Anyone else not too bothered about fully touchscreen handsets?

[MobileDevDude]

Originally Posted by os2baba

As far as I'm concerned, no physical keyboard - No sale.

Yeah, I hate touchscreen-only devices, and so far, that seems to be the options we have.

I currently have a touchscreen-only Motorola and it's awful. I need to be motionless, use two hands and full concentration to type on it, and it's inaccurate and extremely slow. It's a major step backwards from the good old interface called "buttons". It's also a safety issue. In a stressful situation, how long would it take me to dial 911 on the thing? I was riding along in a car as a passenger, on a freeway that was slightly bumpy, and that's all it took for the Motorola's handwriting recognition to shift from being "slow and inaccurate" to being "non-usable". That sucks. Mobile phones of 20 years ago at least were usable while in a moving vehicle.

It's an awful design idea.

Despite all the other wonderful things cellphones do today, the fundamental use of them is making phone calls. Old style phones (the kind with buttons) could do that very easily: dial the number and press "call". On my Motorola, I need to get out the stylus, navigate over to the "dial" screen, and clumsily dial my number in (usually making mistakes). It's insane. The second fundamental use of a cellphone today is in sending SMS, and again, it's a major chore without real buttons. Anyone with any kind keyboard (numeric or qwerty) can out-type anyone on a touchscreen.

Clamshell phones with keyboards may be old-fashioned but they are still ahead of all other designs because you open the phone, dial, and hit "call". Candybar phones still require an unlock key and have a tendency to dial in your pocket or bag. The iPhone requires some unlock screen drag, and probably should be carried in a case to prevent scratches.

The clamshell with a keyboard is what's most functional. It doesn't look as good but it's most functional, and it annoys me that no one is making an Android phone in this form factor. How hard could it be?

[MetalMilitia]

I've got a Samsung Impression on AT&T. It's a pretty good phone but it doesn't have android and has one HUGE fatal flaw. Probably 1/10 times when I'm trying to send a text message it won't send and I have to turn it off and back on again.
The good things about this phone-AMOLED screen, touchscreen, and the PERFECT keyboard. The buttons are a great size for my hands. It also has an onscreen qwerty keyboard that comes up when you're texting and tilt the phone landscape mode without sliding it open. THE ONSCREEN KEYBOARD SUCKS!!! It's the biggest waste of space on any cell phone ever. Both of my brothers have full touchscreen phones. I probably type around twice as fast as them and I know I've got a lot less mistakes. I'm sick of phone companies having a great idea like the G1 and then taking off the physical QWERTY just to make it a few millimeters slimmer if even that much. My Samsung Impression has almost gotten to the point of being useless with how much it messes up and I would love to have an Android phone but I REFUSE to buy a cell phone without a physical keyboard. If i wanted an all touchscreen phone with software like Android I would buy the GodDamn iPhone. That's where everybody's going to go if Android's hardware manufacturers don't get off there lazy asses and give us what we really want.

[socperezjr]

Surprised by all the responses! I'm all for touchscreen-only keyboards. For a slimmer phone, I'd take touchscreen in a heartbeat. Loving my new myTouch and the touchscreen keyboard is working super well for me!

[GlassDeviant]

I can go either way, sometimes the keyboard on my iTouch, even in landscape mode, is inaccurate. The feel of the buttons under your fingers just can't be equalled for increasing thumb-typing accuracy. I've even used one of those virtual keyboards and the lack of tactile feedback is unsatisfactory (but then, I like a keyboard that uses proper keyswitches and can drive wives, kids and dogs right out of the house).

For other purposes, the touch screen is quite good, and the accelerometer gives you a whole new way to interact (and not just with games). I have some UI ideas I want to try out on an Android to see if they will work and be as fun to use as I think they will be.