Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 (and friend)

“Thin is in” proclaims yesterday’s press release from Microsoft. Who among us hasn’t thought to themself, “Does my keyboard look fat?” Well, lament no longer, gadget anorexics! We present the cure for what ails ya; the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000!

Speaketh the PR:

With mobile PCs getting more compact, the Microsoft Hardware team created the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 to address consumers’ need for comfortable and portable computing accessories.

Microsoft Hardware’s Industrial Design team designed the keyboard so it doesn’t sacrifice style, while creating a compact, clean and refined product, offering ultimate comfort with Microsoft’s Comfort Curve layout. The keyboard also features a portable Bluetooth Number Pad that helps people stay productive wherever they work.

So, not having actually handled one, I cannot definitively declare this to be silly. But I am prepared to conditionally declare this to be silly.

The bluetooth component is great, and maybe the number pad has some stand-alone utility, but I don’t really see it appealing to the mobile worker who is concerned about the size of their keyboard. If you have big paws, like me, you probably already have a laptop with a big keyboard, so a seperate keyboard isn’t necessary. Or if you are already size-concious, looking to keep your travelling-laptop-show as small as possible, and while you might enjoy a seperate laptop, you aren’t willing to strap it to the outside of your minimalist laptop bag/sheath.

And, for the select few who don’t fit into those two categories, the $135 price tag (combined; $90 for the keyboard, $45 for the numberpad) will have even the most adventerous hotspotter among us pulling the ripchord on this gadget.

If I am going to spend $100-150 on a keyboard, it is going to be some super-sweet space-age laser keyboard like this.

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