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Das Keyboard: Hit Any Key
Black hardware just can't help looking cool (think TIE fighters, NeXT Cubes, and the hard-to-find black SE/30 case you might have lusted for in 1994), but have you ever wanted an all-black keyboard? Das Keyboard, from Austin-based Metadot, fills the craving for those so afflicted, and by "all-black," I mean something very nearly that: except a small white label ("Das Keyboard") in the upper left corner and labels for the three usual indicator lights -- num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock -- there's nothing but black to see. The keys are unlabeled in any conventional sense, though the index-finger keys of the conventional home row (F and J) are marked with the usual small bumps; theoretically, this should make typing more accurate after a time, just because cheating with one's eyeballs isn't a possibility. It's the aesthetic opposite of the recently announced Optimus keyboard; this is high minimalism applied to the modern keyboard. The truth is, I wanted to like Das Keyboard. It looks cool, and the concept sounds, well, sound. The thing itself left me a bit disappointed, though; I've outlined my reasoning below.
The problem with inviting comparison
Metadot borrowed from the best in the design of their keyboard: dimensionally, it's just about a dead ringer for an IBM Model M. Compared to my 1984 Model M, Das Keyboard's chassis is less than a half-inch shy of the M's longest dimension, and that half inch is shaved off the the outermost edge; key size, curvature and placement are identical to that of the Model M, at least to the limit of the measuring instruments mounted to each side of my nose. (The underside looks quite a bit different, though: A fair amount of Das Keyboard's undercarriage is just empty space, because the plastic underneath follows the curve of the keys themselves, leaving a small wedge of air.) The board's 6-foot USB cable (nice and chunky) exits to the rear through a neat slot straight up from the Caps Lock indicator.
However, the dimensions are unfortunately where the resemblance ends, because the great thing about older, mechanical-action keyboards like the Model M is not so much how they look, but how they feel beneath the hand. Instead of the clacking, snapping action of buckling-spring keyboards, manufacturers have mostly moved to cheaper, less-complicated membrane keyboards, some of which feel better than others. My impression on opening the box and giving the black keyboard a lengthy groping was that the Das Keyboard's action is a bit squishy. To be fair, in the current keyboard market, most of the competition feels no better, and many competitors feel worse. Some people prefer the feel of membrane keyboards, though, so don't take my word for it -- taste in keyboards is idiosyncratic at best. As membrane boards go, Das Keyboard is on the good side of average.
About that extreme makeover ...
So what does the all-black color scheme do for one's typing speed? According to the company, by taking away the crutch of key labels, the user is forced to learn better typing skills and concentrate on their computer's screen.
This may be true for some people, and it sounds like a good theory, but in several weeks of use, I never quite swam, and mostly sank. Whenever I'd hit a wrong key (which was often), I found myself either hunting-and-pecking or craning my neck to peek at a conventional keyboard a few feet away for guidance. I'm an untutored typist, but several years of moderately heavy keyboarding mean I'm at least not a newcomer to entering text with a keyboard -- I even rather enjoy it, most days. However, maybe I'm just a slow learner, but I haven't had as much frustration with a keyboard since I played with a Twiddler a few years ago. Maybe I glance at my keys more than I realize on my conventional keyboard, or maybe it's simply that I had a hard time getting used to the feel of the board, but in the end I ended up disappointed with my speed using Das Keyboard. That's not to say that a better typist would feel the same; maybe I'm just not to the threshold of typing skill that Das Keyboard requires.
According to a company representative, the keys on Das Keyboard are divided into several distinct groups, each with their own response. I tried in vain to detect the difference between keys in various groups, and think I faintly detected it, sometimes. But the difference between any two of the keys on this keyboard (harping, I know) seems far less than that between any of Das Keyboard's keys and its equivalent key on a mechanical-action board. An exception is the space bar, which really did take the promised extra effort to press down: this is a welcome change, and I hope other keyboard makers license (or at least copy!) the idea, because I tend to keep my thumbs on the space bar. (I'd like to see a mechanical-switch version of Das Keyboard, which would retain the neat looks but do away with the milquetoast response.) My muscle memory isn't what it used to be The upshot, at least to me, is that Das Keyboard has a feel slightly better than the run-of-the-mill keyboards on offer at mass-market retailers, and much cooler looks, but costs a bit more than those differences justify, at least to my wallet. The industrial approach of this keyboard would be a perfect match for a gaming or overclocking system built for clean, industrial looks, and a better deal than most "high tech" sculpture, but I'm unconvinced that it's truly a practical improvement. If I wanted a keyboard with the claimed advantages of an absence of key-cap labels, I think I'd hit local thrift stores until I found a model that felt acceptable to my hands, and pick up can apiece of spray paint and lacquer.
This may be true for some people, and it sounds like a good theory, but in several weeks of use, I never quite swam, and mostly sank. Whenever I'd hit a wrong key (which was often), I found myself either hunting-and-pecking or craning my neck to peek at a conventional keyboard a few feet away for guidance. I'm an untutored typist, but several years of moderately heavy keyboarding mean I'm at least not a newcomer to entering text with a keyboard -- I even rather enjoy it, most days. However, maybe I'm just a slow learner, but I haven't had as much frustration with a keyboard since I played with a Twiddler a few years ago. Maybe I glance at my keys more than I realize on my conventional keyboard, or maybe it's simply that I had a hard time getting used to the feel of the board, but in the end I ended up disappointed with my speed using Das Keyboard. That's not to say that a better typist would feel the same; maybe I'm just not to the threshold of typing skill that Das Keyboard requires.
According to a company representative, the keys on Das Keyboard are divided into several distinct groups, each with their own response. I tried in vain to detect the difference between keys in various groups, and think I faintly detected it, sometimes. But the difference between any two of the keys on this keyboard (harping, I know) seems far less than that between any of Das Keyboard's keys and its equivalent key on a mechanical-action board. An exception is the space bar, which really did take the promised extra effort to press down: this is a welcome change, and I hope other keyboard makers license (or at least copy!) the idea, because I tend to keep my thumbs on the space bar. (I'd like to see a mechanical-switch version of Das Keyboard, which would retain the neat looks but do away with the milquetoast response.) My muscle memory isn't what it used to be The upshot, at least to me, is that Das Keyboard has a feel slightly better than the run-of-the-mill keyboards on offer at mass-market retailers, and much cooler looks, but costs a bit more than those differences justify, at least to my wallet. The industrial approach of this keyboard would be a perfect match for a gaming or overclocking system built for clean, industrial looks, and a better deal than most "high tech" sculpture, but I'm unconvinced that it's truly a practical improvement. If I wanted a keyboard with the claimed advantages of an absence of key-cap labels, I think I'd hit local thrift stores until I found a model that felt acceptable to my hands, and pick up can apiece of spray paint and lacquer.
Want to do something more practical? Get a Braille keyboard and learn that while typing. It's a skill, right?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Das Keyboard: For people whose desks are a complete Disaster Area.
Though I hear it works best on the new Sun "Diver" systems.
Gee, where have I seen this before?
"Its this wild colour scheme that freaks me, you know.
When you press one of these black buttons that are labeled
in black on a black background, a little black light lights
up black to let you know you've done it!"
that was the longest thinkgeek advertisement ever.
But how many times do we have to see this fucking thing posted on slashdot?
It's a keyboard.
It's black.
Wow.
Awesome.
Can we please move on now? Seriously!
Wow, 80 bucks for what I can do with 3 dollars worth of spray paint or some solvent to get rid of the letters.
Why in the world does it cost $80?
Long signatures suck.
Did i unknowingly and unwillingly enter a time machine or something?
...
I need to know, 'cause in... 7 hours i am (was?) supposed to take an exam in...
omfg! what year is it?!?!
Looking for people to chat about multicopters, coding, music. skype: gtsiros
This was covered back in May
my geeklog
This is not really something new because I saw this posted weeks ago on another site.
/.
Not really fun to read old news on
das keyboard layout is for finnish what dvorak is for english.
It's useless unless you write finnish with it.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
A can of black paint, people!
In the war between style and substance, you are the losers!
Deleted
I don't want to be a jerk or anything, but this has been up on every site I read, including /. for the last couple of months. I find it hard to believe that an editor has never heard of this before submitting this.
This is like posting a story about the invention of the Roomba. I assure you, we know. We read about it on Fark, Gizmodo, Slashdot, and every other techy blog out there months ago, over and over again.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/ 25/123240&tid=227
Okay, I can type (quite well) without looking at the keyboard, but I'll be damned if I can remember which key is "scroll lock", which is "print screen", and which is "pause/break". And where's that pipe again? Accent mark?
Form over function is never positive.
how is this different than:
1) buying a cheap (non internet, non media) keyboard from bestbuy, or a computer shop
2) spray paint the darn thing in black?
i mean.. wtf? 80 bucks for that?
i mrsn drtioudly@ my typing had gtrsyrly imptobrd sibce u started ysubg ut!@
"If you are going to get one; get two: one for you and one for your best friend."
Because I know my friends would just love it if I secretly replaced their keyboard with one that had no labels on it. Of course they wouldn't be able to email me their problems any more.... hmmm maybe it is a good idea after all.
So, how will you find the Any Key?
How is this news?
While we're on the subject, I've been looking for one of the old black, metal keyboards from the 80's. But to no avail. Does anyone have any tips? PS/2, AT, whatever doesn't matter. Thanks.
to be a das look-alike
tools: can of spray paint
steps:
spray keyboard
I know I've seen this before somewhere.
Have you read my blog lately?
is the optimus keyboard.
yes, i know its not out yet. but having a display on keys is the only way to go.
Spinal Tapish...
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
On May 25th, 2005 with 994 comments
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...
Hardware > Input Devices
Score: 0.5
Is that really most people's limitation when typing? That they're tempted to peek at the keyboard? I highly doubt that. Mostly this sort of thing just makes it more difficult when you're doing a one-handed peck at a few keys while doing something else.
I typically go through a keyboard per year, and by the time I replace it I've usually worn the lettering off most of it. No one makes keyboards w/ the lettering molded into the keys any more, not even IBM.
For that matter, why not just buy a cheapie keyboard, and put some acetone on a rag and wipe off the lettering?
I've never tried, but it seems a better solution than buying a $80 keyboard.
For 80 bux I will gladly gouge out your eyes. Your typing will increase and you may develope super sonic hearing, which you can then use to fight crime vigilante style.
The one that buys the all-blank keyboard... Or the one that wears the legends off of a stock keyboard?
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
i would never buy that keyboard, but i find it hilarious that some guy bought a keyboard with nothing on the keys, AND IS NOW COMPLAINING THAT HE HAS TROUBLE KNOWING WHAT TO TYPE. I'm a pretty good typist, I could probably get away with buying a keyboard with nothing on the keys and typing away -- BUT I WOULDNT POST AN ARTICLE ON SLASHDOT IF I WAS STUPID ENUFF TO FAIL AT IT. Hahahahaha. People are funny. Tomorrow's article will be "I bought a bucket with no handles and had trouble carrying it!"
Hehe. I love the internet sometimes.
PT Barnum would be so proud.
And where's that pipe again?
right pinky
Accent mark?
left pinky
I don't think I would buy this. First of all if I want a black keyboard that types pretty nice I will get a IBM keyboard for next to nothing from work. Also that would be stupid to have an all black keys, what would be the point. Never the less it cost 80 dollars for it. Keep Moving nothing to see here No thanks I will just continue to use my IBM keyboard
Small, single-row enter, big backslash above enter, I thought that was the idea for making typing MS-DOS paths easier, and we have left that behind already, but seems they still live in early nineties...
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
go w/ the happy hacking keyboard instead .. it's just as bad ass black and wonderfully small (with full sized keys) and has great action.
http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/en/hhkeyboard/images/20 0B.jpg
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/pfuca-store/haphackeyl it1.html
david reuteler
"in the upper left corner and labels for the three usual indicator lights -- num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock --"
Why do keyboard manufacturers persist in placing these lights like this? Back in the late 80s I had an Amstrad PC and the lights were on the keys themselves. That's so much more user friendly.
My MSFT keyboard has them in the middle labelled with a "1" in a box, an "A" in a box, and an arrow pointing down to a horizontal line. Pretty much meaningless and I have to think about them whenever I look at them. My wireless MSFT keyboard has no lights - they're on the receiver. It has one labelled with an "F" in a box (dumb Function lock thing). My dad's Logitech wireless keyboard has to install software that shows "lights" in the taskbar under Windows. Keyboard designers are so poor at some things.
Get a Happy Hacking Blank Key keyboard instead. It is three times the price but it is a lot smaller, doesn't have that totally useless numeric pad no one uses nowadays, or those retarded so-called Windows keys. It is a lot lighter, too. What is the use of having the best keyboard if you cannot carry it and brag around with it?
God, root, what is difference ?
Instead of the clacking, snapping action of buckling-spring keyboards, manufacturers have mostly moved to cheaper, less-complicated membrane keyboards...
And from the specifications of this keyboard they provide a reason:
Das Keyboard makes a quiet clicky and snazzy sound. It does not require the use of ear plugs
C17H21NO4
I did this with an old IBM keyboard some time ago. I found that for typing letters and numbers it was a breeze. Delete? Right square bracket? Some things just didn't click as easily.
I've had the companion "Das Maus" for years. Unlabelled buttons, I promise you! I beleive there may exist a rare "Das Maus, Blonde Edition" with the buttons clearly labelled....
Das Keyboard is no innovation at all. Ho hum, BORING!!! ZZZzzz...
As pointed out, $3 at the thrift store and a few minutes removing markings with thinners / sandpaper / paint. Big is the asshole who parts with $80 for this. What a waste of /. attention too.
When it comes to regular everyday typing, I'm dead on. I can do my letters, period, comma, spacebar and numbers with almost no errors (well, no errors which can't be attributed to my own lack of spelling ability). However, what will screw me up most is when I have to use those characters I rarely ever use like curley brackets, semicolon, apostraphe, and so on (maybe if I were a programmer I'd know those cold, but I'm not). What's even worse is when I drop something on my keyboard which ends up hitting num lock or scroll lock. Even with those I end up taking a few second trying to find where that key is. I have a feeling that if I tried using this keyboard, the improvement in my base typing would be balanced by the slowing down I experience with all the semi-used characters and keys.
Ha, on my keyboard the letters are disappearing from normal wear. Backspace, right shift, up arrow, and left arrow are completely gone, as is spac... erm, nevermind. Left Ctrl, A, S, E, R, T, H, N, M, L, I, O, ., ,, ?, Delete, Down Arrow all have moderate to heavy wear. That's actually an interesting and surprising set of keys. What's more surprising is how right arrow has almost no wear...
Of course, some of these rub-offs could be partially effected by the ice cream and stuff I regularly spill...
Why do I have the strange feeling I've seen this on slashdot before. Wasn't the consensus then to just buy that same model keyboard directly from the original manufacturer and then spraypaint the keys black yourself?
Thanks for not making this into a Slashvertisement. When I first read about "Das Keyboard," I figured a review of it could be summed up using "The Emperor's New Clothes" as a metaphor. They tout it as being pretty advanced, when in reality it's probably just a truckload of Dell keyboards that mistakenly didn't get the key labels, but some marketing whiz decided to give it a geek chic name and call it "elite."
rooooar
Looks like a relabeled Keytronic keyboard to me.
You just wish your ID was as low as mine! I used to be proud to have such a low id, but not so much now. Slashdot most
Let's consider something that counts: the optimus keyboard does not exist. It's just a good photoshop mockup -- you know, like a 6.80 GHz Optical laptop with 1TB memory. Das does exist.
Han-Wen Nienhuys -- LilyPond
OK, I'm a fast typer. Really fast - I tend to average between 80-100 wpm (I'm juuusst a bit below the highscores on TyperA).
I've got a keyboard that's essentially the same. It's a Canadian keyboard layout, which has a QWERTY layout, but all of the auxiliary stuff is labelled wrong (shift-2 is ", for instance). But I've got it on an English layout.
I can type on it - reasonably well. But sometimes I still have to guess as to where the | key is, or exactly which one is the ]. It hasn't really sped things up.
I would've preferred leaving labels on for the non-letter characters. Especially considering that not all special character layouts are the same on keyboards - especially laptops (where the heck is the delete key!).
what an incredibly stupid invention. wow, it's so innovative and yet nobody i know would ever be able to type on my keyboard. keep up the great work guys!
You can still get buckling-spring keyboards at PCKeyboard.com. Nothing beats the feel of a buckling-spring, I find myself agreeing with the reviewer.
One of the features of a truly good keyboard is the ability to be serviced by its user without destroying the keyboard - after spilling pizza, coke, and cereal all over it, I expect to be able to take off the keys and mop up the remains of my ill-advised snacking over the keyboard. This feature (ability to perform simple repair/maintenance like this) is commong to buckling-spring keyboards, but I have to ask, is it a possibility on this one? Is this one of those bubble matrix ones, or what?
Just wish I had more information on Das Keyboard.
The May posting was a product annoucement-type story. This posting is actually a review.
While "dupe" is usually the way to bet, around here, you bet wrong this time. Thanks for playing...
And now we'll have a big flame war about whether Star Wars really is *the* geek movie, or possibly whether I should have _underlined_ the title, or used italics for emphasis. Or possibly even exactly what shade of grey a TIE fighter is. And let's not forget US/Correct^WBritish tiffs about colour and grey.
What were we discussing again? Hey, check out this keyboard: it's all black with no key markings!
eom
Bout dam time brothers got some representation up in yo clickity clax
jujuju G-U-NIX
I've heard this company's next product will be the black monitor. For an extra $99 you can upgrade to the all black flat panel.
No Sigs!
Back in the old days, read early 90's, we had keyboards with a decent sized return key. I miss them.
These keyboards with no alphanumerics are not a motivator for me. It seems the best suited for a person wanting others to stay away from their stealth keyboard.
Thankfully there is at least one company that still makes the big return key Northgate style keyboards.
Supposedly, this one gives unique feel to each key group, so you should know when you reach with wrong finger to a key that belongs to a different finger. In reality though, they are pretty much indistinguishable, so just take spray or acetone...
:)
Well, what IMHO would make this a truly 1337 keyboard: Have the letter caps printed in UV color. Then install a blacklight light source (preferably a point one, directed at the keyboard) and be able to type in complete darkness, with only keys glowing dimly
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
.. and Pete falls off.
Who's left?
Das Slashdot: Dupe Any Story: http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/ 25/123240&tid=227
As far as I know, the Model M were built from 1985 until 1990 (see Wikipedia article). So how can the poster own a Model M from 1984?
Regards,
Dennis-Bendert Schramm
Sigs suck!
I have an old (and cheap) keyboard at my parents' place which is really starting to show its age: many of the letters have rubbed off, and the plastic is actually wrinkled in places. My dad actually refuses to use this keyboard because of the lack of letters... on one hand, this is good because it means he won't touch my stuff, but on the other, well... when I just want him to type in a password, it's a pain in the ass. Obviously my crappy old keyboard lacks the geek appeal of Das Keyboard (which I've been admiring on ThinkGeek for a while), but it's given me some insight into the upsides and downsides of an unlabelled minimilist design.
Hans, would you like to touch my keyboard? Touch my keyboard! Touch him! Love him! Liebe mein Tastatur!
Now is the time on Sprockets when we enter data.
Then there's these mice, I am quite happy with my Logitech 3 button mouse circa 1995. It works perfectly for me (of course you need to periodically clean them) and doesn't have that stupid scroll device that everyone seems so intent in putting in them these days. That reminds me, I need to go to the local computer recycling place and dig around in their bins to find some good keyboards and mice to stockpile that have a reasonable layout before the entire earth is plagued with these new marvels that annoy me so much.
I don't expect everyone here to agree with me, i know quite a few people who love their scroll wheels and fancy optical mice. I'm just not one of them.
Type up to 100% faster in a few weeks
Since there is no key to look at when typing, your brain will quickly adapt and memorize the key positions and you will find yourself typing a lot faster with more accuracy in no time. It is amazing how slow typers almost double their speed and quick typers become blazing fast!
Whatever happened to self discipline? If this really does increase typing speed by not displaying keys, would it really improve your wpm that drastically? I think that's kind of a poor selling point in my opinion.
However, the individually weighted key switches sound brilliant and if this keyboard weren't so expensive I'd love to try it out!
$fortune
Tomorrow has been canceled due to lack of interest.
black markers work on keyboards as well as cds
This is sillier than the clear lighted keyboard i bought for my clear lighted computer. hehe, half the letter are above a post and don't get lit so alot of the same functionallity tho.
our office:
2 old IBM keyboards, dual purpose for self defense
4 old WANG keyboards, virtually identical to ibm
2 MS ergo kb
several throw-away OEM for the peons.
If only i could figure out how to mod the old keyboards from the Wang minicomputer terminals. I love the enter key where the arrows are now(pinky while typing, thumb from keypad, all alone with nothing to hit by mistake) not to mention they double as car ramps...
...but why on earth would someone who (apparently) can't touch-type decide to review a keyboard that pretty much requires it?
I mean, if that's useful, i can submit a review of a piano, complaining about how the notes aren't painted on the white keys... Just let me know...
When this was first posted to Slashdot I cut up some blank stickers and covered my keys. Have I noticed an improvement in my typing? Well, it took four tries to type the word typing just there. It's a pain. That's the last time I try something I read here. Also, the home made air conditioner sucked.
This was already announced on /. months ago!
Ubuntu, the way linux should be.
Try Ubuntu FREE! --
Just take some typing lessons, and you won't be looking at the keys anyway.
I know the very idea of slashdotters learning something from being taught is wildly foreign, but figure I'd throw it out there anyway. This is a product with no real market outside of a handful of elite idiots whom you'd never want to meet anyway.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
A kyebraod I cna ues wehn wriitng my slahstod pots!!1! I lvoe it.
Yuo msut gte noe!
The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made. (Marx)
1. One way to get them is to work for IBM: wherever you work, there will be piles of them gathering dust in the back of an office or lab. You can use keyboards from RS/6000s as well as PC keyboards.
2. Another way is dumpster diving. People throw out old computers, and they throw out old keyboards too. Look out for interesting computery things in skips, and then come back after dark to grab them. Your local University campus is a good place to look.
Having said that, I currently use a Silicon Graphics keyboard (it doesn't have a funky model number). I got it by buying an old Indy. In my view it is better than a Model M. It is certainly a lot quieter and the keys are easier to press, but it still has a positive key-click. It has also survived having drinks spilled on it a couple of times: lesser keyboards do not survive this test.
You're an immobile computer, remember?
Is it just me or are those just like the old, heavy, Quake-god keyboards from the early/mid 90's? Back in the day at college the keyboards they had like this were almost totally blank they were used so heavily, well, aside from the coating of crud around the keys...
Damien
It's the black one.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
is it available in a british layout? oh, and that's not a joke, we have different enter keys.
"Religion is the most malevolent of all mind viruses." - Arthur C. Clarke.
The grey-shade will dynamically adjusted between 250-255 depending on how frequent the user look at the monitor using a built-in web-cam and fuzzy logic-programmed FPGA using LOGO emulation.
According to Bill, the manager who's piloting the trial use, "BasMonitors allow developers to read marketing collaterals as spec. without looking at the monitor. Not only it improves efficiency, it will dramatically cut cost in future need of monitor purchase. We are also planning to buy one BasMonitor for the testing department in which they'll use it on a rotational basis. Imagine streamlining the entire company by only purchasing one monitor!"
Has anyone noticed that most new keyboards from Microsoft and Logitech have a new the layout? The nsert/delete/home/end/page up/page down keys are rearranged, one of them is missing and another one is twice as big. Why?
If you really want to improve your ability to type without looking at the keys, learn Dvorak with a re-mapped QWERTY.
:)
The layout is far superior to QWERTY, but that's not the point. The point is that when you instinctively look down at the keyboard to find the 'j' key, you will be greeted by such shocking cognitive dissonance that after a few days, you'll give up on looking at the keys, and actually learn where they live. I think it's even better than a blank keyboard, and it's certainly cheaper
vi is my shepard, I shall not font.
How much more black could it be?
None. None more black.
I received one of the first Das Keyboards back in June of this year and have been using it since. I too am a self taught typist. I have to say that my typing has got better, but it has taken a long time. I find that I have to use the force sometimes to get things going well. If I just forget about typing and just actually type, I am faster and more accurate. When I think too much about what I am doing I make mistakes. The hardest thing for me was to remember what the shift characters were above the number line. Occasionally, I have to hit a key and then the backspace a few times until I get the one I wanted. The coolest part is when people come into my office and see it. It gets a better response than my TouchStream keyboard. Now that is a cool and innovative keyboard. Too bad they went out of business!
My
Lay off 20 smurfs who hand paint each letter as it rolls by on the conveyor belt. Tell marketing it's a new design. Suckor some tool to post it on a "news for nerds" site. Profit deez nutz...
Sorry but this looks like a black'd out cheapo keyboard off a TTY terminal. I'll keep my MS keyboard with large amounts of nice extra buttons for iTunes controls and other functions.
-Xen
I hope it continues to hold up for the next repeat as well.
If you can't touchtype with the number of typing tutor programs available as free or share out there, well, then I guess you've no interest in touchtyping, so -of course- a keyboard without letters is going to suck for you.
... but otherwise...)
However, a keyboard without letters is going to suck even worse for games. I mean, I touch type in dvorak, so it's not like I use the letters anyway (okay, I could peek for A and M
When gaming though, I put my keyboard back in qwerty mode, because games don't use the keyboard as a -keyboard-. You can't put both hands on it and touchtype... you've got to keep a hand on the mouse or joystick. The keyboard acts as a control panel of buttons, not as a text entry device. An unlabeled keyboard for games would really and truly suck.
Well.
Unless you took advantage of this to put your own labels on the keys, maybe.
--Parity
'Card carrying' member of the EFF.
For black hardware I prefer my Remington Model Ten
Noiseless typewriter. Black *and* Art Deco --- yow!
Seems very much to match Keytronic E03600QUSUSBB-C
Specs of the Keytronics Keyboard
Specs of the Das Keyboard
Complete with the following identical features , verbatum: .150" ±.010" @100g .4oz"
"High quality membrane switch"es
"Three Windows keys"
Key lifetime is "30 million keystrokes"
Operating shock of "10 G"
"Phantom key lockout"
A "Reset force" of ".5oz"
Input power of "+5 Vdc ±.25 V @ 100 mA max."
Agency approvals (in this order) "FCC Class B", " UL", and "CSA".
Total Travel of
Travel to peak is ".050" ±.010""
Peak force is "2.0 oz +/-
Also the keytronics has "Ergo Technology," which is a word-for-word ripoff, with "Ergo Technology" being replaced by "Das Keyboard". Second paragraph of the keytronic specs is the same as a paragraph off the front page of Das Keyboard.
And look at the image of the Ergo Technology!
Look familar?
Guess what? Its only $21.50 at keytronics.
Stop giving this rip off free advertising for an overpriced keyboard with its letters solvented off without even credit to keytronic.
Too bad they don't have international versions of it for other countries. I contacted the sale reps and they say they hope to introduce them in the near future.
I want a keyboard that changes color based on how hard I'm banging the keys. :)
Black and blue is the color of the day.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
ThinkGeek has been selling those for quite a while. I'm sure I saw them advertise it more than once here.
It doesn't even come in Dvorak layout! How am I supposed to keep up my 200 wpm typing speed on this?
;)
*ducks for cover*
Sorry, couldn't help it
Pah, you think that's cool, there's a blank Apple Pro keyboard going for buttons on eBay right now. A genuine apple keyboard, just they obviously made a mistake. At first I thought it was a normal one sprayed, but it's not, just never had the character glyphs printed. Pretty neat. I'd get it, but it's going out of my price range, and I just bought a new mighty-mouse, so my new kit budget is 0. The auction can be found here Enjoy!
The truth shall always be free: Boris Floricic is Tron.
Instead of painting over your keyboard, you can try removing the keys and mixing them up, with the exception of F and J so that you can find the home row by touch. One trick is that you can only mix up the keys with keys on the same row because most keyboards have different sized keys for the rows. This might not have the cool factor of Das Keyboard, but for learning how to touch type it should be just as effective. It's cleaner than paint and it can be easily undone.
-- Knowledge shared is power lost. -- Aleister Crowley
Das Spraycan
The advertisements on Slashdot are getting more blatent by the minute.
HJ
...how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
But where's the any key?!
TIE Fighters aren't black.
Sorry. It's Slashdot. I had to say it.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/en/hhkeyboard/hhkbpro/n okeytop.html
And, yes, they have charcoal grey, too. Or better yet, a model with barely visible labels for the occasional search for the Print Screen key.
I can testify that the HHKB Lite is a great keyboard. I have two.
Has anyone tried a Pro model?
I have my keyboard on a keyboard tray shoved in completely under my desk. I can't see a damn key on it, nor anything past my wrists. Turns out the hardest thing is learning where the function keys are by muscle memory. After that hurdle is crossed you'll find that having an invisible keyboard frees up a lot of desk space. And people are *reallly* reluctant to use your machine when they can't even see their hands :)
-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.
I'd buy one of these just as a practical joke.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Bring back the original KeyTronic Professional Series keyboards. Big "L" shaped RETURN key, injection-molded keys so the letters won't wear off, and DIP switch swappable CAPS LOCK and CONTROL keys and keycaps. Who uses the CAPS LOCK more than the CONTROL key? The CONTROL key belongs adjacent to the A key. The DEC VT52/VT101 keyboard got it right and IBM had to fsck it up with their Personal Computer (also a KeyTronic keyboard). As for keyboard feel, I had the pleasure of using an IBM 3200 (forgot exact model) keyboard a long time ago. The feel was awesome.
signature pending slashdot approval
Only available in black? What is this, the Model T?
Unlabelled keys have been around for a long time.
-dB
"It if was easy to do, we'd find someone cheaper than you to do it."
What you are looking for is a cheep keyboard with rough lettering ie you can feel the letters. If you cannot they have been either inked into the plastic or over coated. Best keys to feel is normaly the word enter on the number pad.
One of these keyboards not for me use but ended up mime I cleaned over with a monitor wipe and blured all the keys. Did my typing good. They thought it was revenge for stuffing up a keyboard 2 months latter why can you type so fast so I gave the keyboard back and got Ok bad keyboard good typing speed. The question is what ink did they use and what solvent is required. Some are oil based ie standard house paint that is not removeable ie you will destroy the keys. Some are acrilic the metho and other thing will eat them. Note people who drink lose thier keys off of some keyboards faster.
Paint does not work. Black dye gets close ie Dye the plastic from white to black.(case mod before black keyboards were around a lot on the market.) Note if you look really hard you will still see the letters. Nice eye strain if you don't know where the keys are.
Dye is not removable its a one way convert. Case moders dye plastic all the time ie frount of drives and cases is made from the same plastic as keyboards so same methord.
Oh boy. Black on black with a black background
My karma is not a Chameleon.
They erase everything useful and put a childlike name on it. I hope this story was submitted so would make fun of this item
It's a cute idea but it's really nothing more than a gimmick. Unless it has some kind of life-changing amazing typing response there's no way that I'll pay $80 for a keyboard.
As for not having labels on the keys, so what? I've not looked at the keyboard when typing for over 15 years.
I'll stick to my HP multimedia keyboard that came free with my PC.
Well, I ordered a DAS Keyboard from Thinkgeek a couple of weeks ago and thankfully the hoop jumping I was subjected to, to verify my billing address, gave me time to think, and discover, that Logitech G15's will be available shortly, and for the same price.
;)
I know what i'd rather spend that sort of money on, and at the end of the day, it wasn't a Das Keyboard.
As you wish.
http://www.pckeyboard.com/customizer.html
I picked these colors for mine.
http://www.pckeyboard.com/images/BlackMetallicSamp le.jpg
Buckling spring keyswitches. This company spun off from Lexmark, which (in turn) spun off from IBM.
It's probably a fair price with US labor. We are doomed.
Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
5. I don't even have a keyboard you insensitive clod.
You're probably joking, but for OOS reasons I have been practically keyboard-free for a couple of years now (on both Linux and Windows). I use one for typing in my login password, and for text-mode console emergencies, but that's about it.
It's quite possible to be fully productive without a keyboard.
Sophisticated Nerd #2: Ah yes, 1984. The vintage is most excellent.
Nerd 1: Can you believe that some people actually type on (shocked whisper) PS/2 keyboards?
Nerd 2: That's positively scandalous! Worse yet, I was at my financial institution (banks are for the unwashed masses) yesterday, and the teller was actually typing on a Logitech USB keyboard. Every time he hit the Windows key, I wanted to lecture him on real keyboards and the proper volume of key clack, but it would have been completely lost on the brute.
Nerd 1: It's completely ridiculous. There should be laws against such mindless use mundane computer components.
Or did nobody else think it was odd how the author compared it to a 20 year old design as if it were a car or a fine wine?
The Das Keyboard is a 'standard IBM' usb Keytronic keyboard without keycaps. I'm serious, compare images of the two if you want. Same exact keyboard. Same 'key weighting' and the Keytronic costs 1/5th of the 100USD das keyboard. Actually I think it's my favorite keyboard except maybe my A500's
I got one of these keyboards, and remapped it to the Dvorak layout.
I've been scarred ever since.
--
$tar -xvf
And I'm typing from it right now. I don't really have any issues with not hitting the right keys at all, and I don't really feel the need to look at the keyboard. About the only problems that I have with it are when I'm sitting in an unusual position, and I can't find the home row. But overall, the keyboard is very very solid, and feels just right to the fingertips.
He is probably reading the copyright date. The sticker on the back of MY 1391401 has a large IBM logo and (c) IBM Corp. 1984 on the right. More specific information is in dot-matrix on the left. Under date, mine says "05AUG92", so mine appears to be from the last year IBM made them (Lexmark started making them in 93).
It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.
-- Mojo Tooth : exploring our world as only an idiot can.
this is a dupe, and nobody caught on?
sad motherfuckers
This keyboard is a Key Tronic Ergo Technology black keyboard that they talked Key Tronic into not passing through the last phase of painting, or maybe they painted it black themselves.
These keyboards currently sell for $21.50 even WITH letters painted on. I appreciate the reviewer taking the time to determine that these things really are harder to use than one that has markings, but there are stronger reasons for not buying them.
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
They should sell this with Das Monitor... a monitor that has no display. Since you can't see what it is you're typing, it won't matter if you hit the wrong keys.
EOM
I wonder why you linked to Happy Hacking without mentioning their Blank Keytop model that more closely relates to the article. They even have it in Charcoal Black .
"Why does it cost $260?!" you might ask. Well the answer is that it uses capacitive keyswitches for both the greatest durability and tactile feel. They register key presses when a metal plate on the key moves between two parallel plates on the board that discharges a capacitive charge. Therefore there is no contact taking place to register the key press and therefore no wear on any contact points. To give tactile feedback each key has a standard mechanical spring mechanism (i.e. IBM Model M - note that Model M does NOT use capacitance, though).
There you have it. The ultimate luxury geek keyboard. It also has the CTRL key swapped with CAPS LOCK by default and the ESC key is where ~ would be on a US layout (to the left of '1'). A good bonus for UNIX nerds that have to work on a variety of boxen and don't want to setup the keyboard every time. Yes, hardware nerds can accomplish the same thing with some solder and wire. But for us software nerds that make a good salary it's a nice bonus.
Yeah and my ask slashdot gets rejected in favor of this dupe, or tripe, or whatever it is...
Ocean is land, covered with water.
For Only $75.00 I will spray-paint any keyboard you like --and it will come in any color you like. - You proide the keyboard.
See the Pictures of the Flood of '08
use dvorak as opposed to qwerty.
I guess I will buy that keyboard because it is compatible with Douglas Adams' Panic Glasses. If you can't see anything, there can't be any reason to panic. Alternatively, one can turn off the monitor, but that will make your colleagues doubt you're working at all...
Geeks bitterly complain about marketroids being boring, dull, and stupid. Here we have some guy who said "Let's cut out the labeling cost on our keyboard, quadruple the cost, and get the thing on Slashdot and see how many people will actually buy the thing." He's thinking outside of the box. If you don't buy this keyboard, you are advocating a return to those boring marketers who watch Bounty commercials for hours and and suggest tweaking the shade of the lighting on the paper towels by half a notch.
Seriously, you want a keyboard without labels? Go to a computer lab where the keyboards get heavy use and snag one. Offer to replace their keyboard with worn-out labels with a nice new one (about $12). Take the keyboard apart and dunk it in soapy water to get all the finger oil off it, and you have a nice, blank keyboard for a lot less money. Send the $70 you saved to some poor schmuck who lost their house in Hurricane Katrina and is trying to scrape by while they look for a job in a new city with no possessions.
Any program relying on (nontrivial) preemptive multithreading will be buggy.
Don't waste your time with newer knock-offs! The Fujitsu 4726 is the best keyboard ever made, and they're making more of them now. There's no point in pining away for the old Model M: The Fujitsu fills that void perfectly.
If you want to be able to use your keyboard as a defensive weapon in case of intruders, look no further.
In a previous post, I discussed the exact whys:
The Fujitsu is a superior keyboard, and probably the best keyboard that is currently on the market, and I'll describe why, in nice convenient bullet form.
. The backslash is big (double-wide!) and right near the top-right where it's supposed to be.
. There are almost no obnoxious extra keys that take up the space where other keys used to be. The Windows key is the only addition, and it's right in where the empty space between Ctrl and Alt used to be. Big deal.
. The Function, Printsc/etc, Esc, Insert->PgUp, Arrow Keys, and Numeric Keypad, are all in the classic layout and where we all learned they'd be. PgUp and PgDown aren't transposed.
. The numeric keypad isn't missing.
. The Shift and Backspace keys are triple-wide and easy to see.
. Control is at the bottom-left, right where you'd expect it to be. Even a former Commodore user like myself can find them without hunting.
. The tactile response of the keyboard is a buckling spring; therefore, you're not wondering whether you hit the key. If you felt it go past the buckling point, you hit it. No need to verify whether or not you did.
. The audible click of the keyboard is a secondary feedback mechanism that also tells you very clearly when you've hit one of the keys. It's not so loud it's obnoxious though. The clicky sound is about on par with the old IBM M line of keyboards, or maybe just a tad less.
. It's still for sale. Fujitsu still makes them!
. They're heavy duty. Really heavy-duty. You could easily brain someone with one and plug it back in and keep working. I've often pounded hard enough to break any lesser keyboards. Mine seem indestructible. The only time I ever broke a key was when a 2-lb flashlight landed on it from about seven feet up, and the only thing it did was shatter a single key: the underlying mechanisms were intact and fine. Plus in a replacement from another old keyboard and I'm off to the races.
. The keys are sturdy and can be easily removed and repositioned to match your current keyboard layout, without fear of hurting the keyboard. In the slightest.
What point is there in leaving the glyphs off the keys? You're never going to learn where F6 is by heart: you don't use it enough. Other keys are similar. I've been typing for something like 20 years and more, and I can type without looking at the keyboard, even without using a standard hand position: that doesn't mean I don't need to peek every once in a while.
Besides, when you're in the dark in front of your computer screen you can't see the keys anyway: but they're there as a convenience for you if you need them.
Telling people they'll type faster if they have to learn key position is pretty condescending. Wouldn't it be better to take a design like the Fujitsu and try to improve on it, instead, hard as that may be?
Here's a PDF describing the features and quality of the Fujitsu 4726:
http://www.fcai.fujitsu.com/pdf/FKB4726.pdf [fujitsu.com]
Be informed! Join the anti-crappy-keyboard revolution!
Ok, I get the "uber geeks" marketing speak, but what the hell is a "Silver Web Surfer?" Maybe grannie would like one of these 1337 keyboards?
just shuffle them around. It won't do you any good to look at them, and all your friends will be wondering why the "a" key really types "t"... It does take even geek friends a bit of time to realise that even though you move the key you're not really moving the switch. You can get extra keys and rearranging your letters in phrases like USETHISANDDIE. Bonus points for doing nice phrases without extra keys.
Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
Is its pricetag. $79.
Include tax, shipping and covert it to CDN its over $100. All for a keyboard with no writing on it. Heck I could do that with the cheap dell keyboards and some thinner.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
They have those fancy schmancy flat keyboards that jsut detectteh presure placement. Why not a keyboard that works like a touch screen, and detects where you place your fingers for each letter? You sit down at it, position everything correctly for ergonomics, and close your eyes. Then type out "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" 10 imes, and let the keyboard remeber where you THINK the letters are. You can be a touch typist immedaitely after you program it.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Bonus points for doing nice phrases without extra keys.
What you want are perfect pangrams:
Blowzy night-frumps vex'd Jack Q.
Glum Schwartzkopf vex'd by NJ IQ.
New job: fix Mr. Gluck's hazy TV, PDQ!
Squdgy fez, blank jimp crwth vox!
Frowzy things plumb vex'd Jack Q.
J. Q. Vandz struck my big fox whelp.
Quartz glyph job vex'd cwm finks.
Phlegms fyrd wuz qvint jackbox.
Zing, vext cwm fly jabs Kurd qoph.
Cwm fjord bank glyphs vext quiz.
Jumbling vext frowzy hacks PDQ.
Mr. Jock, TV Quiz Ph.D, bags few lynx.
Junky qoph flags vext crwd zimb.
stock dell kb. acetone to them. no problem.
Person 1: Hey how do you copy something?
Person 2: Press Ctrl+C
Person 1: Which buttons are they?
Person 2: The black ones of course!
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." - HL Mencken
o what does the all-black color scheme do for one's typing speed? According to the company, by taking away the crutch of key labels, the user is forced to learn better typing skills and concentrate on their computer's screen.
This may be true for some people, and it sounds like a good theory, but in several weeks of use, I never quite swam, and mostly sank. Whenever I'd hit a wrong key (which was often)[...]
This keyboard is not for you.
I've been typing since I got my first PC-compat in 1985 at age 7. About 5 years ago, age 22, I got hardware and stationary-mounted my keyboard under my desk and I've never looked back. Then, I was typing 90wpm, 95% accuracy. Now, I've kind of plateaued knocking on 100wpm, but it suits me. Not to mention the additional desktop real estate.
It has improved my accuracy immensely.
But I was ready.
Or did nobody else think it was odd how the author compared it to a 20 year old design as if it were a car or a fine wine?
Dude, this is *slashdot*. Everybody here over 25 years old understands exactly what he's talking about with regard to the 1984 Model M's.
But your comparison is indeed apt. It's exactly like a car or a fine wine... only for nerds.
For people who sit in front of a computer 12+ hours a day, keyboards matter.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
pick up can apiece of spray paint and lacquer.
I've tried this. It wears and gets sticky and comes off on your fingers in time!!
NOBODY DO THIS!
Turn off your monitor for an all-black gui! It roxor!
I like the idea of this keyboard, and I really like the Happy Hacking Keyboards but why do they have to be so expensive? I mean, someone got the bright idea to not paint the letters on the keys so it costs a lot more? I'm tempted to get the $69 Happy hacking keyboard but it's still more than I want to pay for a keyboard.
How much more black could it be? None... none more black.
Perhaps you've never used one.
Buckling spring is the best keyboards ever. And actually, the best feel ever AFACT is on the original 84-key PC keyboard and 85-key PC/AT keyboards with 10 F-keys on the left. The 84-key had a bad layout (backslash key in an insane location), and many people like a separate numeric keypad. So a 101-key (PS/2) model M is a great compromise. Perhaps overall, the best keyboard ever made.
IBM made them for the RS/6000s for some time, I have one of the last ones. It is a prized possession.
If there is keyboard equivalent to a type 57 Bugatti, the 84-key buckling key (Model M) PC keyboard would probably be it.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
Get one and customize accordingly with printed stickers, paint, or pens.
I know where most of the k/b is. Every once in a while I need reminders for some of the symbol keys.
fast as fast can be. you'll never catch me.
This thing is all well and good for English speaking markets but do they make different versions.
I'd like to see what the Russian language model looks like for instance.
The whole spray paint thing may backfire, leave sticky or tacky or funky feelin' keys... Then constant wear may reveal the letters over time and that smell... for $40 ...
I'll brillo off all the letters on your keys :D
You can PAY EXTRA to HAVE A SHITTY LOGO ON YOUR KEYBOARD!
do people exist who like "all black" AND for some reason think huge visible logos on everything is a good idea? Fuck those people.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
I am just so tired of all you numb nuts who think the old IBM clicky clacky keyboard noise was so wonderful. IT SUCKED, DUMBSHIT, get it straight.
Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick, sit in a library full of those pieces of shit and you'll understand why they sucked.
If you like the feel, fine. But harping on about the sound shows you to be an unthinking retard.
Sorry to be so harsh, but one has to be firm.
It's stupid to waste money on a black keyboard. Just turn out the lights, and all keyboards are black. To be ultracool, turn out the lights and shut your eyes - the monitor will be totally cool, too!
--
make install -not war
Slashdot sucks.
Sweet Jesus.
The whole point of this product is that the absense of letters on the keys prevent the user from peaking while learning to touch-type, forcing him to rely upon muscle memory. This idiotic reviewer spends several weeks completely defeating the purpose of it by sneaking peaks at a nearby keyboard and then he is disappointed that his typing has not improved!
By reading reviews we hope to benefit from the reviewers erudite assessment of the item in question - it helps if the reviewer is not retarded.
Surely /. could exercise a little quality control before wasting the time of tens of thousands of readers with a worthless review.
They can make it in cool colors and re-design it, but can't work fundamental changes that have been needed for a long time. Like removing the Num, Scroll, and Caps Lock keys completely. Two of them are never used by anybody anymore and the third just lets idiots scream louder.
I mean, it's not exactly the first time that this keyboard is mentioned and it's not exactly rocket science either - any idiot armed with a can of black spraypaint can get the same effect on a decent keyboard.
Any any manufacturer saving money on screenprinting the keys can do this too - I guess the real innovation is to pass these savings in production costs on the customers as a premium price. No, wait, MS has been doing that for years.
Now, the Art. Lebedev keyboard really IS innovation, and guess what? It won't be terribly difficult to give that all black keys either. Just as pointless as "Das Keyboard" (yeah, saved money on branding as well) but at least it has some real innovation - and decent design.
Frankly, I can't wait to see the latter one go into production.
Insert
With this keyboard, I can use my wife's PC and she can't use my PC.
just replace the top row
~1234567890-=
by
ULTIMATE/.KBD
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
I've still got 11 unused Monorail PS2 keyboards.
I think the Monorail computer manufacturer went broke before they appeared for sale. I surmise an early purchasing error added a couple of decimal points to their keyboard order; there seem a couple of orders of magnitude more surplus than whatever number of computers they managed to sell.
I first bought six for about $5 each back around the year 1996 or so. I found another huge stack of them in 2000 in a computer store in a city 1500 miles away from where I got the first batch, spent $30 for a dozen. Google for "monorail keyboard" yields that they now seem to go for $12, except the hopeful seller who wants $61.79 for a refurbished unit.
In any case, I've gone through four in that time and are using three, they're tough little things. One now works through a PS/2 to USB adapter, I suspect all will by the time I run out of them around the year 2020.
By using Dvorak on this keyboard. Ahh, I can see the frustration already...
You think $80 is expensive? Take a look at these.
I paid 5 bucks for mine. Shipping of course cost as they're not exactly light, but I don't think I paid more than 10 bucks, tops.
I use Dvorak layouts but I cannot find a 'hard' Dvorak keyboard here. I use my Qwerty keyboard as a makeshift. Like this all-black keyboard, I have to put my hands over the keyboard and know which key to push ---- Muscle memory works fine.
If you buy one of these things and you cannot already touchtype properly, guess what? Not gonna do it for you.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
How elite can this be? They put the control key on the bottom left instead of between shift and tab like God intended.
I'm sorry, but I just don't "get" the point of touch-typing. Maybe it's something that dates back to the age of mechanical typewriters, where you really had to keep an eye on the printing quality {since it was directly related to how hard you struck the keys; and if you were really careless then you could get double character spacing or no spacing}.
..... but IMHO it doesn't hurt to make sure. If the keyboard is any good, then the letter I pressed is the letter that will show up on the screen. And it's not as though pressing It's hardly a great effort to flick my eyes up to the monitor every once in awhile to check on progress.
..... one of my work colleagues has a new keyboard without an INSERT key, which means keyboard-shortcut copying {shift+cursor keys, then ctrl+insert} and pasting {shift+insert} now require extra taps of the NumLock before and after. That is a serious omission, and means it is almost as much effort as mouse-based copying and pasting.
I usually look at the keyboard when I'm typing, not at the screen. I know where all the keys are, it's not as though I have to search for them
Also, the layout of Das Keyboard looks wrong -- hardly surprising, as I counted one fewer key than usual. Looking at the cheating diagram, I noticed that there is no key between the left shift and the Z {the \ and | moving to a long key up above the return key, which has lost its traditional shape}; the @ sign is on shift+2 where the double speech marks should be, and there is no pound sign -- shift+3 gives you a comment mark instead {WTF? Comment marks are common enough characters to deserve not to need a modifier key, IMHO}. The ~ has moved to shift+backtick, and the daft graphic character is gone.
Mind you, at least there's an INSERT key
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
So I bought the Das Keyboard when it was first mentioned on Slashdot a few months ago. It's basically a OEM Keytronic keyboard -- probably $25 at Frys.
.. but of course now i'm dragging around too much crap.
.. the quality sucks.
I am a former Fujitsu 47xx series fan -- being a touch typer who types 120 wpm+ the fact it didn't have any markings really didn't affect me. Extra points for intimidating those around me.
I like the fact it's a native USB keyboard so in can use it with my Vaio TR3A and not have one of those annoying little dongles. I also bought one of the dongles to work with the 4725 but I think it drew too much juice and didn't work -- perhaps Sony it's giving enough power to the USB bus. So I bought a Kensington powered USB hub
i'm probably going to buy one of the happy hacking keyboards, it will fit with the super tiny laptop I have.
the only thing I can say about the das keyboard is don't buy one
When the company selling you a product tells you the product will help demonstrate your status as l33t
Uh.... that's *exactly* the business model ThinkGeek follow.
Yeah, I know it's kind of hypocritical to criticise one of the major advertisers (regardless of the fact they're owned by OSTG) since I don't subscribe to Slashdot.
But the fact remains.... ThinkGeek are basically just another uber-consumerist outlet selling gimmicky "boys' toys" with a superficial pseudo-"geeky" twist.
They do occasionally come up with something interesting, like the universal "TV-off" remote-control keyring thing. But a *truly* smart geek, as opposed to a nerd with no social life and too much money, would be thinking how they could do that with their PDA or something.
Yes, some of the stuff is interesting, but it's mostly just techno-gimmickry that has nothing in particular to do with being "stuff for smart masses".
It's a selling point.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Unicomp's online store: http://store.yahoo.com/pckeyboards/cu101bl.html
No sig today...
Just use it for a year and you'll get your own white Das Keyboard, with the benefit that less used keys will have markings on. The best of both worlds! That's Apple for you :p
It was actually a very dark shade of grey. It was called "black" thought:
Sparyon Paint
Omni-Packblend
4Next-Black (icon black)
LAV-16
25216
Actually very dark grey. You could order this paint for touch-ups.
blakespot
-- Heisenberg may have slept here.
iPod Hacks.com
Unicomp bought the rights and is still making them. You can even get them in black... http://www.pckeyboard.com/ See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M PS: If you absolutely must have a 1984 model you can easily get one on eBay.
No sig today...
After a week or so you'll forgive any amount of noise, trust me...every keypress is a delight.
No sig today...
LAUGH, IT'S FUNNY.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
True ubergeeks will get the model with the caps lock / numlock etc keys blacked out.
Unicomp, the current makers of Model M keyboards, have stated to me in an email that they'll gladly make a blank keyboard upon request.
And yes, they have Model Ms in black.
An Air Force guy showed me this trick:
He said it worked wonders at keeping co-workers off his machine
What?
So I went on eBay and got an ErgoForce for $8 shipped. Having painted a keyboard entirely black when I was 16, the variable force on the keys was all I was really interested in, and frankly it's nothing to type home about.
I realize contextual advertising like this is certainly the most clever and least obviously obtrusive form, but I would have hoped it would have displaced less actual content. Is there a way in our settings to turn off Ad Posts like these?
I am Leviathant and I approve this message.
Now THOSE were the good old days, when "pounding the keyboard" was an accurate description, and there was none of this ^H business, it was white-out or an eraser on corrasable bond!
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
What the hell, this has been on slashdot before, twice I think. And who cares? Paint your damn keyboard! I did that back in 1995. Old news, man.
Keyboards all suck, I'm still waiting for something that doesn't cause RMI.
1 - Take any keyboard. 2 - Remove the printed characters on the keys with cotton buds soaked in acetone. 3 - ????? 4 - Profit!
I don't look at the keyboard when I type text. Then again, I don't think about t-y-p-i-n-g each letter either. My mind seems to have learned letter combinations and some complete words, much like we learn to speak.
Illustration of point:
Type the following into a text editor of your choice:
RHQQ1-FGH7Y-UIXYC-455PA
Had to look at the keyboard, didn't you? I just tried it myself, and I was able to get most of it correct without looking, but I did have to look down once or twice.
Is a lie a lie when you don't know it's a lie?
That's the same situation here. If the poster really wasn't duping then he would have linked to the original article (or at least mentioned it). He thought he was bringing us something new which is what a dupe is. Not all the dupes are troll-like (intentionally posting something you already know has been posted). Most of them like this poster just didn't know. Innocence doesn't mitigate the crime of duplication.
Does this keyboard go up to 11?
No, I didn't have to look at the keyboard even once.
Now, I grant that I don't have that great an accuracy on the numbers on the top row (for whatever reason, typing classes do NOT seem to teach those and I use 10-key if I have to enter *that* many numbers).
But yeah, I guess I sometimes have trouble with the less common symbols up there, but I can also find them if I need to by guessing...
The autostore paint you're thinking of is generally called 'Vinyl Dye', or upholstery dye, and it works on many common plastics. (Experiment. It doesn't work on *all* of them.) It won't chip, flake, or even blob up while you're spraying. You can always paint over it with another color, but you won't be able to dye anything that's been painted previously. It's good stuff, and I prefer it to spray paint when altering the color of anything plastic. (Drive bay covers and drive faceplates, for instance.)
i'm sure someone else has said this. but why dont you save yourself the money and not look? i type about (including capitalization, which i'm not doing) 80-120 words per minute, depending on the complexity of the language used and whether or not i care to type quickly. i got this speed through practice. typing. spending one or 2 saturdays typing on typing programs (i learned to type when i was young, before 3rd of 4th grade i believe) every once in a while.
i taught myself dvorak (i used to be at least 40 or 50 wpm) and also analyzed my finger posture and my thought structure (different ways to type faster).
any good typist doesnt look, regardless of the keys. when i used dvorak i didnt look, and couldnt look (cuz the keys had qwerty labels) and didnt want to look. good typing is like anything else, good work. if you dont want to work at it, dont think that a keyboard is going to make your typing better.
Where was this keyboard when I was learning WordPerfect 4.x and even worse Wordstar 2000? This would have been a great thing to have! I do have to say that for some games like MS FlightSim and Delta Force that have lots of keymapping functions, this would be awesome to have. Don
Don't fear the penguins
All the "me too" posts saying "how could I type in my long numbers without a keypad!! [you insensitive clod]" aside...
;) and Photoshop on my Mac, and not data entry. Just kinda rambling. Sorry.
I also have a HHKB, black, USB, with keys labeled. I also have a IBM Model M. I love them both for two different reasons. I love my Model M becase of the feel. It's reassuring. It feels honest. Plus, with the old-school removable keycaps I can enjoy the so-called benefits of the Das Keyboard without the hassley pitfalls. I removed all the letter-caps save F and J. This way I can still see the keys I don't normally touch type while gaining the touch typist advantages of blank letters. I bought the HHKB because I wanted a keyboard where the function keys were chorded with the number keys. The different layout from the Model M standard took a little getting used to -- my main gripe is that on the HHKB they chose to stick the delete key where normally you'd have \|. It also takes a little getting used to have `~ on the other side of the keyboard. Other than that, the other key placements are very useful (the Sun style control-key, the fn keys under the numbers, chorded page up and down keys under the right hand). That said, the feel of the HHKB is better than average. Better than the cheap Dell "QuietKeys" and other such crap. Another thing I really like about the HHKB is that it's much easier to keep the keys centered right under your hands, there's no awkward offset to make room for an especially wide 'full-size' keyboard (plus mouse).
I don't miss the keypad, but then I do terminal stuff (having esc that much closer it great in vim
Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
Much more important than any of those: it means you can switch to various international layouts without confusing anyone! It's a real treat when you have foreign visitors. After they're done with gibbering in panic of course.