How fast could people text message (or compose short, simple e-mails) with an adaptation of that scrolling search thing Apple introduced Tuesday? Where you scroll to the letter you want, push the center/enter button on the wheel, proceed on, etc.
I'm pretty sure I could do that a bit faster than trying to enter a new phone/friend entry on my cell phone with the standard, numeric keypad way.
Maybe THAT is at the heart of their phone? When you go to phone/messaging mode, a little array of letters and numbers - almost like a little mini keyboard layout - pops up on the display (as on the new iPods) and you scroll to your choice, enter, scroll, enter, etc.
Or is that too weird?
I'd rather do THAT than the present way...
You could use the same method to easily enter numbers and names into your address book/call catalog?
These days I find myself manually dialing only 1-2 numbers (my Mom and my best friend). But everyone else (friends, co-workers, family, various businesses, etc.) I dial them based on their name and icon (cell, home, work, etc.) and don't even input their phone numbers manually.
What if the scroll wheel, based on what mode you were in (iTunes/music, photo viewing, picture-taking, messaging/e-mailing, phone calling, etc.) behaved a bit differently and somehow controlled all the above actions, with some related, onscreen assistance/graphics to work with it and help clarify/simplify the process as well?
What about this: you DO want to manually dial a phone number...you go to "phone" mode or whatever, and a round, circular representation of numbers appears on screen - uh, pretty much like an old-fashioned rotary phone? - and as you scroll your wheel around, the numbers you're "on" light up or turn a different color. When you land on the one you want, you press the center/enter button?
A few days of practice and use and anyone could be dialing numbers manually fairly quickly this way, IMO.