GTA03 - buttons or touchscreen

[Stroller]

On 25 Oct 2008, at 17:39, JW wrote:
> vote and tell OM what you want for the next phone
>
> [also realise this is still a long time away and Freerunner is  
> available to buy
> now!]
>
> 1) touchscreen (no qwerty buttons) - freerunner, HTC Orbit, iphone
> 2) qwerty keyboard and tracker ball - blackberry curve
> 3) combination touchscreen plus qwerty - G1
>
> ***************************************
> Please don't write endless pages about why - just indicate which one  
> YOU want.
> ***************************************

Hi JW,

You're not posting from an @openmoko address, so does this vote have  
an actual benefit?

Do we get to influence the final design of the GTA03?
Or is this just an exercise in filling up our email boxes?

I apologise for asking this if I've failed to realise that you're  
famously Openmoko's hardware design manager.

I would personally vote for touchscreen just like the Freerunner, so  
that there is less risk of divergence in the input methods of  
important software whilst Openmoko-based software stacks are  
establishing themselves. Adding options for different input methods  
and dealing with the bugs that may introduce by supporting them is not  
beneficial at this time - once the stack is solid & stable, then they  
can be added.

(Actually, having looked at the other options, I would vote for  
touchscreen-only in any case. I might potentially find a trackball, d- 
pad or a couple extra programmable buttons useful, but I don't want  
space taken up by a keyboard that will be too small to use, anyway.  
Just maximise the screenspace!)

Stroller.