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New Keyboard Has Just 53 Keys
Enigma5O writes to tell us The Tech Zone is reporting on a new style of keyboard with just 53 keys. Departing from the normal QWERTY keyboard setup the 'New Standard Keyboard' designed by John Parkinson measures just 12.5 inches wide x 5 inches deep x 1 inch thick and is arranged in alphabetical order. The keyboard has been designed with ergonomics in mind keeping all keys within easy reach of the home position. The only question is, will everyone be willing to relearn how to type?
As many of you will know, QWERTY was actually made to slow typists down (to most Slashdot readers however, it seems to have been ineffective) so an alphabetic arrangement, which was the original arrangement of letters on a typewriter AFAIK, would probably speed typing were anyone to learn it. However, some of you will have heard of the Dvorak keyboard layoyut, this was designed with speed in mind locating the most-used keys in the easiest to reach positions. (More about Dvorak: http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/). This seems to be almost stuck in the middle of two ideas: QWERTY being well-known; DVORAK being supposedly the best for speed and ergonomic typing. I'm not sure why anyone would buy this keyboard (or use this layout with another keyboard) although it could come in handy for teaching children to use computers - I know when I was first introduced to a computer I couldn't understand why the keys were where they were.
Matthew Grint Midnight Artists
Here
The URL seems to be very slow, try the Coral cache instead: http://www.thetechzone.com.nyud.net:8090/?m=show&i d=469
This article, written in JANUARY, provides a better overview of the product.
A few interesting quotes...
That's because the QWERTY layout was never intended to slow down typists - a common accusation from Dvorak supporters - but to allow them to type quickly without jamming the keys in their typewriters. In other words, QWERTY was designed to be efficient, too.
The New Standard Keyboard addresses the issue of key layout by subsuming ergonomics and typing efficiency for the sake of the hunt-and-peck typist.
Meaning it targets the lowest common denominator... another quote I read said that it was target at (or atleast could appeal to) senior citizens and those who don't know how to type. I can see that... but figure the market for people who are going to die before it makes sense to learn how to type is probably not that large or sustainable. Could be wrong.
Anyways the website for the product is here, and appears to under reconstruction. Lame... like the color scheme of this keyboard.
Old news... lame news... next please.
12.5 x 5 x 1 ???? Sold! Perfect for my carputer and other small-footprint applications.
May I recommend the Kinesis Ergo keyboard?
This device helped my wrists recover from severe tendonitis; I have had no relapses. The keys are arranged in vertical columns, which is something the "New Standard" got right, but it looks as if it forces your hands to remain unnaturally close together. Also, "chording" (pressing more than one key simultaneously) just creates superfluous keystrokes.
This signature is being generated randomly.
Dvorak is nearly 80 years old. I don't think there can be any royalty requirement... and I've never heard of that before. Dvorak keyboards are expensive simply because there is lower demand.
I have a macally iceKEY which has almost the exact same tactile response as an Apple laptop keyboard, but it's full sized and USB http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/input_device/iceke y.html. It has working eject, volume up/down, and mute keys, too.
I actually just purchased one of these: http://www.pckeyboard.com/customizer.html in a custom Mac and Dvorak layout and it's an awesome experience to type on. These people hold the rights from Lexmark and manufacture the modern day IBM Model M that is so coveted nowadays.
Here are two that I am familiar with:
Microwriter
I remember seeing advertisements in the back of Byte magazine in the late 80s for a device called the Microwriter. It was a one-handed keyboard with only five keys and you 'played' chords in order to enter the desired character.
It's no longer manufactured, but here are some pictures and an image of the chords for the characters a to z.
A successor to the Microwriter exists and is called the CYKEY. The web site claims compatibility with some PDAs.
DataHand
The DataHand consisted of two banks of multi-switches (for want of a better word) one for each hand. The multi-switches were essentially little cups in which you rested your fingers. Each multi-switch could be activated in five directions: down, north, south, east, west. Down was a 'normal' key press, and the compass directions involved pressing a switch to the side of your finger tip. Basically your fingers remained still and you merely moved you finger tips. I believe you could also get pedals to act as shift keys.
Have a look here to learn more about it.
I friend of mine actually had one of these, he was a translator and had to do massive amounts of typing. He claimed it was 'somewhat' more efficient but rather difficult to get used to. I think he gave it up in the end.
---- It won't be as bad as you fear or as good as you hope, but it will take twice as long as you plan.
You can see it from another site at http://www.everythingusb.com/news/index/6039.htm
Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
What? You mean something like the frogpad?
If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.
It's good to know that Tech Zone is on the leading edge of reviewing year old news.
And that Slashdot editors continue to not bother checking for dupes.
Nothing new to see here. Move along.
Such keyboards are already invented and called chord keyboards, the good news is that they can be quite efficent and fast in use, which is why they are used in court or elsewhere where typing speed is important (Stenotype), the bad news is that they are incredible hard to learn and it is very easy to forget how to use them if you don't use them for a few weeks, meaning they have basically zero chance in the mass market.
Please stop repeating this myth. QWERTY was not "designed to slow typists down" - some of the early speed-typing competitions were won with QWERTY.
Programmers type characters like { } $ ( ) = + more often than the general population. It would be an awesome geek-toy to have a keyboard which promoted these characters to their own keys and relegated those useless squiggles like vowels to Shift-Ctrl combinations ;-).
Your awesome geek-toy already exists! It is the French "azerty" keyboard! :-) Check the layout: azerty.png
{, (, $, etc are accessible by single key-presses, but to type numbers you have to use shift (who uses numbers anyway)
Most keyboards also have bumps on the F & J keys. They make finding the home row without looking a lot easier.