Quote:
Originally Posted by
matt_s 
Good point... what I would like to know is why I can't adjust the space between the keys on the virtual keyboard? I mean, it's a virtual keyboard, why is it so stultified? I have huge fingers and typing on those puny iPhone & iPad virtual keyboards are really difficult. I'm constantly hitting adjacent keys, nearly on every character. The software feedback from the strike on the key to the display of the character is still a bit slow but it's manageable, I think. And it will probably improve with time and iOS updates.
What the iPad & iPhone soft keyboard needs is the ability to provide a minor level of customization for each individual user. If I could increase the space between the keys, it would really help (even if that meant I had to delete a function key that rarely if ever gets used).
I agree with this! I have small hands, fat fingers... and a thick head

The user should be able to customize the kb size and spacing on a system-wide and on an application level.
Customization could include things like:
-- key size
-- key spacing
-- key content
-- key arrangement
-- split keyboards (great for thumb typing)
One thing that would be interesting to experiment with (on the iPad) would be:
-- rest the thumbs and fingers
rest on the keyboard (display) rather than
hover over the home row
-- home row would be defined by where the hands were resting (the iPad recognizes 11 concurrent touches)
-- by definition, the keyboard would fit your hands
-- typing would be an up-down motion rather that a down-up motion
-- or typing could be a slightly harder (larger area) press (down-up)
-- non-home row keys could be detected with a much smaller (faster) motion than with a conventional kb
an example of the latter: an up-down (or sliding) motion from the J key, directed slightly to the left and away from you (then returned to the J position) would be a key press of the U key -- similar towards you would be the N key.
The range of movement could be an adjustable setting and/or,
the keyboard could learn the way you type.
You could get to the point that very slight wiggles and slightly harder (bigger/longer) presses would allow very fast typing speeds with very little effort,
I suspect it would be a lot better for carpel tunnel and other physical complaints to have the fingers and palms resting on the surface.
So, the future of data entry may be as simple as just wiggling your fingers
