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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?
Ok, I looked at this keyboard and (aside from moving the keys to an abcd format) it seems to use more of shift-like functionality. Each key I see has 5 labelings and I hope to god that the ones I can't make out in white are the numbers because I can't seem to find them anywhere else on this freak of nature.
...
... and I'm not seeing these innovative
designs, just a need for me to memorize a new key pattern.
I just counted on my own traditional 101-key keyboard 146 or so different values I could want to send to the computer. So let's use that number in a brief analysis of methods we could use to design a keyboard.
On one hand, you could have a physical key for each and every character/signal you want to send. Yes, even upper case letters would be a key different from lower case.
On the other hand, you could say that combinations of keys count for sending signals. This assumes the user can depressed keys instantly but this means that for each key, we've doubled the amount of signals we can send. So, the smallest power of 2 above 146 is 256 or 2^8. And this is fine because we have 10 fingers which is more then enough to hit 8, if required.
However, we don't want a keyboard with a key for every signal and we don't want to have to memorize combinations and press down on keys instantly to obtain the desired signal.
What we do want is a happy medium.
Both the 101 and 53 key methods provide that medium, I guess it's just a case of who came first (similar to the problem with Dvorak simplified keyboard Which many people have contended is better than QWERTY yet has not taken off like it should have.
Unless this new keyboard poses some amazing qualities that set it far and above the old design, it's probably not going to take
My work here is dung.
The only question is, will everyone be willing to relearn how to type?
no
This keyboard will be equally succesfull as the dvorak keyboard. People are so accustomed to their 'native 'keyboard (I have azerty but can type fairly well on qwerty) they won't change unless this new keyboard really is so much better.
As for gamers, why would I want to give up the luxury of binding each and every key I want from the standard 101-key design to a special function, or why would I want to reset my movement/jump/whatever keys?
Unless they give away bars of gold with each one I don't see why the general public might need this keyboard.
From the article: Alphabetical letters are easier to find and keys are color-coded on the NSK535R to aid hunt & peck typists
So people who are new to computers need to 'find' keys on their keyboard? After a while you know where they are, I guess. I don't think new computer users would like to be treated as children with such a nice colorful slimmed down keyboard. I expect people want the whole deal, even if it's only for later on...
Dependency hell? =>
The jams where caused when you typed over a certain speed (albeit a slow speed) so the "myth" does hold some truth.
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
Well, I can appreciate the space-saving design in theory, but I doubt anything good will come from a keyboard in which you need to use a Function key to type a number. Laptops may have this feature, but they also have a regular number row.
A side note: The article uses "There are only half as many keys to learn" as an advantage. Not quite. I still need to learn all the keys, but there's only half as many spaces in which to put them. So I'm learning at least two key positions for every button...if not more.
-Barkeep, a draft of your most hazardous brew, for the world is slowly stepping into focus, and I don't like what I see.
While it does piss me off that I'm relatively efficient at a system designed to cap efficincy rather than maximize it, a) I'm not sure that I could retrain my fingers easily enough to warrant the switch to a different device, and more importantly b) I'm not sure it would make me much faster, as my fingers already tend to get ahead of my brain. What's really improved my efficiency is the backspace (delete) key that saves me from having to pull the paper out, hit it with an eraser or liquid paper, then line it back up, sort of, everytime my brain falls behind. I would be willing to retrain myself to use a keyboard layout that let me type with relative efficiency with one hand....eventually.
the QWERTY layout was never intended to slow down typists - a common accusation from Dvorak supporters
I use the Dvorak layout, but speed was never an issue for me.
I switched because I was experiencing intermittent pain in my finger joints, and I knew the Dvorak layout would reduce the travel distance of my fingers. The result? The severity of my finger pains nearly went away. Is this subjective? Yes. But Dvorak is obviously so much more comfortable to type on, that I never regret my decision.
It doesn't cost a lot to rearrange the letters on your keyboard, and it's trivial to change the keyboard setting in most operating systems.
Exactly. So this guy claiming it's ergonomic is full of crap. Alphabetical layouts are terrible for getting common keys under the home row because they have to use that fixed (arbitrary actually) order. I think QWERTY is bad too, but if we're going to change, lets at least put some letter frequency information into the design.
Isn't this what Esperanto was invented for?
It's an engineered language, in the Klingon tradition, but lots easier to learn and pronounce.
Then again, we could all just learn Klingon and wear lots of leather.
Space key is bottom-center, labeled SpFn. Tap it without hitting another key and it's a space. Hold it down to activate function keys. Seems fairly obvious.
Unfortunately this keyboard does fail to solve one major usability problem which is that Control-key combinations are a real pain. You will still have to remove your hand from the home keys or bend your pinky around into a really awkward position. In comparison, the "Command" key used in most Mac keyboard shortcuts is right next to the spacebar like the Alt key on PC keyboards. On a Mac, one only has to move one's thumb slightly off the spacebar to be able to quickly type a couple dozen keyboard shortcuts without vacating the home keys. When I used the BeOS I got used to using the Alt key in a similar way since they imitated a lot of Mac conventions, and to this day I am still amazed at the comparitive awkwardness of using the Control key for most keyboard shortcuts on Windows and Linux. This keyboard does nothing to solve that problem for me. Too bad, because otherwise it looks interesting.
Not too sure this is true. Most keyboards have removable keys you can rearrange. The key assignments are in software if I'm not mistaken. Just pull the keys and rearrange them, or better yet just learn to touch type in dvorak. (Not that I've done this, I'm just suggesting it for those of you who insist on this form of masochism.)
I think that key is "Special Function". There are a pair of dark blue/black keys on the bottom row with a right arrow symbol on them. My guess is that these are the space keys. BTW, there are two other keys in the same dark blue/black. The one on the left has two right arrows - I'm guessing tab. The one on the right has a down arrow - I'm guessing enter/return.
On either side of the "space" keys are keys labeled Num and Cap. These are in convenient thumb locations as well, and probably access numbers and capital letters. There is no obvious caps lock, which is no great loss. There is also a pair of Sym keys on in the alphabet area which probably access puntuation.
Finally, Ctrl, Alt, and some keys that I can't make out in the picture but are probably the windows keys in the bottom-most "control" row. They are at the most inconvenient positions - probably a reasonable move for the average user.
I need hjkl together though. :)
Capslock.*
Most non-geeks never use any of the function keys or any of the keys in the insert/delete/end/home set. And if they do use those, it's just because they were taught by a geek how to use the home key in Word.
I had no use for the extra two Windows keys for a long time. I still don't use the menu key. I only need one alt, ctrl, and shift. I have no idea what scroll lock does. I forget the term, but I'm aware you can change what keys do in Linux (no idea about Windows), so I'm sure if I looked into it I could make the keys useful, but I just never use them. I also don't need the two extra "internet" keys on this keyboard.
* I'm of the opinion this key should be removed on most keyboards.
That, and the fact DVORAK, for all its goodness, may be overrated. The article above notes how economists "Liebowitz and Margolis cited ergonomic studies that conclude that the Dvorak keyboard offers at most only a two to six percent efficiency advantage over QWERTY."
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Biba México!
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
counterpoint: because human thumbs are so radically much more dextrous than human fingers, it is actually a gargantuan waste to relegate BOTH thumbs to ONE key entry.
on my keybaord, the delete (backspace) key is under my left thumb, which is an awesome improvement (to use two thumbs for two of the most common keys), but still, i feel like the best keyboards would give each thumb four or five modifiers to select from. some keyboards already do this.