The physical keyboard has been with us since the very beginning… that is, since the beginning of computers. The mouse also arrived soon after. The word computer has the instant connotation of the keyboard and mouse of which people are simply lost without them. But with recent breakthroughs in interfaces such as Multi-Touch and Voice Recognition; are these pieces of iconic equipment here to stay?

Microsoft aims to get it’s Microsoft Surface into many consumer’s homes within the next five or ten years; with no keyboard and mouse. Apple is aiming at 10 million iPhones to be sold by the end of next year - again, no keyboard on the device. So looking down the road there doesn’t seem to be any sign of our faithful tools. But that’s only if they don’t fail. After all, it’s only Microsoft’s and Apple’s hopes for these technologies to enter the consumers’ homes and it’s not a definite win yet.

Personally, I use the keyboard all the time and , on a laptop, it can’t be subsituted for an on-screen one. I don’t really mind, in fact, I prefer the keyboard to a physical one on devcies like the iTouch and the iPhone but for my main computer, physical is here to stay.

So… what about the mouse? I really don’t think there is any subsitute quite like it in my opinion. It’s accurate, elegant and simple. However, saying that; they’re not here to stay as they are. There getting better. Take the Logitech MX Revolution for example. It doesn’t exactly look like your everyday bog-standard mouse, but it is. It’s more egonmic, much more customizable and doesn’t look half bad either.

So, in conclusion, I reckon that both the keyboard and the mouse are here to stay. There may be other devices such as the portable phones, media players that begin to take much more innovative approach to their produts, but in terms of your everyday laptop or desktop - it aint changing all that much.

Disagree? Have you seen some totally new, cool and innovative approach to the input interface that completely counter-argues my whole post? Let me and other readers know in the comments!