Originally, the keys were offset to accommodate the linkages between the keys and levers in mechanical typewriters.
Yup. people would be amazed at how much typing is dominated by backwards compatibility with a machine that became obsolete more than 60 years ago.
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
[VIDEO]
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
Originally, the keys were offset to accommodate the linkages between the keys and levers in mechanical typewriters.
Yup. people would be amazed at how much typing is dominated by backwards compatibility with a machine that became obsolete more than 60 years ago.
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
Presumably, boffins will confidently assert that we will grow 26 fingers because evolution, innit.
Forget about the numeric keypad for a minute...just please make sure the new keyboard had all the keys on it first such as;
Delete
Home
End
Page Up
Page Down
Hash
PrtScrn
My keyboard has most of those. Function plus left=home, right=end, up=PageUp, down=PageDown. I can't understand the need for a hardware PrtScrn key. My VM software will emulate one for those rare occasions when I need one. And hash? If you mean '#' then I've yet to see a keyboard that doesn't have one of those somewhere, and I've used quite a few different international versions...
Where is my new force touch Magic Trackpad? Now, that is something that should be available for sale soon, and hopefully Apple is on top of things.
I agree, I have no doubt that by May of next year that the new trackpad will have landed on all Mac computers, (possibly excluding MacBook airs). I also expect an force touch Magic Mouse. It's very likely there trying keyboard and mouse at same time upgrade wise.
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
[VIDEO]
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
That's a pretty slick implementation. I've never played around with a chorded keyboard before, but if they could fold that into an app and put it on the store, I would definitely give it a try. I do think they need to optimize it a little; it seems to be laid out in semi alphabetical order rather than according to a statistical most-often-used ordering.
I would also like to see someone typing at full speed. I wonder how many WPM is realistically achievable on it.
I have one. It's very nice and the batteries can be charged a few thousand times (if I remember correctly.) It works for mouse, keyboard, and trackpad.
It's not cordless, as you desire, but it seems a much better solution since you never have to wait for charging,you can use regular AAAs if needed, and the rechargable batteries can be replaced more easily (than an internal battery) once they wear out.
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
I notice the demonstration shows a (presumably) expert user typing v e r y slowly. Plus it looks like three times the movement of a conventional keyboard to produce a single character. Then there's the fact that it is done all with one hand (RSI hell.)
I've seen much better solutions using similar (usually two-handed) chording ideas (and others,) but with better attention to real world issues.
Funny thing is . . . that damn QWERTY keyboard just will not die.
In Panama there are some PCs that have latin American keyboards. One notable difference is there is no @ sign for whatever reason. Seems crazy in this world of the email. Most people have the standard US keyboard though.
Puerto Rico is of course strongly influenced by anglo-American products, as I imagine Panama is too, to a lesser extent. Seems to me that I've seen Mexican and South American keyboard layouts that were a bit different from this one.
I saw a study exploring the inefficiency of the QWERTY keyboard for English. The Dvorak keyboard was much more efficient. QWERTY was no more efficient than random placement of the keys (after a period of training.) It shouldn't surprise us since early on, the QWERTY layout was specifically designed to slow typists down in order to prevent jamming of the type hammers in early mechanical typewriters!
"Multitap and T9 are slow, averaging 8 to 20 words per minute (wpm) for experts"
"Twiddler (chorded) users averaged 47wpm. One user averaged 67wpm. We examine the potential use of multi-character chords (e.g. pressing the g and h keys for to produce "ing ") to increase text entry speed (Thad has bursted up to 130wpm on certain phrases while testing the experimental software)."
"In our longitudinal study of mini-QWERTY keyboards, beginning users who are already expert at desktop keyboards type at approximately 30wpm. With practice, these typists average 60wpm. However, in the blind condition, our subjects peaked at 45wpm with much higher error rates than in the normal mini-QWERTY condition or in any of the blind Twiddler typing experiments."
They look like they're promoting Twiddler and results are going to be subjective. Tapping one key at a time on a standard keyboard doesn't have much of a learning curve.
How 'bout a wireless keyboard with built-in trackpad? That's what I really want.
Why? that is in no way ideal for a desk accessory. Where do you want them to put it? Under the spacebar? That is where they have to put it on notebooks. To the right or left of the keyboard? What about right/left handed people?
There is already a piece of shapely plastic you can buy that cradles your keyboard and your magic trackpad and forces them to stay together (for some reason).
In all the time I've used these products with my iMacs, I've never once thought "Gee it would be great if I couldn't independently position these things where I need them to be...
In Panama there are some PCs that have latin American keyboards. One notable difference is there is no @ sign for whatever reason. Seems crazy in this world of the email. Most people have the standard US keyboard though.
The @ sign is on the "Q" key in the diagram you posted.
I assume it is accessed via a function or other modifier key (control, alt, option, command).
To power up, wouldn't they need some sort of BT driver still running even though the computer was technically turned off?
Set the power button to sleep instead of power off?
Quote:
Originally Posted by djames4242
Quote:
Originally Posted by GlynH
Forget about the numeric keypad for a minute...just please make sure the new keyboard had all the keys on it first such as;
Delete
Home
End
Page Up
Page Down
Hash
PrtScrn
My keyboard has most of those. Function plus left=home, right=end, up=PageUp, down=PageDown. I can't understand the need for a hardware PrtScrn key. My VM software will emulate one for those rare occasions when I need one. And hash? If you mean '#' then I've yet to see a keyboard that doesn't have one of those somewhere, and I've used quite a few different international versions...
Thanks for posting this, I was going to type the same thing.
Edit: Also: Fn+Delete for "forward delete"...
Quote:
Originally Posted by DESuserIGN
Quote:
Originally Posted by drews
I would like a wireless keyboard is rechargeable with a cord. No more endless batteries...mouse as well. Get a green apple.
I have one. It's very nice and the batteries can be charged a few thousand times (if I remember correctly.) It works for mouse, keyboard, and trackpad.
It's not cordless, as you desire, but it seems a much better solution since you never have to wait for charging,you can use regular AAAs if needed, and the rechargable batteries can be replaced more easily (than an internal battery) once they wear out.
For those who don't own one of the Apple chargers or haven't seen one, they come with six batteries, so enough for a wireless keyboard, a pointing device (wireless touchpad or mouse) and a pair of spares to keep charged up at the ready.
And hash? If you mean '#' then I've yet to see a keyboard that doesn't have one of those somewhere, and I've used quite a few different international versions...
Then you're yet to use the British layout keyboard: it doesn't have a # symbol on it, you have to press the option key and then the 3 key.
The £ symbol replaces # on the British layout.
Then you're not using an Apple British layout keyboard.
Other manufacturers put the hash symbol where you stated on their British layout keyboard.
Apple, for whatever reason, does not put the hash symbol on their British layout keyboards.
Indeed, that's true. I think I used an English iBook once, but that would be ages ago and I don't recall its layout. Most of my British keyboarding was at the old EasyEverything Internet cafes back when I used to travel to the UK a couple of times a year. It's been nearly ten years now since I've been over and I'm sure those Internet cafes are probably long gone now (I used to go mostly to the one near Victoria Station), but they were all using Windows PCs.
Great places back in the day as they were fairly ubiquitous (I remember using them all over London, as well as up in Edinburgh and in Barcelona), reasonably cheap, and had decent coffee.
Then you're not using an Apple British layout keyboard.
Other manufacturers put the hash symbol where you stated on their British layout keyboard.
Apple, for whatever reason, does not put the hash symbol on their British layout keyboards.
Indeed, that's true. I think I used an English iBook once, but that would be ages ago and I don't recall its layout. Most of my British keyboarding was at the old EasyEverything Internet cafes back when I used to travel to the UK a couple of times a year. It's been nearly ten years now since I've been over and I'm sure those Internet cafes are probably long gone now (I used to go mostly to the one near Victoria Station), but they were all using Windows PCs.
Great places back in the day as they were fairly ubiquitous (I remember using them all over London, as well as up in Edinburgh and in Barcelona), reasonably cheap, and had decent coffee.
I often went to that big one near Victoria station in 2000, and yes, I think it's gone now. Most of them have in London.
Comments
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
[VIDEO]
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
Originally, the keys were offset to accommodate the linkages between the keys and levers in mechanical typewriters.
Yup. people would be amazed at how much typing is dominated by backwards compatibility with a machine that became obsolete more than 60 years ago.
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
Presumably, boffins will confidently assert that we will grow 26 fingers because evolution, innit.
Forget about the numeric keypad for a minute...just please make sure the new keyboard had all the keys on it first such as;
Delete
Home
End
Page Up
Page Down
Hash
PrtScrn
My keyboard has most of those. Function plus left=home, right=end, up=PageUp, down=PageDown. I can't understand the need for a hardware PrtScrn key. My VM software will emulate one for those rare occasions when I need one. And hash? If you mean '#' then I've yet to see a keyboard that doesn't have one of those somewhere, and I've used quite a few different international versions...
Agreed
I've been thinking the same, but then there's Magic Mouse option, hopefully it will be plugged in trackpad, then electable.
Sure, if that's what you think.
That's a pretty slick implementation. I've never played around with a chorded keyboard before, but if they could fold that into an app and put it on the store, I would definitely give it a try. I do think they need to optimize it a little; it seems to be laid out in semi alphabetical order rather than according to a statistical most-often-used ordering.
I would also like to see someone typing at full speed. I wonder how many WPM is realistically achievable on it.
Anyway, if anyone wants to play around with it, here's the link: http://projects.kumpf.cc/projects/Labs_ChordKeyboard/demo/
I would like a wireless keyboard is rechargeable with a cord. No more endless batteries...mouse as well. Get a green apple.
They've been ahead of you for a few years now.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC500LL/A/apple-battery-charger?fnode=5a
I have one. It's very nice and the batteries can be charged a few thousand times (if I remember correctly.) It works for mouse, keyboard, and trackpad.
It's not cordless, as you desire, but it seems a much better solution since you never have to wait for charging,you can use regular AAAs if needed, and the rechargable batteries can be replaced more easily (than an internal battery) once they wear out.
I think it's time we threw it out for something newer. The following keyboard is only 47 years old:
It's based on the idea of finger combinations, 5 fingers = 120 permutations but you can have more keys. 7-8 buttons will do the whole Chinese character set. They can be done like the alphabet so pressing the first button would be an index into a group of characters and then subsequent presses and releases would be surrounding characters.
Press the thumb and first finger could be B, pressing the little finger first could jump to index V and then the thumb can be Z. It would take a little getting used to but the entire keyboard could be replaced with a touch pad that you just rest one hand on. Typing would be faster once you get used to it because you're just tapping your fingertips and it's not like T9 where you have to press multiples, you are just dropping the finger down and autocomplete would be there too. The character you are about to enter would show on screen before entering it so you can adjust.
I notice the demonstration shows a (presumably) expert user typing v e r y slowly. Plus it looks like three times the movement of a conventional keyboard to produce a single character. Then there's the fact that it is done all with one hand (RSI hell.)
I've seen much better solutions using similar (usually two-handed) chording ideas (and others,) but with better attention to real world issues.
Funny thing is . . . that damn QWERTY keyboard just will not die.
In Panama there are some PCs that have latin American keyboards. One notable difference is there is no @ sign for whatever reason. Seems crazy in this world of the email. Most people have the standard US keyboard though.
Puerto Rico is of course strongly influenced by anglo-American products, as I imagine Panama is too, to a lesser extent. Seems to me that I've seen Mexican and South American keyboard layouts that were a bit different from this one.
I saw a study exploring the inefficiency of the QWERTY keyboard for English. The Dvorak keyboard was much more efficient. QWERTY was no more efficient than random placement of the keys (after a period of training.) It shouldn't surprise us since early on, the QWERTY layout was specifically designed to slow typists down in order to prevent jamming of the type hammers in early mechanical typewriters!
There's a study here comparing T9/multitap, chorded and small QWERTY:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Thad.Starner/030_research.htm
"Multitap and T9 are slow, averaging 8 to 20 words per minute (wpm) for experts"
"Twiddler (chorded) users averaged 47wpm. One user averaged 67wpm. We examine the potential use of multi-character chords (e.g. pressing the g and h keys for to produce "ing ") to increase text entry speed (Thad has bursted up to 130wpm on certain phrases while testing the experimental software)."
"In our longitudinal study of mini-QWERTY keyboards, beginning users who are already expert at desktop keyboards type at approximately 30wpm. With practice, these typists average 60wpm. However, in the blind condition, our subjects peaked at 45wpm with much higher error rates than in the normal mini-QWERTY condition or in any of the blind Twiddler typing experiments."
They look like they're promoting Twiddler and results are going to be subjective. Tapping one key at a time on a standard keyboard doesn't have much of a learning curve.
How 'bout a wireless keyboard with built-in trackpad? That's what I really want.
Why? that is in no way ideal for a desk accessory. Where do you want them to put it? Under the spacebar? That is where they have to put it on notebooks. To the right or left of the keyboard? What about right/left handed people?
There is already a piece of shapely plastic you can buy that cradles your keyboard and your magic trackpad and forces them to stay together (for some reason).
In all the time I've used these products with my iMacs, I've never once thought "Gee it would be great if I couldn't independently position these things where I need them to be...
In Panama there are some PCs that have latin American keyboards. One notable difference is there is no @ sign for whatever reason. Seems crazy in this world of the email. Most people have the standard US keyboard though.
The @ sign is on the "Q" key in the diagram you posted.
I assume it is accessed via a function or other modifier key (control, alt, option, command).
Set the power button to sleep instead of power off?
Quote:
Forget about the numeric keypad for a minute...just please make sure the new keyboard had all the keys on it first such as;
Delete
Home
End
Page Up
Page Down
Hash
PrtScrn
My keyboard has most of those. Function plus left=home, right=end, up=PageUp, down=PageDown. I can't understand the need for a hardware PrtScrn key. My VM software will emulate one for those rare occasions when I need one. And hash? If you mean '#' then I've yet to see a keyboard that doesn't have one of those somewhere, and I've used quite a few different international versions...
Thanks for posting this, I was going to type the same thing.
Edit: Also: Fn+Delete for "forward delete"...
I would like a wireless keyboard is rechargeable with a cord. No more endless batteries...mouse as well. Get a green apple.
They've been ahead of you for a few years now.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC500LL/A/apple-battery-charger?fnode=5a
I have one. It's very nice and the batteries can be charged a few thousand times (if I remember correctly.) It works for mouse, keyboard, and trackpad.
It's not cordless, as you desire, but it seems a much better solution since you never have to wait for charging,you can use regular AAAs if needed, and the rechargable batteries can be replaced more easily (than an internal battery) once they wear out.
For those who don't own one of the Apple chargers or haven't seen one, they come with six batteries, so enough for a wireless keyboard, a pointing device (wireless touchpad or mouse) and a pair of spares to keep charged up at the ready.
No, thanks. Hopefully just a Euro layout, and the US / English doesn't have that crap.
It's a European thing.
Then you're yet to use the British layout keyboard: it doesn't have a # symbol on it, you have to press the option key and then the 3 key.
The £ symbol replaces # on the British layout.
Then you're yet to use the British layout keyboard: it doesn't have a # symbol on it, you have to press the option key and then the 3 key.
The £ symbol replaces # on the British layout.
That's actually the one I've used the most. I've found the hash key where the single/double quote key is here in the states (next to return).
Other manufacturers put the hash symbol where you stated on their British layout keyboard.
Apple, for whatever reason, does not put the hash symbol on their British layout keyboards.
Then you're not using an Apple British layout keyboard.
Other manufacturers put the hash symbol where you stated on their British layout keyboard.
Apple, for whatever reason, does not put the hash symbol on their British layout keyboards.
Indeed, that's true. I think I used an English iBook once, but that would be ages ago and I don't recall its layout. Most of my British keyboarding was at the old EasyEverything Internet cafes back when I used to travel to the UK a couple of times a year. It's been nearly ten years now since I've been over and I'm sure those Internet cafes are probably long gone now (I used to go mostly to the one near Victoria Station), but they were all using Windows PCs.
Great places back in the day as they were fairly ubiquitous (I remember using them all over London, as well as up in Edinburgh and in Barcelona), reasonably cheap, and had decent coffee.
I often went to that big one near Victoria station in 2000, and yes, I think it's gone now. Most of them have in London.