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AlphaGrip Starts Mass Production

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the wierd-ui-ideas dept.

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)."

6 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Control Freaks by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm surprised we haven't seen a lot more novel controllers for our gizmos. We've got a lot of different people, coming from different experiences all over the world, playing many different games, musical instruments, working with a vast array of tools. And experimental hardware is very cheap and accessible to design and produce, even in limited quantities. So why are we stuck with basically QWERTY, mouse, D-pad, and a "handful" of variations and combos? Let a thousand controllers bloom! Each with a USB connection and an open-source driver :).

    --

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    make install -not war

  2. This by Funk203 · · Score: 1, Interesting
    This new thing seems only useful for the gamer who needs everything a company has to offer. This will be like the old stearing wheels that they used to sell for the racing games. It is a pitty to those people who think they really need it.

    What ever happened to the old fashion mouse and key board?

    --
    "We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose." "Perceptions rule the universe." --Bene Gesserit Sayings
  3. It's an interesting gadget ... by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But i just can't get used to this kind of stuff ...

    I have thought about getting out of qwerty many times, but, even when there are some input/control devices that are better and faster than the classic ones, so many years using the classic designs lets us type as fast with them as one could do with newer toys. Also, it's pretty hard to get used to that kind of changes.

    I have tried DVORAK, and even a crazy experimental layout that i found out there ...

    k , u y p w l m f c
    o a e i d r n t h s
    q . ' ; z x v g b j

    Here is the link to experiment that created this layout: http://www.visi.com/~pmk/evolved.html

    In conclussion, this devices might be very comfortable, but an old hacker just won't get used to them.

    BTW: The site is slow, here is the google cache link: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:qO6W-dkdz4kJ: www.alphagrip.com/+&hl=es

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    WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
  4. A new keybard design? How.... exciting. by Mike1024 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems to me that there have been a lot of attempts made to come up with better keyboard designs - Dvorak; that alphabetical keyboards; chordic keyboards; split keyboards; weird keyboards; other weird keyboards; and so on.

    Call me when one of them has broad market acceptance.

    Michael

    --
    "Goodness me, how unlike the FBI to abuse the trust of the American public." -- The Onion
  5. wearable computing by nounderscores · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is there anybody who (having used both) can tell us if the alphagrip can challenge the supremecy of the handykey twiddler chording keyboard as the device for typing while running?

    do you think US special forces are going to be punching in artillery corrections on a ruggedized alphagrip instead of the L3 wrist keyboard that I'm told they used in the 1990s?

  6. tcsh and vi by Michael.Forman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm quite open to novel mechanisms to data entry and have experimented with a few in the past. However, these keyboards are often optimized for typing English text while unwittingly complicating the entry of shell and vi commands, which are just as important to me.

    I'd like to see a keyboard designed around the key usage of a sysadmin who uses vi and tcsh (and other obscure programs such a emacs).

    Michael.

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    Linux : Mac :: VW : Mercedes