5 Thought-Provoking Keyboard Questions
1. Do you think Apple will ever use the new font they're using on Apple portables on desktop and wireless keyboards?
2. Will wired keyboards for desktops ever adopt the backlit type of technology found in the top-end PowerBooks?
3. Do you think Apple will improve the iBook's keyboard in the next major rev?
4. Will Apple ever make a keyboard for the G5 that matches the G5's styling?
5. How far away are we from reliably using speech instead of using a keyboard?
2. Will wired keyboards for desktops ever adopt the backlit type of technology found in the top-end PowerBooks?
3. Do you think Apple will improve the iBook's keyboard in the next major rev?
4. Will Apple ever make a keyboard for the G5 that matches the G5's styling?
5. How far away are we from reliably using speech instead of using a keyboard?
Comments
2. I wish/hope. That would be a nice feature to many.
3. I do. I think the iBook will become a "bottom-loader" in terms of RAM and AirPort Card.
4. Probably not. Probably stick with this white thing for a while. Although, if new aluminum-based displays come out, who knows what they'll change?
5. Probably 5 or more years, just guessing. I don't know enough to give a truly smart answer about that sort of stuff. I feel strongly about 2,3 and 4 above, however.
Originally posted by DHagan4755
5. How far away are we from reliably using speech instead of using a keyboard?
If you want to train a computer to your voice alone using a small set of commands (so-called speaker-dependent speech recognition), you can pretty much do it today for limited applications. However, you'll need to spend considerable time training and tuning your system and you'll definitely need to wear a headset with a quality microphone.
If you want to be able to sit down at any computer and immediately be able to interact conversationally using a variety of applications in an environment with typical ambient noise, you're probably looking at 10 years from now or beyond. Currently, such a system would use most of the CPU and memory for speech processing, leaving pretty much nothing for getting any work done.
(As you can tell from my nym, I've done a lot of work with voice applications.)
Obligatory semi-humorous voice-activated computer joke: It's the year 2015 and an airliner has just reached cruising altitude. The passengers are busy on their laptops using speaker-independent voice recognition when the captain comes on the PA system: "Ladies and gentlemen, we're expecting a terrific flight today. You'll be able to see to the horizon in any direction because it's CLEAR, CLEAR, CLEAR!"
Speech technology is important, useful and cool, in many situations. However it is not and possibly will never be used in any singificant way to completely control computers.
For one, talking all day is very tiresome, ask any tech support or sales person. It physically hurts after a short time. Socially, it is awkward and annoying to both user and bystanders.
If you are in close proximity to other people and conversing with them, or if they are loud, or if you are talking on the phone, or swearing at your computer, or singing a song, or playing music loudly or if you are in public or in a quiet setting such as a library or even in a loud environment such as a concert or club....and many other situations, you will not want/be able to use voice recognition to control you Mac. Talking to someone on speakerphone, nearby or down the hall. There are ways around this, like toggling listening on and off, true. And again, it has its uses. But it's really best when it merely augments other input methods.
Voice, mouse/trackball/trackpad/IBMnipple, joystick, drawing tablet, touch screen, eyeball motion, footswitches, pucks, keyboards, gamepads, brainwaves, etc...none are going to take over and supplant all the others as the only input method. They will all be available for the user to choose from and mix and match to their liking.
I've used it on my Macs since it first came out, and while it works well, often superbly, it also has failed to become anything but a show-off novelty, and not the workflow innovation it is dreamed to be.
Don't hold your breath for Star Trek-like comlete computer control. Or rather, although that technology might be available, even shortly, you might not want to use it as much as you think you will.
There are just too many reasons why you will need another form of input as the primary form, and not voice.
Another important problem with speech control is that the user has to recall the name of the command and then speak it. This is the same reason that commandline is deemed so hard to use. When scanning menus, people tend to merely look at the shape as a blur. Often they are merely mousing to where they know the item to be, not so much as remembering the exact name. Speaking and typing commands demands far more recall and mental effort than merely mousing.
I type differently than taught in schools. I keep my wrist straight so my hands are not parallel but at a 30 to 45 degree angle. As a result, my index fingers do not rest on the F and J keys. If I let my index fingers relax and drop down, they fall in the crack between the first and second row. The left one would fall between the F and V keys. Normally I keep the index fingers off the keyboard. My three outer fingers rest nicely on the A, S, D and K, L, colon keys, so a tactile bump on D and K is perfect.
Why do I type like this? My wrists never bother me. It is the same position my wrist and hands would use on an ergonomic keyboard.