I think the keyboard one uses (i.e. the one built into the laptop you work on or the one you attach to your machine at home or office) has a big effect on how you use your machine. I find that if I don't have access to my [personal] environment, I'm less likely to do the things I normally take time to go through. I buy a new keyboard every six months because I never feel comfortable with the one I'm using for longer than that. I'm always in search of that end-all-be-all device that brings me back to those memorable ThinkPad 770ED days. That was the first laptop I had that I loved to type on. (It was far from the first laptop I've ever had, but was the first for me where the pointing and typing devices were exactly what my hands called for. The tactile feedback, key size and location were all just right.) I wrote volumes with that machine and even though laptop keyboards have a tendency to be cramped, I really enjoyed using the 770. (In fact, there lies a completely dead shell of a 770ED on a shelf in my office - for posterity's sake.)
I happened to be at the Mayfair Mall Apple Store in Wauwatosa, WI (dropping off a new, but dead Mac Pro) and saw that they had the new Apple wireless keyboards (small, laptop-like, bluetooth devices). Other than the built in, back-lit keyboard on my MacBook Pro, I usually don't like Apple keyboards - and especially not their mice. I was drawn to the new keyboard, however, because of the size, and thought, “what the hell...” I have a $100 in-store credit for my “early adopter iPhone purchase” and wanted to see what it was like.
After opening up the packaging and registering the keyboard with my laptop, I started typing. Oh wow. Yeah... really... wow. It was like being transported back to the days of typing research papers on the 770. There are a few very basic characteristics I like about the wireless keyboard: tactile feedback, key size, key spacing and over-all layout/location of the keys. I can't tell you why the spacing works so well for me. I love the old IBM click! keyboards, which make this one look like a midget. While I comment that I like the over-all size, that is a bit misleading, because I like bigger keyboards, too. I think most heavy computer users would find it troublesome to explain what they like and don't like about their favorite keyboard, except when it comes to tactile feedback. The responsiveness of a key depression is the single most irritating factor in explaining why a keyboard sucks. I think I'm in the slight majority when I say: squishy keyboards suck. Perhaps I should come up with a better phrase than “suck,” but that word sums it up. They suck the life out of your hands when you type on them. This is a point where this keyboard (ironically) excels and beats my expectations. When you press a key, you know it. It isn't loud and doesn't yell HEY THERE! like the click! keyboards, but you know that you've typed a key after depressing it.
Of all wireless keyboards I've used over the past four or five years, this one has been the most responsive and easy to manage. When I sat down to write a short recommendation to buy the keyboard, I thought, how ridiculous... a review of a tiny, little keyboard from Apple? Then again, what is it that makes us like our work areas? I think many are like me; part of their desire and ability to get things done is having access to the tools they like using. So, since I spend the better part of my day working on one, why not. I've read lengthy reviews of pens and pencils, why not of a keyboard?
If you're on the fence and don't need number keys (I'm wondering if Apple will consider bringing out a bluetooth number keypad to match) - AND you sometimes like using laptop keyboards - I highly recommend you try this one. If you do go off my recommendation, I'd appreciate a note of what you think after actually using it. I've found this to actually make thinking about typing secondary to doing. That has a tendency to make life a little easier.
