sweeping accusation. The iPhone’s keyboard is a different beast, and it’s fair to say that some people are having issues with it, but twisting statistics to create a sensational headline is a bit ridiculous if you ask us…that said, in an attempt to counteract the points levied in this study, we did a little “study” of our own. The results: The Boy Genius can type faster on his iPhone than anyone. Anywhere. Anytime. Do I smell a challenge here? Bring on the iPhone-typing YouTube videos!

Read