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If you can handle the learning curve, These are the best thing ever.

Go buy a FingerWorks keyboard. Install XWinder. You have now more control than Tom Cruise did.

Not bluetooth enabled, but an excellent mouse/keyboard solution:
FingerWorks

I doubt this will be a problem with my Fingerworks TouchStream LP! It has no keys!

Sorry to plug, but I really love this keyboard, and, no, I do not work for FingerWorks.

time to buy a touchstream keyboard.

I've had many of the same problems for years. I am a software developer as well as a writer and so the ability to type is rather important for my livlihood. I investigated a number of alternatives (I'd been using the M$ ergo keyboard for a number of years), and finally decided on the Fingerworks Touchstream to solve my problems. It's taken me a while to get used to it and has dropped my overall typing speed. But in general, it has worked quite well as a keyboard/mouse replacement and I highly recommend it. Oh, and I also play starcraft(through transgaming) as well as UT2004/Q3/SOF and other fps' with my touchsteam. My hands are much happier now. Cheers.

The FingerWorks iGesture touchpad is a zero force, no button, standard USB interface mouse that has none of the annoying features of standard touchpads and is just as efficient as a standard mouse with none of the strain.

It uses different finger combinations to trigger different mouse functions such as left click, right click, drag, scroll wheel, and so on. It can sense which fingers you are using, and most importantly, it doesn't trigger mouse motion when you accidentally brush your hand against it because it can tell the difference between your fingers and your hand.

The iGesture pad is good enough to recommend even to people without wrist pain. But for anyone who actually is suffering physical strain from mouse use, it's almost a no-brainer.

(I have no relationship to FingerWorks except as a user of their products.)

It's not a glove but this does most of what you mentioned. They do have a two-handed version.

I got mine about a month ago. There's a bit of a learning curve and it's hard to get single-pixel accuracy, but I really like it and don't think I'd choose to go back to a mouse. (Since I have a USB mouse and it's USB, they coexist under X nicely and I can switch to the mouse the few times I need to be that precise... or when my fingers are covered in oil from the snack food de jour).

It will open files with a twist, you position the mouse pointer with two fingers... use one finger and it inputs arrow keycodes for the correct direction, so text editing and spreadsheets are very cool. Cut/paste/copy gestures as well, and you can edit in your own gestures into the programming (though I have not tried this yet.)

Silent, but expensive, keyboard and mouse replacement: Fingerworks Touchstream keyboard

As others in this thread have suggested, being flexible and accomodating is the most obvious answer. Getting used to the noise is another.

If you can do neither, and are determined to buy another gadget that will reduce the noise, then check out the touchstream keyboards from fingerworks. This keyboard/mouse combo is totally silent once you get used to it. Only downside is that it does take a couple of weeks to get used to it....

As for the light, as long as you are working (and not just brosing/gamnig) you can simply dim down the monitor and use editors and color schemes that are dark. Gray and dark pastels on black background works wonderfully in the dark. I don't know whether similar windows themes exist, or whether windows can be customized to that extent, but if you're geeks, you'll be right at home in linux and vi/emacs anyway, right? :)

As others in this thread have suggested, being flexible and accomodating is the most obvious answer. Getting used to the noise is another.

If you can do neither, and are determined to buy another gadget that will reduce the noise, then check out the touchstream keyboards from fingerworks. This keyboard/mouse combo is totally silent once you get used to it. Only downside is that it does take a couple of weeks to get used to it....

As for the light, as long as you are working (and not just brosing/gamnig) you can simply dim down the monitor and use editors and color schemes that are dark. Gray and dark pastels on black background works wonderfully in the dark. I don't know whether similar windows themes exist, or whether windows can be customized to that extent, but if you're geeks, you'll be right at home in linux and vi/emacs anyway, right? :)

1. CAPS lock is achieved by tapping four fingers of each hand above the home row.
2. Your right hand controls a load of useful symbol keys (including some timesavers like //, ->, and !=). You still have to use a shift combination, but it is even easier than no.1.
3. Yep its split, the return key is under your right thumb. All the F keys plus scroll lock, num lock, backspace and delete are moved to the center.
4. Gestures are used to perform actions like cut and paste / undo redo etc. (just like in Minority Report (sort of!)). Very cool.
5. Control is 4 fingers of left hand tapped above the home row. Easy.
6. It is quite expensive($339 / 250), but its worth it when you finally learn how to use it (it has taken me about 3 months to get back up to my old typing speed, although everything else is more productive due to lack of mouse).
7. It comes with software for mapping the keys as you want them, and also for creating your own gestures. The keyboard itself is linux/OSX/win friendly, as is the software for key/gesture mapping.

• Completely silent. No more klick-klack noises
  
• Very comfortable, your fingers don't tire as easily because you don't have to actually press, just touch
  
• You don't want to go back once you found how great it is to not have to lift the fingers away from the keyboard to move the mouse an inch. It makes much more of a difference then you believe
  
• Linux support
  

• It's expensive
  
• It takes a while to get used to it. Quite a while.
  
• You don't want to go back. Once you've used it, you want all your machines to come with one. Which for me means I'd have to buy 2 more. Doh.
  

• There are lots of different modes, depending on what kind of shortcuts you need most often. There are modes for Emacs, Photoshop, Maya, programming, gaming, etc.
  
• You can program your own gestures. I've not yet done that, but wow.
  

Currently I am working with all standard QWERTY keyboards. I had one that had volume buttons and some hot keys, but found that I never used them. My student informed me he switched to DVORAK under MacOSX just by switching the key binding.

Product URL here

The EZ-Reach is about 14 inches wide, and can easily be transported in most laptop bags or portfolio cases. It is thin (less than 0.75 inches) and very portable. It has an embedded numeric keypad (similar to what you'd find on a laptop computer) which can be enabled at your discretion, or ignored altogether.

EZ-Reach has a very symmetrical design, with almost equal key layouts on both sides. It can be placed in front of a monitor and you can sit straight-on, without having to twist your body (or neck) during typing.

Since it has no extra numeric keypad, you can place your mouse closer to your typing area - this applies to lefties, and especially to righties (like me).

The key technology feels like a *very good* laptop keyboard. The keys have a scissor mechanism and a thin profile which makes them flat and easy to hit, with a minimum of vertical displacement. I have found the feeling to be very crisp and rich in tactile feedback; normal keyboards feel too "mushy" to me now.

The key layout is patterned in a matrix fashion, without any of the vestigial staggered-key pattern of the (arguably) archaic design of the original typewriter. Motion studies have shown that fingers move more naturally when they move straight up-and-down, and the staggered key layout increases risk of RSI. The TypeMatrix EZ-Reach is one of only three keyboards that I have found which lays out the keys in this fashion. Here are the others:

• DataDesk SmartBoard
• Fingerworks TouchStream

If you ever have the urge to learn the DVORAK keyboard layout, you can switch the layout of the EZ-Reach with a single function-key (Function+F7). This toggles the mode between QWERTY and DVORAK. TypeMatrix sells (at least) three versions of this keyboard, all with the same guts but differently labeled keycaps: one for plain QWERTY, one for plain DVORAK, and a dual-labeled QWERTY+DVORAK version. The operation of all three models is identical.

One of the very few disadvantages of the EZ-Reach is the fact that the Home/End/PgUp/PgDown keys are overlaid on top of F9-F12, and require the Function key in order to be activated. This is somewhat annoying for me, but I've found a way to re-map the keys in Linux (using xmodmap) such that I sacrifice the F9-F12 keys in order to use the text navigation commands. On the other hand, I use a FingerWorks iGesture NumPad for most of my cursor control, so I can access those commands using gestures as well. (TypeMatrix is working a new keyboard design that addresses this limitation. Please contact them directly to learn more about it.)

The other disadvantage (and this one depends on your preference) is that this keyboard only comes with a PS/2 interface. I use all-USB setups wherever possible, so I have to use a PS/2-to-USB converter (which introduces a few quirks of its own), but it generally works very well. I've had several conversations with TypeMatrix customer support, and they do plan to introduce USB keyboards in the near future.

Your mileage may vary. I really love the TypeMatrix design and philosophy, and the keyboard works very well for me.

Disclaimer: I don't work for TypeMatrix, but I love the company and their products.

Product URL here

The EZ-Reach is about 14 inches wide, and can easily be transported in most laptop bags or portfolio cases. It is thin (less than 0.75 inches) and very portable. It has an embedded numeric keypad (similar to what you'd find on a laptop computer) which can be enabled at your discretion, or ignored altogether.

EZ-Reach has a very symmetrical design, with almost equal key layouts on both sides. It can be placed in front of a monitor and you can sit straight-on, without having to twist your body (or neck) during typing.

Since it has no extra numeric keypad, you can place your mouse closer to your typing area - this applies to lefties, and especially to righties (like me).

The key technology feels like a *very good* laptop keyboard. The keys have a scissor mechanism and a thin profile which makes them flat and easy to hit, with a minimum of vertical displacement. I have found the feeling to be very crisp and rich in tactile feedback; normal keyboards feel too "mushy" to me now.

The key layout is patterned in a matrix fashion, without any of the vestigial staggered-key pattern of the (arguably) archaic design of the original typewriter. Motion studies have shown that fingers move more naturally when they move straight up-and-down, and the staggered key layout increases risk of RSI. The TypeMatrix EZ-Reach is one of only three keyboards that I have found which lays out the keys in this fashion. Here are the others:

• DataDesk SmartBoard
• Fingerworks TouchStream

If you ever have the urge to learn the DVORAK keyboard layout, you can switch the layout of the EZ-Reach with a single function-key (Function+F7). This toggles the mode between QWERTY and DVORAK. TypeMatrix sells (at least) three versions of this keyboard, all with the same guts but differently labeled keycaps: one for plain QWERTY, one for plain DVORAK, and a dual-labeled QWERTY+DVORAK version. The operation of all three models is identical.

One of the very few disadvantages of the EZ-Reach is the fact that the Home/End/PgUp/PgDown keys are overlaid on top of F9-F12, and require the Function key in order to be activated. This is somewhat annoying for me, but I've found a way to re-map the keys in Linux (using xmodmap) such that I sacrifice the F9-F12 keys in order to use the text navigation commands. On the other hand, I use a FingerWorks iGesture NumPad for most of my cursor control, so I can access those commands using gestures as well. (TypeMatrix is working a new keyboard design that addresses this limitation. Please contact them directly to learn more about it.)

The other disadvantage (and this one depends on your preference) is that this keyboard only comes with a PS/2 interface. I use all-USB setups wherever possible, so I have to use a PS/2-to-USB converter (which introduces a few quirks of its own), but it generally works very well. I've had several conversations with TypeMatrix customer support, and they do plan to introduce USB keyboards in the near future.

Your mileage may vary. I really love the TypeMatrix design and philosophy, and the keyboard works very well for me.

Disclaimer: I don't work for TypeMatrix, but I love the company and their products.

Add me to the list. Here's one programmer who swears by his HHKb. It's almost exactly the size of a letter sheet of paper folded in half lengthwise. It has all of the keys I need and all of them are right where I can get at them. That and an iGesture Pad keep me productive and my wrists pain free. Both come in hacker black also.

The iGesture tested in that article is *nothing* compared to the full keyboard/mouse; the TouchStream LP.
I have been using the keyboard/mouse combo for 9 months, and everyday I'm still amazed at what it can do.

The list of amazing stuff is too long to even quote here. A few would be:
+ amazing way if editing text, especialy the left-hand cursor gestures to move/select text
+ right hand "wheel" scrolling that also work as an *horizontal* wheel
+ configurable "programmers keypad" that gives you like an extra shift to type programming symbols without moving your hand to reach the [{}]\!= etc etc
+ touch thumb+pinky of the right hand *anywhere* and that does Return. I configured left hand thumb+pinky to do TAB. Imagine that for programing, it's awesome : no more reaching for those keys, they are always underneath your hands.
+ "auto capslock" when you type a uppercase constant for example, it will disengeage the capslock automagicaly when you have finished typing the word.
+ The general gestures that had been very carefuly tought of.
+ The config utilities, where you can reconfigure *everything*. That thing is amazingly powerful
+ They have a SDK to play with the "raw" events digested by the sensors.

It's true the learning curve is hard, but after a month or so you realise that it was well worth the effort!

I clicked through ten pages of single-paragraph-per-page advertisement "reviews" and never got to the iGesture. So I've no idea what he says about it.

I'm a happy user of the FingerWorks flagship product, the full keyboard. (Replaces the mouse as well.) The various iGesture pads replace the mouse, and can replace/augment bits of the keyboard. And they all support the really sweet gestures.

Yes, they work with Linux (the keyboard even has special modes for certain programs, including Emacs), and their tech support participates in their discussion forums. Very cool people, very cool products.

I clicked through ten pages of single-paragraph-per-page advertisement "reviews" and never got to the iGesture. So I've no idea what he says about it.

I'm a happy user of the FingerWorks flagship product, the full keyboard. (Replaces the mouse as well.) The various iGesture pads replace the mouse, and can replace/augment bits of the keyboard. And they all support the really sweet gestures.

Yes, they work with Linux (the keyboard even has special modes for certain programs, including Emacs), and their tech support participates in their discussion forums. Very cool people, very cool products.

I've been the happy owner of a Fingerworks Touchstream LP keyboard for about 6 months now. It's unlike any other keyboard out there. It's both a keyboard and a mouse, and tracks your fingers/palms sort of like a touchpad on steroids.

The result is that there's no force needed to "hit" a key, you just lightly brush the surface and the letter pops up on screen. Want to start mousing? Don't move your wrists out of their happy resting position, just put two fingers together on one of the surfaces and drag them around -- that's your mouse cursor! Three buttons, even.

It's precise and fast. Also totally great are hand gestures -- not just the ones you'll start making at Microsoft Natural keyboards that are clumsy by comparison. Rather, you can rest your four fingers (sans thumb) of your left hand on the surface and move them slightly to the left to get a "home" keypress. To the right yields an "end". Pageup and pagedown are up and down.

There seem to be hundreds of these things, for text-editing, for EMACS, for -- no joke -- programming even (there's actually a programming mode for the keyboard).

I know I sound like I'm selling these, but I'm just a really happy customer. Their customer service is excellent as well, and they offer a money-back guarantee if you don't like one of their products.

I'm sure there are more /.ers who have these things -- am I the only one who loves his Touchstream?

I too would highly recommend this keyboard. Here is a link for those of you who are Google deficient.

Fingerworks TouchStream LP

Anyway, not only do you get a silent keyboard, but it's nicer on your fingers and hands because you barely have to press to get a keystroke to register. It also brings with it a numerous amount of gestures that you can use for common things, the website has flash animations of most of the gestures. The nicest thing by far tho, is the fact that you don't have to move your hand to use the mouse anymore. Dropping two fingers on the right side of the keyboard gets you a mouse. After about an hour of using it it becomes rather natural.

Anyway, the price point is a bit much for some people (approx. $350), but for me it is well worth the money.

In addition, if you happen to have a 15" tiBook you can get a drop in touchstream keyboard

This company has some products that will REALLY impress the suites. Round the setup out with a few 1337 dvorak gesture keyboards, comfortable chairs, and a network camera outside the door. Did I miss anything?

This, my friend, is for you: Fingerworks

FingerWorks has keyboards that allow mouse jestering if you cant wait for your *ahem*beloved IE to get features that have been in other browsers for ages (go Safari!). (I dont know about mouse gesters though. The concept looks cool..

It's definitely very cool to move the text cursor around, directly linked to the movement of your left index + middle finger (seemingly), and to be able to cut/paste by "picking" text with thumb + index and then "dropping" it :)

Definitely an interesting piece of technology. I can recommend that keyboard, it's worth a try for any geek.

Btw, this was already featured twice: /. story 1, /. story 2.

I have to disagree with you there. OEM-supplied components *are* quite flimsy, since they compete on essentially nothing but price (well, perhaps extra volume buttons on the keyboard might be a selling point).

There are a number of manufacturers that produce more highly-price, nicer input devices. Among them, Logitech,
which sells a whole line of wireless keyboards, PCKeyboard, which has among its offerings modern versions of old-IBM-Model-M style buckling-spring mechanism keyboards (CLICK CLICK CLICK...), Fingerworks' unusual offerings, the expensive-but-ultimate-RSI-avoidance Kinesis keyboards, and Goldtouch's ergo products.

I hope sometime soon we can all move to a more compact keyboard arrangement. I see laptops, and see the compact keyboard and I'm in envy. I hope this bulky set of push buttons we call a keyboard has seen the last of its days in the near future.

I hope alternative input method start to catch on, like the iGesture mouse pad or more optimal keyboards. If I could have a keyboard that was similar to a lego set, which would allow me to layout my keys in the exact order (and angle) I want, I would probably double my productivity.

Ergonomic keyboard seem to tell me "I should work this way", when I want to work another way. The time will come soon when a user finally can communicate with a computer in a more optimal way.

I've got a Fingerworks TouchStream LP for about a month now. Best $300 I ever blew ! Fingerworks

The learning curve is step, but geez, once you get going you feel like a mix of a jedi knight and tom cruise in Minority Report!

Replying to self :-) Of course, I mean the Dvorak Version

I'm just switching over to Dvorak at the moment. Have been a QWERTY touch-typer for over 10 years now, and have finally convinced myself to switch. Swapping the keytops on the keyboard I use at the moment has made it a bit awkward, since the keytops have a slant which depended on the QWERTY layout, and now I've gone and screwed that, so the keys have all kinds of different slants. I'm waiting for my Touchstream LP to arrive any day now.

FingerWorks made a TouchStream replacement keyboard for the older PowerBooks (see here). Does this mean that these no longer work with the new PowerBooks? Damn!

FingerWorks made a TouchStream replacement keyboard for the older PowerBooks (see here). Does this mean that these no longer work with the new PowerBooks? Damn!

I have one of these.

It's zero-force. multi-finger gesture processor, even available in a dvorak layout. It took me, switching from a QWERTY keyboard about two weeks to adapt to the new layout, and really internalize the gestures available.

For those wondering, there are five nipples on each pad to allow your fingers to find home row, and the "all-fingers-down" is interpreted as a resting gesture.

Because the mouse "controls" are available immediately beneather your right (or left, if you so desire) hand, there's no reaching for the mouse/trackball, and no odd angles for your wrist. The "programmers pad" has a number of useful gestures and frequently used symbols available under-hand. Cut-and-paste is like a pinching and releasing motions, save is pulling your fingers together.

The newer firmware (user-upgradable) allows you to define your own gestures, keys, and layouts. The configuration software is Java-based, and it really does Just Work under Linux.
The TouchStream uses the standard USB HID classes, so you don't need custom drivers.

They are expensive, about $330 from FingerWorks, but for me, it has eliminated the tingly sensations after a long day of coding, and everyone who sees it in persons awards it Serious Geek Points. I think that it's a good investment for people whose job is typing code, English, etc.

Not affiliated with FingerWorks, just a very satistfied customer.

I have one of these.

It's zero-force. multi-finger gesture processor, even available in a dvorak layout. It took me, switching from a QWERTY keyboard about two weeks to adapt to the new layout, and really internalize the gestures available.

For those wondering, there are five nipples on each pad to allow your fingers to find home row, and the "all-fingers-down" is interpreted as a resting gesture.

Because the mouse "controls" are available immediately beneather your right (or left, if you so desire) hand, there's no reaching for the mouse/trackball, and no odd angles for your wrist. The "programmers pad" has a number of useful gestures and frequently used symbols available under-hand. Cut-and-paste is like a pinching and releasing motions, save is pulling your fingers together.

The newer firmware (user-upgradable) allows you to define your own gestures, keys, and layouts. The configuration software is Java-based, and it really does Just Work under Linux.
The TouchStream uses the standard USB HID classes, so you don't need custom drivers.

They are expensive, about $330 from FingerWorks, but for me, it has eliminated the tingly sensations after a long day of coding, and everyone who sees it in persons awards it Serious Geek Points. I think that it's a good investment for people whose job is typing code, English, etc.

Not affiliated with FingerWorks, just a very satistfied customer.

I'm a big fan of the Fingerworks products. It's a little weird to type on, but the mousing and gesturing is wonderful. And it supports Linux, even to the point of having a set of desktop-switch gestures and Emacs shortcut gestures. The customization software runs under Linux, too.

Oh, wait, this isn't a poll.

But the truth is that I don't use a mouse anymore. I use a touchstream keyboard from Fingerworks that lets me move the arrow and cursor and type on the same interface. This is very nice.

Anyone who has even a bit of RSI can identify with my hatred, or at least ambivilance toward mice. My tendons ache at the thought of so many mice in the world..

As for the gestures, have you seen the TouchStream? Granted it isn't a new take on UIs, but until that happens it's a pretty damn cool way to interact with existing UIs.

TouchStream

Zero-feedback keyboards... Once the skill is learned, it is so much easier on the hands. I will be the first to say it is a pain in the neck to learn typing on a flat touchpad, but it is also worth it.

This is the other end of the spectrum from the M's. I wouldn't go after ZF typing if this keyboard didn't offer so many benefits.

Zero-feedback keyboards... Once the skill is learned, it is so much easier on the hands. I will be the first to say it is a pain in the neck to learn typing on a flat touchpad, but it is also worth it.

This is the other end of the spectrum from the M's. I wouldn't go after ZF typing if this keyboard didn't offer so many benefits.

Zero-feedback keyboards... Once the skill is learned, it is so much easier on the hands. I will be the first to say it is a pain in the neck to learn typing on a flat touchpad, but it is also worth it.

This is the other end of the spectrum from the M's. I wouldn't go after ZF typing if this keyboard didn't offer so many benefits.

Reminds me of the igesture thing here.

I think it's stupid. People don't want to look like morons walking down the street making strange hand motions. And don't even try using this thing at an auction.

This company's popped up a few times here when discussion turned to keyboards - the general impression I get is that the keyboards are very nice once you get used to them, but they're fairly pricey. Plus, once you get used to them, you have trouble with normal keyboards. My major problem with them is the lack of tactile feedback - I like my clicky keys...
Anyway, older discussions are here, here, here, and here.

Try telling this to the people (about 6) I know who have had supportive treatments and/or operations.

It has occured to me that all these people are females in their 40's or 50's, who are generally receptionists, keying in data whilst on the phone.


I've had a mild case & switching to one of the specialist keyboards has helped. I use a Fingerworks TouchStream ST - excellent but it takes some getting used to, is a right old pain if you work in the UK and need to use the £ sign (character map etc etc).

The mouse thing is interesting - I have found that most problems occur in the hand that isn't using the mouse, as it's being lifted of the keyboard whilst mousing.

And pageup/dn gestures as well! Just slide 4 fingers up/down on the left half. Slide 4 fingers up/down on the right half for smooth scroll.

We've posted some notes on the layout page to explain why the modifier and enter keys were relegated to the bottom row.

href=http://www.fingerworks.com/images/layouts/Mac NTouch_printable.html

Basically, TouchStreams have home-row chords and other convenient gestures to replace all these keys. Our customers quickly find the gestures are easier to learn and use than any pinky key placement, hence we focused on large, comfortable placement of the alphabetic keys.

Ah, but lefties can use a right hand modifier chord with their left-hand pointing/clicking. Avoids all pinky awkwardness.

I think that there are so-called chords for most modifer keys, so you won't have to reach for the fn- or the shift key. (Not sure if that makes things better or worse...)

Personally, I'd go for the iGesture Pad. It might not be usable on a plane, but it's most probably easier to master gesture-mousing than gesture-typing.

Then again, the TouchStream ST has scored excellent reviews.

Considering my budget, however, I'll most probably never get my hands onto either one... :-(

(No pun intended.)

BUT... ;) ...looking at the layout(which I hope is not final), why is the function key replaced with shift? When I reach out for the fn key on my current keyboard I have trouble accessing the other keys covered by the left hand. I know I have small hands, but come on... leave it where it is at the current size (two keys wide).

Same for return... umm enter... where is return??? I know quite some apps, where return and enter have different functions... take Fire for example: return sends out, enter makes a new line in the message... I do not think I would want to use additional shift for this. And it IS far too small, leave it at the current size, it was already difficult enough for me to stop hitting back-slash all the time...

Overall:
the whole right part of the keyboard is messed up and will require you to get used to the new layout.

Too much self advertisement... use it for bigger keys instead, although the hand is quite cute.

Can I press command + option with one finger only? I hope so.

NO IBOOK?

What about the heat? I have 1GHz and it gets quite hot already. If you look at the current keyboard, it is designed to provide better air circulation. You think it is not important? Buy the hoover TiBook, wait until the fans go on, lift the keyboard and wait for a while... the fans go off. With the keyboard it takes longer time for the fans to go off, I dunno about MacNTouch with no holes at all.

I do not think I will buy it, maybe I would for my iBook, but it has IMO too many design/usability flaws. I had to try it out first.

weeeee