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A Selective History Of The Keyboard
Anonymous Gimp writes "Today's keyboards aren't what they used to be, no sir! Back in my day, we had our BS technology; our keyboards had chassis which allowed 'em to be thrown off a 3-story building and still work - barely dented. Yes those were the days. Now we've got these newfangled Wireless Ergonomic E-Mail button membrane keyboards. To heck with them, I say!"
While I don't like the gummy feeling of a lot of keyboards that are apparently trying to be 'soft', I am not exactly a fan of the loud clicky types either.
The keyboard that I've found works best and feels best to me is the original Microsoft Natural keyboard. It is ergonomically designed with no extra frills like app buttons across the top. It's also larger and a little sturdier than the Natural Light keyboards Microsoft is pushing these days with their freaky arrow keys and misaligned Insert/Delete/Home/End/PageUp/PageDown key block.
Microsoft! Do something good for the users! Bring back the original Natural keyboard!
I have been pwned because my
For those of you interested in faster and more
comfortable typing I would just like to say that
I have been using dvorak for 4 years and I'll
never go back.
It takes one or two days before you know aproximately whene all the letters are, and then
it's just to start typing (without looking) you'll
have your old typing speed back within a month
and from there it gets even faster.
hans AT anti DOT nu
There's always someone who goes on about the old IBM keyboards, and while their movement and feedback are greatly superior to $bundled_crapboard they aren't anywhere nearly as comfortable to use as a good ergonomic split keyboard like the original Microsoft Natural or, my current favourite, the Logitech Cordless Desktop Pro.
Up until recently, I have been using trusty 'ol IBM PS/2 keyboard. Its trusty mechanical feedback was great, not to mention nearly error-free when working properly. Also, when my high school chucked out its old computers, I was able to salvage about 15 to 20 of these beauties. Nearly all worked perfectly, and those that didn't were not to hard to fix with a solder iron and spare parts.
But recently, my wrists have begun to bother me (probably CTS setting in; and I'm nary 20 years old) and the old keyboards refused to work on my new rig (I probably could have modified one of them to work, but college really cuts out the free time). So I went to Wally Mart Computer Center and picked up this Logitech Navigator keyboard. This is by far one of the best keyboards I have used. Sure, those Mikeysoft Naturals are comfy, but they take up too much space and it is quite difficult to play Unreal Tournament with. The tactile sensation, while softer and not nearly as loud as the PS/2's, has a reassuring, yet subtle "crunch" to it. Not to mention, it has a scroll wheel built in (I use mine to switch apps, it is quite handy), and numerous other handy buttons. All the Ctrl functions are silkscreened on the front side of the keys for handy reference. And it was only $30.
The most unique feature, however, is the zero-tilt design. All of the keys are perfectly flat; normal keyboards "curve up" as you approach the number row, but all the keys on this keyboard are on the same plane, parallel to the desk. I have to say that it takes some getting used to, but in the end it is far more comfortable than a regular "tilted" keyboard. Now if only I can figure out how to get some of these extra buttons and stuff working in Linux.... damn semi-n00b skillz.
While I miss my PS/2's (they are still attached to my other boxes), I would have to say that I am quite impressed with the Navigator. Hopefully this thing will be as durable as the old PS/2's.
--- At my sig, unleash hell.
The Happy Hacking Keyboard is about the best new keyboard I've found. Good feel, no extra keys, remarkably small, but keys as big as an old IBM.
From their site:
- NO CAPS LOCK KEY
- NO WINDOWS KEY
- CTRL Key is in Right Position
- Full Size Key Pitch
They don't have any of those cutesy 'Shop on the Web' buttons that link you to long-dead dotcoms or even seperate number pad or arrow keys - this is a keyboard perfect for serious text editing. (Dare I say it? A real man's keyboard!)
If you've ever used one, you probably know what I'm talking about...
Cheers,
Jim in Tokyo
-- My Weblog.
About 10 years ago until about 7 years ago their keyboards were made in the U.S.A. or Ireland. I bought two Natural Keyboards in 2000, both made in Taiwan. The crappy keyswitches butchered my hands and the key switches started wearing out within two months so that when you pressed shift or any broad key it would just jam in the "up" position and not go down. That was also a major cause of pain, eventually.
Now, my hands are 26cm (~11in?) thumb-tip to pinky-finger-tip, so the average keyboard and things like my Logitech "ergonomic" mouse were far too small.
So I dropped by an ergonomic equipment specialist in Holland and after trying out a bunch of keyboards I spent the dosh, and got a Kinesis Ergo Elan keyboard. For my huge hands it was a good size, and the ultra-light keyswitches and 6 keys under each thumb, all arranged in two bowls, have meant hours of typing without pain. Combine that with a Anir Vertical Mouse and I'm a happy hacker. I made sure work bought be one as well. At home I've got a huge Countour Perfit mouse to fit my hand
As for my fave keyboard. The Union Bank of Switzerland (now UBS AG) used to be the biggest IT shop in the country. They were even developing their own Unix workstation at one point. They manufactured a keyboard for traders with 4 or 5 extra rows of keys over the normal QWERTY layout plus a number pad, with a 4 line LCD display built in. Talk about lots of short-cut buttons... :-)
It's difficult to beat a Maltron keyboard for comfort. But they're not cheap. Not at all.
:-)
:-)
The Amiga 2000 keyboard was great in its day. Shame it's completely incompatible with anything else
One thing the Amiga got right was the provision of a key marked "HELP" in big letters, and the positioning of the control key. I think the numeric keypad may have also had brackets and maybe an equals sign... which helped a lot...
Hey, how about a keyboard with LCD screens on the keycaps - _really_ switch to dvorak at the touch of a button
I believe he chose the layout to SPEED UP typing. I mean, do you know how slow you type when you have to untangle hammers all the time???
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
I probably saw the same thing: just found it here (and google found me another page on fully split keyboards).
However the reason for my suggestion of two keyboards was to make some (ie the middle columns), or even all, of the keys available to both hands, for those of us who don't touch type by the book
I find myself not keeping my hands in the recommended typing positions mostly because all of the symbols which form a large percentage of the source code of most computer languages would be rather uncomfortable to type, notably the }, )and Tab (if you're using emacs or anything with tab completion) characters one a qwerty keyboard which have very high frequencies in java and c++ (and the problem is even worse on a dvorak layout, which is great for typing English, but terrible for c++).
With the whole keyboard repeated, I'd be able to type like back in the bad old days of non-split keyboards and let the other hand drift over momentarily whilst typing a back-tick, Escape or a } (or worst of all a "Page Up" (well not quite the worst, when some software forces you to have to reach for the mouse .... grrrrrr)) rather than having to either stretch excessivly or wait for the correct hand to get back in place.
Using a USB keyboard solves the problem of needing some kind of ps2 Y splitter.
"I've seen have used membrane technology, but I have always been a believer that ergonomic keyboards not only hinder a typist, but also do not relieve any stress from typing. I never proved that of course, but I've always felt more "natural" with standard keyboards. An article was just released at the BBC, describing how ergonomic keyboards might not be as helpful as many might hope to believe."
As fate would have it, I'm a big guy. I wear either a XXLT or XXXLT shirt. Given that I have broader shoulders than most, I find that an ergo keyboard to be very much more comfortable than regular rectangular keyboards.
I *suspect* that there's a number of variables that play a role in whether or not a person finds ergo keyboards to be a significant improvement over conventional keyboards.
"Oh drat these computers, they're so naughty and so complex, I could pinch them." --Marvin the Martian
Of course, keyboard layouts were the least of the changes between green-screen terminal applications and PC's, but we're left with the result nonetheless.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander