Electric Lawyer

The iKeyboard: a quick review

The iKeyboard just arrived. Before reading further, just click on the hyperlink in the last sentence and take a quick look at it.

The keyboard sticks on over the iPad's virtual keyboard. It has raised squishy plastic keys that give you tactile feedback. You won't be able to type as fast as on an Apple Bluetooth keyboard paired to your iPad, but quite a bit faster than on the virtual keyboard. One advantage over the virtual keyboard is that you can rest your fingers on the keyboard, so touch typing is actually possible. Another advantage is that it needs no pairing or batteries. I find pairing the Bluetooth keyboard can sometimes be tricky and time consuming. The iKeyboard is ready to go.

I would say that if you are planning to take a semester's worth of notes, get the Bluetooth keyboard, and maybe the Origami case. But if you want a keyboard you can tuck into the Apple Smart Cover (the cover will still close) and practically forget about, this is your weapon of choice.

 

Me and Steve Jobs

No, Steve Jobs did not know me. Yet he became a part of my life.

I started computing on an Apple II. By 1980 I was writing reviews for The Book of Apple Software. Not that it paid anything, but I was allowed to keep the programs, and that was enough. I designed my first database on it. I learned to program on it (ok, BASIC, but still). I spent hours and hours exploring it.

Then I drifted into the world of PC's. I thought I had to, for work. I eventually left the job and worked for myself. I could have any computer I wanted, but somehow still stuck with PC's. Old habits die hard.

One day, about 25 years after that first Apple, our son came to dinner bringing his iPhone. He had to pry it out of my hands before he could leave. The next day I found myself driving down to the Apple Store for my own iPhone. Two weeks later it was a MacBook. A month after that it was an iMac.

Now I have an iPhone 4, an iPad 2, an iMac, an Apple TV, and three Mac Minis. And I've never been happier with my machines.

All this was due to Steve Jobs. He was a genius. He died far too young. But his legacy lives on. 

Yes, Steve, I'll be there on October 12 buying the iPhone 4S. I think the S stands for Steve.