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AlphaGrip Starts Mass Production
punchy_boy writes "The AlphaGrip AG-5 is finally starting production. News of pre-orders for this device was reported 6 months ago.
This device is a keyboard and mouse in a 'gamepad' style form factor. It's been a while coming and the guy(s) at AlphaGrip deserve a pat on the back for sticking with it.
I was so enthusiastic about this device I wrote some software to help me learn to use it properly (alt link)."
Did you watch the gaming demo ? It seems that the "joystick" function of this controller is a on/off switch. That's ok for strafing (that's what we use with our keyboards) but it's totally unusable for proper orientation ! I already find that joysticks are far less precise than mouses when comparing movement acceleration range, this is even worse. Definitely not a gaming device.
It says right on one of their webpages that it works on Windows, OS X, and *nix that's set up to use USB keyboards and mice.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
http://www.gyration.com/
But it costs $$$.
One of the advantages of a chord keyboard is that it allows one-handed typing, which is essential for wearable computing: you shouldn't need to put down your "keyboard" to open a door or pick up a glass or whatever else you need to do in the "real world".
And since we just recently had a story about typing recently, I'll suggest these folks update their web site and scrape away the BS. To wit:
>>And even those who do touch type do
>>so with a letter layout that was
>>specifically designed to slow down typing
>>so the first mechanical typewriter keys wouldn't
>>jam.
*sigh* No, no it wasn't.
>>The Dvorak lets you type faster
*sigh* No, no it doesn't.
Man, I wish you knew what you were talking about. I have switched to Dvorak about 3 years ago so I am talking from my own experience. First, it takes about two weeks to re-train your motor skills to a different layout even for a klutz like myself. Second, in both Windows and Linux (can not say much about Mac, but more than sure that in Mac OSes too) you can set up Dvorak keyboard layout through the Control Panel or its equivalent.
While I admit that I am not typing faster than when I was using QWERTY (most probably, because my dexterity limits kick in long before those of difference between QWERTY and Dvorak,) I can safely say that hand/wrist strain is much less when you are using Dvorak, so your motivation is your closeness to the carpal syndrome.
It takes 2 days to learn Dvorak and be back at your full speed. When learning dvorak I would advise against moving your keycaps around to have it appear dvorak. The temptation for looking at your hands is too strong. It's best to just have a small window or whatever with a picture of the layout that you can look to if you're stuck. Force seems to work best when rewiring your brain.
The painful part is switching between dvorak and qwerty. After practice I could do switch between them, but it would take a couple hours to get back up to full speed. It's probably better to hunt&peck qwerty once you've learned dvorak. That will avoid the pain of undoing your learning.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Dang that's a big ball o' plastic. It reminds me of the old Super Controller from my ColecoVision childhood.