The press seems to be infatuated lately that the keyboard on the iPhone isn’t as good as other smart phones like, say, a BlackBerry. This obsession comes mainly from the fact that the press is desperately looking for something negative to say about the iPhone, and really this is t

he only thing they can come up with (and the fact that you may not be able to change the battery without taking it to the store).

Want to get your mind blown? The virtual keyboard isn’t as good as a real keyboard. Want to know something else? It doesn’t matter! This is the real element that many reporters and financial analysts (and ) can’t seem to get right: Apple’s target audience for the iPhone is not the same set of people who have smart phones.

Here are some of the people Apple is targeting:
People who carry around separate iPods and [regular] cell phones.
People who want to listen to music on their phone, but don’t want to deal with terrible software
People who want to watch TV or Movies while they travel

Will these customers be impaired if their ipod is not a great word processor? Of course not. The argument of whether or not to include a physical keyboard is nothing new. The flip side of the argument is, “you know, with a regular keyboard, your BlackBerry can’t show video that well,” but you don’t hear people saying that. That’s because smart phones are established, and the iPhone isn’t. I think we’ll see that change in the next few weeks, though.


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