Dear Typo, if you're going to link to my review of your keyboard, please link to the original and not an edited version

Oh Typo, how you push my buttons. When it comes to the Typo Keyboard for iPhone, I've actually been 100% impartial in the matter. I've praised the Typo keyboard — a thing many BlackBerry users think is wrong of me to do — for being a good product, if what you're looking for is a BlackBerry-like typing experience on an iPhone. I've also expressed my mind repeatedly on how much I think the Typo keyboard looks like it was built by BlackBerry, I'm sure much to Typo's chagrin.

My modus operandi here is straight forward - let the lawyers sort it out. If BlackBerry wins (which as of today it's looking like that will happen), then see ya Typo, it was fun while it lasted. And if Typo wins, well, you know me — if I like it I like it — period. And in the case of Typo, I do like the product. Heck, I'd be happy to sell them in our iMore store or do some affiliate stuff with them. Clearly there is at least *some* demand for the product, and I like to help give mobile phone users what they want.

What doesn't make me happy though is when somebody takes my content, edits it to their benefit and re-uploads for use in marketing. That's absolutely not cool (and not legal), but that's what Typo just did with their recent mailer that went out, which you can see below.

It was VERY nice of Typo to put me as the first quote in their mailer, even in front of the venerable Walt Mossberg. What I don't approve is the link in their mailer which says Watch review HERE. Instead of linking back to CrackBerry's Typo blog posts or directly to our video on our YouTube channel, it links back to Typo's YouTube channel, where you can watch me review and say good things about the Typo keyboard.

However, Typo chose to edit down their version of this video, taking out two minutes of content. Their new version is quite compelling for Typo. A little less so than the original I put together which offered more balance and contained my man on the street interview where I asked passersby at CES what they thought about the look of the Typo keyboard. Not cool.

One of my old business mentors used to joke and say "If you're not getting letters from lawyers, you're not doing everything you can to grow your business." So while I can and will report the copyright violation on the edited and re-uploaded youtube video if it's not removed shortly, I thought first I would ask nicely here and give the heads up so they're not surprised when the request comes through.

 

​Typo's Mailer That Went out to Subscribers

Typo's Edited Version of My Review Video

CrackBerry's Original Version

 

Mailer image courtesy of Typo