Five Finger Keyboards

Tijaska writes "Mobile devices are becoming more capable all the time, but their small screens and keyboards limit their usefulness. This article shows ways in which five buttons located on the edges of a mobile could be used in combinations to generate 325 or many more different characters, making a full-sized keyboard unnecessary. If that sounds like a tall story, remember the case of the retired 93 year old telegraph operator who used a Morse key to send a text message faster than a teenager could send it via mobile phone (see here)."

Comments

Re:IM-speak compression

[grommit]

Who says morse coders don't use text compression of their own?

Re:One finger keyboard

[Ngarrang]

I grow my right hand thumbnail long, file it down so I have a bit of an edge leaning left

Dude. Seek help. No! This is brilliant! It is adaptation in action. The individual experienced the problem, analyzed solutions and adapted his body to use his computer more efficiently. I think the poster should create "The Thumb Typer" for people to wear that don't want to grow their finger nail.

Re:I'm left handed

[AvitarX]

Funny, I am right handed and I would like 4 buttons on the left side for 54 possible combinations. I could hold the phone towards me with my hand behind it.

65 combos will get enough to send emails and text, and would be very easy to manage, if the thumb gets thrown into it, it is harder to squeeze the finger buttons.