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Blank Keyboard
Raynach writes "A friend of mine recently sent me a link for Das Keyboard, the keyboard for UberGeeks. This keyboard is unique in that it has no inscriptions on the keys, which the maker touts will make you type 100% faster in a few weeks since it will keep you from looking at the keyboard. This keyboard also features individually weighted keyswitches, "The keys are divided into groups and their feedback springs are weighted differently; from 35 grams to 80 grams, which correspond to the strength of the finger that touches the keys." But is this "UberGeek" keyboard really worth the high price tag?"
here's a tip that can save you around 80 bucks:
BUY PRIMER -- take off cap -- spray.
Does it have the `any' key?
Banu
Nowadays keyboards come with an extra row of buttons along the top: email, internet, volume and so forth. The mute key is pretty useful but the real piece of genius is the calculator key.
I don't care how funky your keyboard is: if you don't have a calculator key I'm not buying it. I'm used to it and I've come to expect it. Five years ago, sure, but get with the program. I'm not willing to remap and lose a regular key.
I like the looks of this keyboard. But, for those looking and drawing any conclusions (I've been burned by this before), read the specs! The web site clearly represents pictorially the keyboard as wireless (I consider this deceptive -- even the "click to zoom" pictures fail to show a cable!). It is not wireless! This may not concern some, but for my uses these days I consider only wireless keyboards... not a commentary on what technology and keyboards should be, just my personal preference.
So, look before you buy.
On a related note, if you're looking for an excuse to improve your typing speed this keyboard may give you that (albeit a bit pricey). I finally was shamed into learning touch-typing when a frustrated on-looker (a friend) wrested my keyboard from my hands to finish typing something he was dictating. That incident prompted me to spend the next week refusing to look at the keyboard to type instead learning the keys by touch. Everyone around me went crazy for a week since my immediate result was essentially less than 10 words/minute with about zero percent accuracy. Within only one week I was typing 30 words/minute with about 80 percent accuracy. Today I easily go 60 wpm... that one incident/response dramatically changed my life professionally and personally.
benefits from learning the keyboard:
I thought that the differing force between various keys has been standard in all keyboards for a very long time. Keytronic has called it Ergoforce.
The keys are divided into groups and their feedback springs are weighted differently; from 35 grams to 80 grams, which correspond to the strength of the finger that touches the keys.
Why not 500 grams? Sure, it'd hurt for a few weeks but then the jocks'd have to welcome their new muscle-nerd overlords! Muahahaha!
it worjs perfevtky wekk anf i'n revommenfing it to everuone#
Now that is what differentiates the true entrepreneur from the ordinary folk: market the feature on which you're actually saving money and sell the item for 3-4 times comparable items.
see a Text Widget
Blank monitor screens to stop us constantly checking our work. Then we'll be flying.
I've been using a mouse like that for years.
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird -- Proverbs 1:17
If you are a TRUE uber-geek, your keyboard will already be missing most of the markings from using it so much...and the ultimate uber-geek will usually be missing the markings from only one side... ;)
No.
More detailed explanation:
(a) I can type at 85 wpm, and sometimes I still forget where a key is sometimes. Even if you know where all the keys are, sometimes you may brush the keyboard to one side, and lose orientation, thus needing you to look down at the keyboard anyway to get it back. Not seeing keys makes it harder to regain that orientation.
(b) Differentially weighted keys is a minimal improvement at best. Regular keyboards with regularly weighted keys have never bothered me, and unless these keys make me feel physical pleasure of some form when I hit them, it ain't worth spending extra money on.
(c) It's not even wireless. No bells, no whistles, nothing. Pass on it.
> which the maker touts will make you type 100%
> faster in a few weeks since it will keep you from
> looking at the keyboard.
10-15 years ago I might have agreed with this, but today there are so many keyboard layouts that it is impossible not to look. The ~ and | symbols are in a different place on every one of the 10 keyboards I use daily, for example.
sPh
Or if you use a Model M or Model M clone, just pop off your key caps and type on the underlying bases, for a unique typing experience.
But really, you might as well just arrange your keys in whatever configuration you like, if you've got a Model M.
I don't usually look at the keyboard, except for some keys I don't use very often. It would be cool to get a Braile keyboard without the keys printed on it, so I could subconsciously learn Braile while I'm typing. You never know when or if you're going to go blind.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
I'm never going back to an old-style keyboard... Using Logitechs Ultraflat keyboard... I type faster, with less strain, and am more comfortable while doing it. Did I mention it costs 30 bucks and is the same type of keyboard you find on laptops?
For $799.99 you can have the ultimate in distraction free typing. after a few weeks you will intuitively know where on the screen the cursor is and your speed will increase at least 100%. Plus, without those distracting Graphics, you will be able to focus on kicking ass when gaming.
Order today, and I will throw in a Dolby 7.1 certified speakers that have no jack!
You have to show ID because it's been a law for a long, long time. Computers are just making it easier by reminding people now. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, all stores are required to see proof of age for purchase of all products distributed in a spray can, as well as anything that can be huffed for a high. Other products on this list include painballs and related supplies, pellet guns, and most obvoiusly ammunition. Note this is not a "Wal-Mart" policy, but a law requarding dangerous substances. You could actually have any place that didn't ask for ID investigated and fined for not following the law :)
~~ Please keep your arms, legs, and outright stupidity inside the ride at all times. Thank You ~~
All you folks with worn keys are now under arrest.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
[email to daskeyboard...]
Hi,
Can I get a version that has the letters on all the wrong keys, so I'm
punished if I get weak and look at the keyboard?
----
[reply...]
That's a great idea. I will let you know when we can send you your punishment.
Thanks
Birgit
Friends of mine live in France at borders, work in Germany or Switzerland, occasionnaly fly to the US or China. These people are used to mentally swith keyboard mappings. (*)
Imagine blank keyboard everywhere: impossible to know wich language it uses!!
[(*) As many people of my generation used to games which thought American keyboards were the only ones: in France convert A to Q, W to Z, comma and M, and do not use Shift for numbers...]
On the other side, these keyboards would be the first real international keyboards: just configure the OS, and you don't have to learn a new keyboard mapping each time you visit a new country.
(Yes, we can already do that, but it seems humans need a reason to be lazy and force the computer to adapt to them instead of adapting to it).
Christophe (Don't hesitate to point out my spelling and grammar mistakes, I want to learn - Thanks).
Most keyboards are hard wired for QWERTY. If you have a blank keyboard you can surely remap the keys in windows for DVORAK, but if you are navigating your BIOS or running in DOS or some other shell then your keyboard is going to return to QWERTY. They should think about making a DasVORAK Keyboard, if the keyboard improves your typing as much as they say it does it would be crazy not to.
I am typing this on a http://datahand.com/ if you're not melded with your keyboard you are not worthy!
And yes it really helps with finger stress/fatigue, whatever you want to call it.
I just have to deal with being refered to as Edward Keyboardhands, or Keyboardstein by the co-workers.
Still a lil slower than traditional but it's worth not killing my hands.
(I bought mine on ebay but have talked to datahand reps a number of times, they're all very helpful)
-- taking over the world, we are.
A true geek kbd has only 2 keys anyway - 1 and 0. No matter how you place them, you'll be able to memorize their position in a few seconds.
In the world of keyboard manufacuturing, the "grams of force" is the "equivalent compression weight" to trigger the key. An 80-gram key would require an 80-gram weight to be set on it to trigger its function. You have to push as hard on the key as an 80-gram weight would in order to type on it.
This is useful because its relatively easy to measure it consistently, meaning it's harder for manufacturers to fabricate results.
Factory testing means a couple things. First, it means that a *sample* of keyboards are put through the full service cycle; all the switches on the keyboard can be hit simultaneously -- it might take a half-day to test a keyboard, but that's OK. It also means that each keyboard is likely tested for each key's function before it is packed for shipping.
"Premium keyswitch technology" is probably just marketing-speak.
A keyboard without letters on it will not make a typist any faster unless they are not a touch-typist. It's also stupid, since keyboard layouts are not completely standard, and since even the best touch-typists ocassionally have bad days and may need to glance at the keyboard.
We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
You mean to tell me that other people have keyboards where the letters stay on?
I for one am baffled. This is like buying jeans with holes already ripped in them!
Just like the ones in all the action cartoons of the 1980s, particularly GI Joe, where NONE OF THE KEYS ARE LABELLED!
I always wondered about that. Action cartoons have these huge control panels in the various friendly and enemy bases, with football-field sized consoles with millions of buttons and keys, NONE OF WHICH ARE LABELLED.
I guess people who use those systems must have amazing memory, eh?
-Z
Given that nobody is *forcing* you to look at the KB in the first place, here's what I'd like to see:
A keyboard that looks up what language and layout you've selected (Dvorak, Kanji, Hebrew, etc), and has teeny LCD displays in every key that automatically display the current symbol said key produces.
Now that would be really cool!
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
The bunch that make the Happy Hacker Keyboards also make a version with blank key caps. They are quite expensive but well made.
UK Distributor: http://chygwyn.com/products/hardware/#pid52842
See the link for the Keytronic E03600, notice the pictures, key placement/arrangement, are exactly the same.
They didn't even bother to update the layout image for the different key weights (they simply resized it and put a note that "...the letters are visible on this diagram for information purposes only." See Keytronic's version and Das Keyboard's Version. Though for some reason, Das Keyboard's image is better.
And you can buy Keytronic's for $21.50 directly from the manufacturer, or even less elsewhere. It's currently out of stock from Keytronic; maybe these people bought them all thinking they had a gold mine at 400% profit! :-b
Marketing! Marketing! Marketing!
Stronger fingers have a tendency to push harder whether it's required or not. Weighting keys like the spacebar, which is pressed with your thumb(s), more heavily means that you don't bottom out the key with as much force. The result is less jarring on your fingers.
The alternative is to train yourself with minimal-force exercises, wherein you learn to press all keys only as hard as you need to. Unforutnately, this can easliy lead to increased tension in the hands, increasing the risk of RSI. Most decent ergo keyboards have distributed the "key weight" somewhat. It is possible, however, to learn to distribute it yourself -- take piano lessons from a good teacher, and you will learn a lot about consistent keystroke force.
We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
I've typed on a few keyboards like that: the original Commodore PET had the whole keyboard as a grid, and there was a "gamers' keyboard" at the local Micro Center that had just the left half laid out as a grid.
In both cases, the grid-layout keyboards are almost impossible for humans to type on, particularly humans who already know how to type. Even if you've never typed before, I suspect you'd end up cursing at the grid layout. It looks like it would require pretty unnatural finger motions to use.
Actually, the gamers' keyboard looks like it'd be wonderful for gaming (what it was designed for), you'd just need a second keyboard for everything else (not a problem with USB, if you have the desk space for them both).
> other such advances like putting the numpad and home/end, etc keys in the middle so the typing is kind of ergonomical but doesn't have the numpad jetting off waaaayyy over to the right?!?!
Agree 100% about the numpad. In fact my favorite keyboard ever is the IBM Model M Spacesaver, which doesn't have the num pad at all. I really don't miss it (I don't use it on any keyboard at all), but I've seen some serious rapid data entry by people who do use it... The best of both worlds would be to have all keyboards come in two varieties (with or without numpad), or maybe for all keyboards to have removable numpads.
But then I think the best of all possible worlds would be a world where every desk has an IBM Model M on it, so what do I know?
Your idea of moving the home/end/etc. keys to the middle is the best thing I've seen in this thread. They could be grouped together in a row between the existing F-keys and numbers/punctuation, so you could reach them with just a little extra finger stretch instead of having to move your whole hand several inches to the right.
A TRUE ubergeek wears the letters off his keyboard after a few weeks of use.
I can't resist the opportunity to blatantly plug my favourite keyboard for the Mac: the Matias Tactile Pro, which has the excellent IBM-style keyswitches.
"He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once." - Steve Jobs on Bill Gates
Does anyone happen to know what is used to put lettering on keyboards these days and, more importantly, what it would take to remove it? Turpentine? Acetone? Xylene? Preferably something that doesn't also dissolve the keys....
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
- Hardwired dvorak/us switch (I use Dvorak, but it'd be easier to share this way)
- Black or transparent (looks good), better when used with a mac
- Not only ergonomic, but Adjustably ergonomic This is what I use today.
- I'll take the blank keys from this one
- I'll also take the variable force springs
- Wireless
- Ability to add a separate numeric keypad for those rare times when I need to input lots of numbers
- A row of buttons for macros
I'd be willing to put $150.00 for these features.$omv;ifr >dyfop/j? ,som)_ }
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[tomyg)"Jr;;p. Ept;d@"_'
tryitm =2'
|
Oh crap, not again.
The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
What (I think) happens is that when my eyes are seeing letters come up on the screen that are a character or two behind the letters that my fingers are typing to spell the word correctly, there is some sort of confusion in my "muscle memory" about what letter comes next, and I have to slow down my typing until the letters on-screen are coming up in synch with the letters my fingers are typing.
If the echo on the monitor is slower than my fingers are getting to the keys, I start misspelling everything; I think it's because my fingers are trying to type the letter that comes next according to what my eyes are seeing, rather than going by the more-concious(?) part of my brain that knows which letters have already been typed.
Has anyone else experienced this, or is it unique to the way I've learned to type? (I was forced to take keyboarding classes (on PC's) in Junior High & early High School, but my touch-typing skills sucked until I started having to type lots of papers for classes. Now, I'm reasonably fast.) Does anyone know of a way to correct it? I'm thinking that I can work off the theory of this keyboard and practice typing with my eyes closed, but without constant spell-checking, that could be rather detrimental to my career. =)
dragée (n): a sugarcoated nut
[honker@r11serv honker]$ su -
Password:
su: incorrect password
[honker@r11serv honker]$ su -
Password:
su: incorrect password
[honker@r11serv honker]$ su -
Password:
su: incorrect password
DAMN IT!!
- these are not the droids you are looking for -
Learn DVORAK and keep your current keyboard. You'll never want to look at the keys anymore because they will confuse you. Result? You'll be typing without looking which is, according to the article, going to give you 100% faster typing (...) AND you'll be less prone to typing injuries AND it will cost you a whopping 0$! What a bundle! (just let the new layout sink-in for a few months)
I use a Kinesis Countoured Programmable keyboard with a footswitch. Mine is in Dvorak layout, but they're switchable in hardware., so use whatever you like. Among other things, I use one of the footswitches as the shift key. That solves part one of your problem. In addition, most of the modifier keys are under your thumbs, which get six keys each instead of sharing just the spacebar.
Aside from the ergonomic benefits (this thing cured my tenosynovitis in college a decade ago and I've never looked back), the keyboard can program a macro to any key. And, it has an additional modifier key that lets you define a second meaning for every key - the idea being that you use this to emulate a keypad.
I use the second layer to define code macros. HTML macros on the left, C-style code macros on the right. I use one of the footswitches to activate the second layer. So, for example,[right foot][k], meaning the key under my middle finger, home row, gives me this:
Where the * represents the location of the cursor after the macro runs, since the macros can include arrow keys. All that from a foot-tap and one non-pinkie homerow keystroke. I make new macros on the fly when I find I'm retyping something too often. Like an identifier, if I'm not in an IDE with auto-complete, or deleting the first character of every line, if i'm in an editor without rectangular selection.
Tapping the footswitch and hitting middle-homerow-left gives me:
I have equivalent macros for every HTML entity I use frequently. If I need to add a code around existing text, I use the shifted macro, which I've defined to be "cut - type macro - arrow between the codes - paste". I manage to bang out most programming code and most HTML without touching shift. And most of the long complex strings - like your example - take only a few keystrokes.When I have to use my laptop, I feel pretty crippled. So I often carry the kinesis with me. Fortunately, all those macros are in hardware, so I can. And the USB keyboard is Mac/PC switchable: it's plugged into my KVM and I drive my windows, mac, and linux boxes all with the same macros. Great for cross-platform development and testing.
I stole this sig from someone cleverer than me.