I had a chance to sit down with Mark at Waytools to discuss the TextBlade last weekend. Wow. I am totally in awe.

First let’s get some easy things out of the way:

I saw lots of TextBlades. I used one. Definitely not vaporware.

I didn’t ask when more orders would be shipped out. (I had no idea there updates about shipments on the site the day before my visit)

I didn’t ask if I could have mine early. (That was H.A.R.D.)

I am still waiting on my order. I am not a TREG tester.

We started by looking at the packaging, both the “retail” box it will come in, and also how it will be shipped out. Immediately, the attention to detail, perfectionist engineering, and environmental consideration were clear. They’ve managed to put together a small and lightweight package that will protect the device in transit AND look good when it arrives. Plus every part of the package was recyclable. Mostly some kind of paperboard and a little steel. The “retail” packaging definitely looked as good as anything Apple has done, although Apple’s retail packages are generally much more sparsely covered. Every component of finished packaging is environmentally friendly.

With the shipping envelope, it wasn’t much larger and actually made the shipping box Apple used for the new Apple pencil look comical. Mark said you could stand on the shipped envelope without damaging the TextBlade inside. In the shipped product, you won’t find any plastic, packing peanuts, or air pouches, to help junk up a landfill… It’s good for the environment, and keeps shipping rates down too. Win win. I have no doubt my TextBlade will arrive in perfect condition. Apple could learn a few things from Waytools in this regard.

Next we looked at the components of the butterfly mechanism. Mark said what it was made out of and I’m pretty sure I heard silicon and glass fibers as parts of the list, but don’t recall the rest of that list. The butterfly “wings” could be twisted and torqued with no effect. This was obviously not some cheap plastic. In my non-expert opinion, I bet it lasts far longer than most of keyboards available today with their cheap plastic innards. The videos on their website do a good job of demonstrating how the butterfly mechanism works, and how important that is for the right key feel. If you haven’t seen the videos, definitely browse through the WayTools site and check them out! If you’ve tried the new Macbook keyboards with the 1mm key travel, you will understand how much better the 2mm key travel on the TextBlade feels.

After looking at the innards of the devices, we got to try out a real unit. In the nano stand, it seemed very solid. It slides out easily when you wanted it, but didn’t seem like it would come apart in your pocket. Everything about it was intuitive. Pull the blades out, orient them in the right way, and the magnets connect it all together. I did get the space blade upside down at first, but suspect I’d learn better within a few times of using it.

Size wise, it felt comfortable for my hands. The keys were wide enough that it just felt right, yet I didn’t have to move my hands much to actually type on it. This is going to be a big hit for anyone with carpel tunnel. Compared to all kinds of other mobile keyboards, it’s obvious that the size of the keys will be great. Mark even quoted some stats about the first type writers, so it’s clear they dug deep in their research and planning to get it just right.

I didn’t get to spend much time typing with the demo TextBlade, so I have no idea how fast I could type or how quickly I’ll get up to speed, but it doesn’t seem like there would be too much of a learning curve for A-Z. Getting used to the modifier keys and different text layers may take a bit more time, but I won’t really know that until I have one of my own. I’ve seen several posts on the forums about customizing your key maps, so I expect it won’t be bad at all. Plus the app will be useful for getting up to speed and tweaking settings.

The jump feature seamlessly switched between an iPad Pro and iPhone. It took no more than a second before the other device switched to or from the bluetooth keyboard mode. This is a stark contrast to my current Bluetooth keyboard which takes around 10 seconds when you hit the button to change to a different device… and it only supported 3 different devices! I really think the jumps will really take this from a useful keyboard for your iPhone, to a keyboard you can setup at your desk and easily switch between your computer, phone, and tablet. Working from an iPad Pro suddenly seems feasible. Heck, working from an iPhone doesn’t seem too bad either.

The last thing we had time to do was check out the software. Even this had great attention to detail. There was a button to transmit a log to WayTools if you found something misbehaving. I’m not sure this will be in the production release, but Mark did say it only tracks a two minute rolling window, and that it requires multiple confirmations before anything is sent. I could clearly see the text it was transmitting too, so you won’t risk sending a password or credit card number. The app has options to configure the device, type in a sandbox, adjust key mappings (both manually and with predefined layouts.) I even saw some useful looking debug tools which I doubt will be available to the general public at release time.

There are a few questions that occurred to me several hours after I left:

The TextBlade uses a lot of magnets. I wonder if it will erase the mag stripe on any credit cards if I put it in my pocket with my wallet. WayTools has thought of enough already that I sort of doubt this will be an issue, but I’m still curious. I use a laptop on my lap a lot. I don’t get the impression that I can set the TextBlade on one leg and have a a good typing experience. I wonder if I can put it in a metal clipboard, expect the magnets to hold it in place, and use it without issues. This isn’t as ideal as having a desk, but may be a good choice in the car… where I find myself working a LOT.

Walking away, a few things were super apparent to me:

WayTools has really thought everything through. They are paying attention to every minute detail. They have engineered better solutions for even the smallest of components or problems. Their passion for quality and producing a great product cannot be questioned. I highly doubt we will be getting a beta level product where they have already have known issues needing a patch at release time. I have no idea if new issues will crop up after release, but I am sure they are working very hard eliminate any problems before releasing. I’m talking Apple level perfection (back when Apple used to be less buggy and offer a better user experience) Their passion for the environment is clear too. They didn’t have to design environmentally friendly packages, but they did. And they managed to have it make financial sense too.

I don’t think I learned anything new today. Everything I got a chance to see and try out with was already known from the forums and/or the website. But Mark’s passion for total perfection and being environmentally friendly really helped me to understand what they are doing and why it is taking the time it’s taking. I’m sold. Seeing it all in person was just icing on the cake.

I’ll close with this. We all had to get going. I watch Mark slide his TextBlade into his pocket. I was more than a little jealous about that.

Soon!

(Typed on a boring, old, regular, macbook pro keyboard)