Slashdot Mirror
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.
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
The only question is, will everyone be willing to relearn how to type?
no
They seem to have forgotten the space key?
Any keyboard without a big bar that either thumb can use to space will never take off in my book. But maybe the PDA market will like it
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
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? =>
is bad enough, but alphabetical? If I was ever going to change typing style, I'd change to dvorak
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
But if they implement a key for CTRL+ALT+DEL, the sales will go high as the sky
s ajfds jfd skxloq fjdksl;oncds!!!! s)
Here
You'd need two hands just to reach A, W, S, and D and god forbid you have to strafe
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 URL seems to be very slow, try the Coral cache instead: http://www.thetechzone.com.nyud.net:8090/?m=show&i d=469
Um, is the "ergonomic rule" about putting commonly used keys under strong fingers only one of these "everybody knows it's true" and not a real truth? 'Cause this sucker has 4 vowels under pinkies (a, e, i under the left pinky at that). Wouldn't that be bad ergonomic design, if the finger-strength rule is real?
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.
It has only a gas pedal. You have to pull the door handle and hit gas simultaneously to brake.
I switched the gearlever from the traditional five to a more ergonomical two gears and second gear is the default. Studies have proven that more motorists pull away in second.
We expect this new model to replace traditional models around the same time DVORAK replaces QWERTY.
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.
51N5 1T HAZ L355 K33Z 1 KAN AL50 T1P3 FA5T3R + M0R3 AKURAT3LY.
1T5 35P3C1ALLY G00D F0R WR1T1NG 5PAM MA1L, WH1CH H3LP5 M3 B3 M0R3 3FF1C13NT AT W0RK.
---- 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.
I've heard and read about Dvorak keyboards before, and this article made me want to go buy one. I realize that I could just remap my current keyboard, but I would like something with all the keys marked. When I did a quick froogle search, I came up with this site: http://www.typematrix.com/dvorak/ I have *never* seen a keyboard like that. Has anyone used them? Are they comfortable? Whats the deal with the orthogonal layout?
--Nycto
Someone calls a 53-key ABCD keyboard a "new standard keyboard" and suddenly people start to think that it will replace keyboards? ABCD keyboards have been around for a while and aren't any good for typing. As far as layout goes ABCD is as bad as QWERTY in terms of random placement of the keys. The theory that it will "help kids learns" is bull. It might help grandma learn, but a normal kid will pickup any keyboard layout. This might as well be the DVORAK layout then, it's truly much better in terms of key placement.
No need for those arrows in the middle of the keyboard.
h, j, k and l work just perfectly fine.
Look at the whole picture, not just the hole in the picture.
i just designed a guitar with 6 frets and 24 strings...of course, now the tuning pattern is completely different, so i'll call it..uhh..."new standard tuning"! i wonder if it'll catch on.
You sure 'bout dat?
While the one show is yet another rehash of the alphabetical layout - which others have built before and in a better way - our current keyboards need a solid redesign.
:-)
Alignment in rows and columns for instance is much more effective and less strainfull. Shifted allignment is a herritage from 1895 or something (pure technical constraints back then). Caps Lock is really bad the way it is. Even for the countries that need it a lot for alternate Glyphsets (russian f.e.). It need to be moved away. Far away at a special position. Much to big too. In a way simular to Escape - the only key in a position and size that can stay the way it is. How often have we *all* pressed it by accident.
Then there's the asymetry. It sucks. To quote Edison: "There's a better way to do it. Find it."
The important alternation keys like Caps, Ctrl, Alt, Command and the extra ones like Enter, Backspace and tab need a redo aswell. Symetry in size, amount and position all the way through and Enter moved to a super-prominent position in the center just the way space is now. Keyblock needs to be standardised, one way or the other. Either telephone or ancient-electrical-start-at-the-bottom. I prefer telephone since the other was only implemented due to technical constraints on the first calculators. Bottom-to-top keyblocks suck. Period.
While navigation keys are a must, F-Keys, Print, Help and such are nice extras. Maybe those could be spread about in an even fashion. F-Keys to the left, Navi and Fixed Funktions to the right. Mayybe a few extra keys in Mac style (volume+, volume-, mute, on/off, eject). Curiously enough I'm sitting at a current-state white mac kb just now. The Multimedia keys adside this kb has all the suckage I critized above. It actually expect Apple to sumon the guts to change all this. Maybe someday when all the Win people have switched to a unix variant.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
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.
I mean isn't this beginning to start a move towards the point where we are typing like we do on our cell phones? Seriously, I don't think these great advantages he talks about are really that advantageous. The fewer keys to learn is nice, but you have to remember twice a many shift options. I have a hard enough times remembering some of the symbols on the number row.
Who is to say this keyboard is easier for the hunt and peck typist? What if the person thinks keys should be arranged ABCD EFGH instead of ABCD NOPQ? Also why make the space bar so small? It has to be one of the most used keys on a keyboard and very easy to find. The keys on the bottom is also a bit disturbing to me. I have a tendancy to user the lower portion of a keyboard and/or the desk for "lowering" my hands while typing and my thumb often rests there or on the space bar (as is evident by the wearing of the plastic wear my thumb constantly rubs and presses).
And who made this guy the delete nazi? Where is my damn delete key or insert for that matter? There are times for using both. Two caps and num lock buttons? What a waste of space! Those are buttons you either turn on and leave on or you never turn on. The lack of the 10-key numpad also means this keyboard will find a lack of acceptance with people who type a lot of numbers. When I worked doing order entry, it was faster entering product numbers and credit card numbers with the 10-digit pad. The same is true for people working on accounting spreadsheets and programs, I am sure. If you are not typing text it is easier to move over to there, but if you have to type a balanced mix of both having it is also nice and anyone with a laptop can tell you how annoying it can be to have the number pad as part of the regular keypad.
This is a great idea if the mentality of people really is to get reduced size keyboards at the expensive of having to learn a ton of shift inputs. Work on improving the exist model to a point where people would like and still use it for a smaller size. I mean with a bit of effort you can probably make a very functional keyboard with about the same size (look at laptops). I don't think re-inventing the wheel is really necessary.
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
Probably not.
You can read my Ph.D-dissertation (PDF, big) (abstract) (PDF, small) for more information, but frankly it is very hard to beat the QWERTY keyboard, as it is very very efficient at the task it is used for. Please note that the dissertation does not focus on QWERTY per se, but rather on various alternatives to QWERTY, and the factors involved in attaining good usability, ergonomics and performance in diverse text input scenarios.
if it came with the 'Any' key.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Ok the article appears to be slashdotted. Perhaps later I can get a look at this keyboard.
I would welcome a trend to smaller keyboards with fewer keys. The growth of specialized keys on keyboards has really gotten out of hand in my opinion. What reason is there for 100+ keys on the keyboard?
How about a new survey question of "How many keys does your keyboard have that you have NEVER used?"
Think Deeply.
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.
You can see it from another site at http://www.everythingusb.com/news/index/6039.htm
Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
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.
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.
In my opinion, this is a far more innovative keyboard:
http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/
This way I can set the keyboard any way I choose, whether it be QWERTY, Dvorak, or any other way that fits my needs. And I can also program it for specific functions, in gaming for example. The best part is that the keys reflect those changes.
There are already a few novel keyboards like this one on the market and laptop keys already allow for added functionality in a limited space. I never liked multiple keystrokes to perform functions and I never will.
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.)
There isn't a windows button! Which key am I going to use to open the start menu now? ha
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.
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)
Biba México!
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
Something that I've never really understood in these debates about different keyboard layouts: when do people actually type at their maximum typing speed anyway? I can type at about 50-60 words per minute, which is probably not very impressive by Slashdot standards. But I almost never get to actually type that fast - I have to stop to think about what I'm doing, whether it's composing a document or writing code. Even if switching to another layout allowed me to type at 80 words/minute, I don't think it would ever really increase my productivity.