The Beauty of Simplicity – The Apple Wireless Keyboard

I got an unexpected check in the mail this weekend, so I decided to treat myself to a few little goodies. I haven’t yet purchased a case for my iPad, and I wanted something that I could take with me on business trips. My experiences with bags so far hasn’t been too hot, so I decided to go with old-reliable and get an incase Travel Kit Plus. I figured I’d just head down to the store and get the case plus a Wireless Keyboard, but after visits to two Apple stores and a Best Buy, I had nothing. Instead, I decided to order it directly from incase and go from there.

But I did come home with a new Wireless Keyboard, and I decided to try it out. A little backstory about me and keyboards: I used to love the Microsoft “natural” keyboards. I had one back in ’01 or maybe ’02, and then I’d take it with me from job to job. I had my old boss order one for me at my last job, and the company accidentally shipped us two. My boss sent me home the second one, and I then had one for my home, too.

When I bought my MacBook, I didn’t need a new keyboard, it was built in. When I bought my iMac, it came with an Apple wired keyboard, which I instantly fell in love with. I loved the short-throw keys, and I thought the design was sweet, and I loved the 10-key keypad on the side. When I got a new job at a local magazine, I was given an iMac, but it had the old-school thick keyboard that felt super thick to me. I went to the Apple store that afternoon, bought a wired keyboard, and used that thing until I left the job. In fact, it’s they keyboard that I’m hammering away on right now, and it’s plugged into my MacBook Pro.

But I’ve never owned the Apple Wireless Keyboard, mostly because I really like that 10 key. So when I got my hands on one yesterday, I sat in awe of it for a good few minutes. It’s essentially the same thing that I’ve been typing on for a few years now, but not only is it smaller, but the rolled edge is slightly different, too. On one end is the battery hole which can be accessed with a nickel, and on the other is the power button. I touched the power button on mine, not expecting it to fire up mostly because I wasn’t sure if it had batteries. A green light suddenly appeared on the silver face, then disappeared. On, then off. I was entranced by the disappearing nature of the little LED, so much so that it took me a minute or two to snap out of it.

Once I paired the keyboard with my iPad, I was ecstatic. Now I can blog, write, or do whatever on my iPad, and the smaller keyboard is so portable that I can throw it in my new case and not even worry about it. I love it.

Yes, Apple products are expensive. But when you take a moment to appreciate the details on the little things like the keyboard, you really can see where that extra money was spent. For me, it’s worth every penny.