Apple wants to reinvent keyboards, making them even thinner

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  • Reply 61 of 73
    tjwaltjwal Posts: 404member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    I would like to try it but since you can't realistically tear apart your MBP keyboard and rearrange the keys, it is not practical to have one layout on your desktop machine and another on your notebook.



    Back in the MS-DOS days there were software packages that would reconfigure a standard keyboard to Dvorak. A simple TSR program would intercept the keystroke and resign it with a different code. You could either tape overlays to the keys to change the character or pop off the keys and move them around.
  • Reply 62 of 73
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjwal View Post


    Back in the MS-DOS days there were software packages that would reconfigure a standard keyboard to Dvorak. A simple TSR program would intercept the keystroke and resign it with a different code. You could either tape overlays to the keys to change the character or pop off the keys and move them around.



    That is what OS X does for you. You can choose any language or DVORAK form the system preference. Problem is that you will probably ruin your keyboard popping off the keys since modern keyboards are much more complicated engineering than the old days, and sticking tape over the keys is, well, tacky.
  • Reply 63 of 73
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    Actually no. Apple is NOT a patent troll simply because they patent their ideas that they don't intend to use. How is that, because they will license them if someone asks. And if someone uses it and didn't ask then they deserve to be sued. That isn't patent trolling at all.



    Patent trolls don't use their patents and don't license them but rather wait for someone to use it, gain heavy profit from it and then go 'oh we own that so all your base are ours, pay up'



    No matter how much patent research you do, it's possible to find someone who says they own it. Typically they would be notified first before something actually makes its way to court. Patents in general really need some kind of technology so that you can't just patent every idea that comes to mind that hasn't been claimed by someone else. Anyway you should really be less hateful toward them unless they're deliberately copying.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GuyR View Post


    Anything to reduce the keyboard imprint on the glossy MBP screens is a good thing. The Anti-glare screens being slightly recessed, don't seem to suffer from the same problem.



    My guess would be that we're nearing a point where the costs of a touch screen keyboard implementation are nearing feasibility. Of course they could also go the route of just thinner physical buttons as displayed here. I'm wondering what is considered ideal in terms of range of motion there. Would pressure based keys without any range of motion cause any kind of cramping or alleviate it? It would be an interesting product study. If a company like Apple wanted to create such a study, they obviously wouldn't do it themselves.
  • Reply 64 of 73
    I want a keyboard with ground in bogies and splashes of tea all over it. Oh hang on... I've already got one.
  • Reply 65 of 73
    Thinner keyboard to make thinner laptops would be nice, but also need thinner adaptor to go with it too. I love how easy it is to carry around my 11" MBA in its sleeve, but I hate having that big bulge coming from that brick of an adaptor!
  • Reply 66 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I wonder if alkali-aluminosilicate sheet glass would allow it to be thin and feel great to the touch. The letter could and allow light to shine through well. I only worry about the edge of the keys feeling right.







    I don't see that happening since it reduces usability when there is plenty of space for a keyboard. However, making an AMOLED display that would be black most of the time (use no power) and then have options for stock ticker, system info, notifications, slider controls for audio and video apps, an on screen number pad, or calculator would be great. No need for anything high def like on a phone. Dell as worked on a prototype for their Adamo line but you need a company that can work with HW the OS and create APIs to make it useful. That's Apple. That only Apple.



    Why complicate things? If you're going to turn the input device into a secondary screen only for widgets, why not just turn the primary screen into an input device and get rid of the trackpad all together? And while they're at it, get rid of the keyboard too...oh wait a minute, they've done that already...
  • Reply 67 of 73
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by capoeira4u View Post


    Why complicate things? If you're going to turn the input device into a secondary screen only for widgets, why not just turn the primary screen into an input device and get rid of the trackpad all together? And while they're at it, get rid of the keyboard too...oh wait a minute, they've done that already...



    1) Typing on a vertical screen with your arms outstretched is not making things easier.



    2) Typing long messages on a tactile-less virtual keyboard is not making things easier.
  • Reply 68 of 73
    This looks absolutely awesome! Also, if they find a way to make this quite sturdy think of how much thinner laptops could be (in the sense that they could still upgrade the internals because they could massively reduce the current thick keyboards).
  • Reply 69 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    Yes, for all but writing I think a glass multi-touch surface is superior. Maybe there will be some kind of overlay to give a better touch experience? though the idea of an overlay seems wrong.



    But I'm all for thinner. The travel on a new Apple keyboard almost seems excessive now that I also use the iPad a lot. Touch feed-back is nice but little is required to be enough. I'm favouring Kryptonite right now but my guess is that it would be a marketing own goal. People would just roll their eyes and put it down to ott marketing.



    Well if you're in the market for a minimalistic multi-touch glass keyboard, then you could always check out this guy who has just had his project successfully funded on KickStarter!



    ps. Sorry for the image size! Any pointers on how I resize it in vBulletin markup?



    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...oard-and-mouse





  • Reply 70 of 73
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by binex View Post


    Well if you're in the market for a minimalistic multi-touch glass keyboard, then you could always check out this guy who has just had his project successfully funded on KickStarter!




    It looks pretty cool. I read his description. He noted that it got a lot of interest in the medical community. I am guessing sanitary advantages over a more traditional keyboard design.
  • Reply 71 of 73
    z3r0z3r0 Posts: 238member
    They make horrible keyboards and mice.



    I can live with this though: http://netdna.webdesignerdepot.com/u...rokeyboard.jpg



    I hate the new thin aluminum ones.



    These feel right:



    http://gbennett.whsites.net/zencart/...cts/M2452b.jpg



    I hear this one is amazing (yet to try it):

    http://matias.ca/tactilepro/



    As for mice Microsoft makes great mice, followed by logitech. HATE all apple mice, this one was ok minus the mouse ball: http://7.mshcdn.com/wp-content/galle...575bddff_z.jpg





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post


    Apple already makes the worst keyboards on the market. Now

    they're doubling-down on bad. Sad.



  • Reply 72 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by z3r0 View Post


    I hear this one is amazing (yet to try it):



    Amazing in that it's the first and only keyboard capable of containing an entire meal's worth of crumbs at once.
  • Reply 73 of 73
    z3r0z3r0 Posts: 238member
    Here's an idea: Don't eat on your desk or over your keyboard....



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Amazing in that it's the first and only keyboard capable of containing an entire meal's worth of crumbs at once.



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