Why Does Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Tim Cook Prefer the Virtual Keyboard?

Yesterday, we discussed some of the key pieces of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook’s interview with Brian Williams on NBC’s Rock Center. The most important things we learned were: (1) Cook and Apple supposedly have “intense interest” in the television, and (2) some iMac production will move to the United States in 2013.

In the interview, Cook also touched on a few lighter topics, most notably his personal usage of Apple’s technology. When asked about the virtual keyboard, Cook had this to say:

“I think if you stick with it a little while, you get quite good at it, and the autocorrection is quite good. So, I ditched physical keyboards; 80 percent of my time is spent on iPad, in terms of authoring emails and working on things, and I still spend time on the Mac, and of course I’ve got this [iPhone 5] with me all the time.”

Due to the fact that the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO says he gets “hundreds, and some days thousands of emails from customers,” adding that he tries to answer a fair amount of those emails, it’s interesting to note that he prefers to use the iPad for the majority of this time. In many consumers’ minds, the benefit of having an Apple laptop over a tablet is its physical keyboard.

Combining a physical keyboard with a tablet is an angle that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) tried to tackle with its Surface, but it appears that Cook is attempting to convey the message that it’s okay to do day-to-day typing on its virtual counterpart. Let us know your thoughts on the debate between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s physical and virtual keyboards in the comments section below.