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IBM wants to create better touchscreen apps so it can sell more Big Data analytics software, and it turned to Apple to get some iPad tablet love. Nice. I get that -- but plenty of business users need to type, too, in more than 140-character blips. If Microsoft can make a decent keyboard cover, you would think Apple could, right? Is Apple willing to address the most obvious weakness of the iPad?

 keep wondering when Apple is going to hear the alarm and respond to the real iPad keyboard wakeup call. Apple can point to touch-based apps all it wants -- even going so far as to partner with IBM to help the company deliver better enterprise mobile apps -- but the fact remains: Some people just want to type on their damn iPad, and Apple's touchscreen solutions suck.

I also keep hoping that Apple will turn its design acumen and considerable tech and manufacturing resources toward building a real, physical keyboard specifically for use with iPads. It could be a case or it could be a cover like the one that Microsoft manufactures for its Surface Pro 3.

It needs to be thin, light, and integrated. The current Bluetooth keyboard that you can pair with an iPad? The keys are fantastic, of course, but it's clunky and doesn't really connect seamlessly to the iPad in any physical way, much less make sense for travel.

A real physical keyboard is the design challenge that Apple needs to throw a bit of time and effort at -- and just complete the job.

Why Not 3rd-Party Keyboards?

The world is littered with dozens of keyboard/case/cover solutions for the iPad, manufactured by third-parties. Some of these are good, many have flaws, and most don't have a particularly great balance of quality and cost. Which one should a consumer buy?

There are so many different choices, some with cramped and mushy keys, some that force your iPad into a clunky laptop form factor, and some that just cost too much. A consumer in this space has choices -- but really, I think a good many consumers end up getting that deer-in-the-headlights look of frozen confusion. So they don't act at all.

Enter Schools

I'm wondering if Apple is paying attention to what's going on in schools these days. While it has sold 13 million iPads to education customers globally -- and while the iPad is the tablet of choice in 85 percent of school districts in the United States, at least a handful of schools seem to be rethinking their iPad investments.

In fact, some schools are selling their iPads and ditching their tablet programs in favor of Chromebooks, according to a reasonably researched piece in The Atlantic.

Chromebooks are essentially very low-cost laptops that run only when connected to the Internet, with access to files and apps from the cloud.

Why the switch? Mostly, it seems, because sometimes students have to work -- to write, to type. You can build all the pretty Keynote presentations you want, and swipe through narrated content about lemurs in Madagascar, but kids ultimately are going to need to write essays and reports -- and yes, blog. Even for super adaptable kids, typing on a real physical keyboard is easier and more efficient.