The iPad Magic Keyboard
daringfireball.net
daringfireball.net
Instead we have this bizarre over-engineered solution that sounds awkward to use and looks pretty ugly. Compared to just opening a kickstand and flipping down a keyboard and still allows you to use your tablet as a tablet.
and for $300 they could have used some nicer material, it looks like the stuff a $10 "hardcase" generic carrying case would be made from.
I personally think this Magic Keyboard is a much better design than a kickstand to the iPad, and I think it looks great. Its reminiscent of the old 2nd Gen tear-drop-with-aluminum-arm iMac from the mid 2000s.
Its a different device category and target build quality, but my Nintendo Switch has a kickstand. It never works the way I want it to. I think on-device kickstands are tacky and liable to break, not to mention limited in function.
Honestly, try one on the Surface line outstanding engineering. At one point I'd have described it as "Apple quality" but now I honestly think that their industrial design team is surpassing Apple in more areas each year.
There is no truly good reason why the iPad doesn't have one.
To be fair, the Logitech Slim Combo Keyboard Folio is awful. In the first week, the left arrow key cap leapt off the keyboard over the right side and committed suicide. Furthermore, the keyboard doesn't always work on wake, so it negates its entire purpose for being. I took it off to gather dust somewhere and only use the kickstand back case, which pointlessly blocks the SIM tray that I use. (I'm going to Dremel it as soon as my Hazard Fraught order arrives.) I'd send it back, but I still need a case.
The Mac mini has:
- wired WASD V3 blank caps keyboard for voluminous typing
- Logitech MX Revolution (RF) in always free-scroll mode for conventional mousing (recently replaced battery, which is still made by third-parties)
- Wireless Keyboard for remote control
- Magic Trackpad 1 for multi gestures and remote control