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OrbiTouch Keyless Keyboard Review
robyn217 writes "When I last looked at strange, new keyboards (here's the previous thread here on slashdot), I thought I'd seen it all... not even close! I just reviewed a new keyless keyboard, called the OrbiTouch, and gave it a run for its money. It's literally made up of two humps--it reminds me of holding onto my knees rather a keyboard. To type or mouse, you need to move the humps around in a synchronized manner. It's twisted--but it's better for you to decide for yourself--here's the article, OrbiTouch Review: A Keyless Keyboard with lots of pictures. Think you'll give it a test drive? Will it survive the year?"
According to the last page of the review, it costs $695. Interesting concept but .... need I say more?
and you've got it made. Sorta like what divers have to use. my biggest complaint about keyboards is their limited motion.... I can relearn to type (tho it would be rather hard, I admit)... just give me a keyboard I can use with 1 hand and rest it wherever I need to (no jokes about a keyboard in your lap, etc ;P)
;-)
Besides, that many keystrokes combined with a good mouse might make sims such as Americas Army quite a bit more interesting
This is one of the few peices of computer technology that needs to have a better upgrade path... I mean, I get a new video card every year or two... and a complete new system at least once every 4 years... the damn keyboard hasn't changed much in at least the last 10... The MS Natural keyboard was the last 'major' update to the keyboard design, and it wasn't much more than simply splitting it in two... Barely qualifing as an evolution on the design
When are we going to have some real changes? I want something that allows me to enter data as fast as I can think... Why can't we come up with a better general input device??? Keyboards SUCK!
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Really, the only way any of these options will catch on is if people can standardize. Switching between ABCDEFG keyboards (like on my 2way pager and a lot of games) and QWERTY is hard enough. If you have to have a different keyboard at work, home, the library, internet terminal, etc. nobody will ever learn these odd (though likely better) keyboards.
--D
Really, instead of some huge leap, i suggest switching away from QWERTY first. Qwerty was made to slow typing, by making you reach for keys. The reason for this being that the original typewriters would jam if you typed too fast. Obviously, this leads to carpal tunnel, and all that good stuff. DVORAK and some other keyboard formats are made to make it easier, faster, and easier to accurately type. I'm not switching yet, but i'm thinking about it. One of my friends did, and he loves it.
New keyboards are neat and all, but they're still first designs, first revisions. If i'm to try something new (new to me), i'll wait for a year, and see if it's really beneficial. If it is, then i'll look at the cost, and if it's worth it. At this time, this product seems to be more eye candy and "if i have more toys, i win" than actually worthwile. Point: if my g/f wants to use my computer, do i have to switch keyboards? Really, i don't see the $600 benefit in that. not yet at least.
What I wonder is what the response time is in like one of these things ... is it even technically possible to achieve speeds of 120+ wpm on it? (i.e., is the signaling rate of the "orbs" good enough to handle 8 chars per second) Not only that, how fast would a person's wrists have to move on average to move the N millimeters that it takes to do an average "keystroke"?
Also, though I haven't looked at it in comparison to letter frequency, their schema for keystrokes seemed suboptimal, but still pretty good. For example, transitioning from "t" to "h" (arguably one of the most common two-letter combinations in all of typing) requires going from up,right to right,left instead of just leaving one dome the same and moving the other. Same thing with going from "i" to "n" (also very common), you have to go from up,down to down,lower-left. It's a minor thing, but it seems that attention to these things could have a significant impact upon the ease of use (less motion required, which is supposed to be one of their big selling points), and the speed at which people can type on it (if you don't have to move as far, you key faster - kinda like how Dvorak is more optimal than QWERTY).
>I have the chord Control-Alt-Z set up to launch the trusty ol' Notepad (no better application for writing HTML).
:-)
Ahhhh, 2nd year CS students could write a better editor.
vi, my friend, vi
even emacs is better
No wonder he worried about CTS
User interface is the major issue here. When I upgrade a video card or CPU, I don't have to learn anything new. I just stick it in and my computer performs better.
Most users want what they are comfortable with. Relearning how to type every two to three years would be a nightmare. This is why applications generally keep the same interface over consecutive versions. Under the hood, they are better, but to the user they appear mostly the same.
Things are done this way because they work.
-- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
Having looked at the how it works section it becomes apparent that this is not the answer. Individual letters are "typed" by chord like movements of both hands. Some what akin to using two joysticks to type. This is neither easy nor intuitive. And that is the biggest sticking point.
Input devices such as keyboards and mice need to be intuitive and easy to use. Keyboards are very intuitive, a panel full of labeled buttons is presented. Pressing one of the buttons prints the label on the screen. Even very young children have no problem figuring out how to use a keyboard. Indeed the only thing you need to "learn" about using a keyboard is the actual key placement as a QWERTY is not intuitive key placement for the uninitiated. Just watch a five year old at the keyboard and you will know what I mean. Then imagine th same five year old trying to figure out the OrbiTouch.
I'm afraid to say that we cannot expect further advancement beyond the regular keyboard. It has been advanced to the fullest useful level possible. To get to the next level a totally different input device will be required, not a keyboard at all. The last such step that we have seen in input devices was the mouse, now >30 years old. The next step in input devices will be either voice recognition or some form of direct mind-to-pc interface. Right now, voice recognition seems to be the closest to reallity but, given its imaturity, it is still a few years off.
How i am supposed to frag terrorists in CS with this thing! According to the article it is either in mouse mode or keyboard mode at one time. QWERTY makes FPS fans happy.
My boy, my boy!
How fast can you type with this thing?!
The reviewer should consider using the thing for a month (exclusively), and tell us whether he learned how to do use it in the end. Furthermore, he should tell us what his WPM is with a regular keyboard, and what his WPM is with this thing is (in a month's time).
The assumption with giving him a month's time is that the novelty (for me) would last about a month. If most people wouldn't be up to keyboard speed in a month, I can't imagine many people sticking to it.