The best part of the iPhone will be the most controversial.  Where is the keyboard?  Other devices have tried the soft-keyboard approach.  For those of us old enough to remember, the first one of note was the Apple Newton.  

Same hype, same paradigm shift.  The Newton left a big crater when it crashed, one that created “shock and awe” throughout a generation of devices. 

Next came the Palm.  The first successful soft-keyboard device for data.  This worked because the keyboard was still present – it was your PC.  The Palm succeeds because it was a remote data representation of data normally stored on your PC. 

When the Palm morphed into a wireless device – The Treo – it got a keyboard.  Why?  Because it now was a generator of data – not just “read-only.”  The Treo sends and receives e-mail and text messages, and therefore needs a keyboard.  

Now we are back to the Iphone.  No keyboard, but packed with connectivity, GSM with GPRS and Wifi.  As a phone, its owners will have a need to text and send e-mail.  Will the soft keyboard work for them?  I have serious doubts in this regard.  For those of us with larger fingers, or for those who have trouble with a Treo-sized keyboard, the idea of using a touchscreen keyboard for texts and e-mails seems daunting.

Prediction:  The next generation of iPhone will have a real keyboard.

Some more on the iPhone in my next iPhone installment.