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What Will Replace Computer Keyboards? (xconomy.com)

jeffengel writes:Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years, and we should think carefully about what replaces them as the dominant mode of communicating with machines, argues Android co-founder Rich Miner. Virtual reality technology and brain-computer links -- whose advocates include Elon Musk -- could lead to a "dystopian" future where people live their lives inside of goggles, or they jack directly into computers and become completely "de-personalized," Miner worries.

He takes a more "humanistic" view of the future of human-machine interfaces, one that frees us to be more expressive and requires computers to communicate on our level, not the other way around. That means software that can understand our speech, facial expressions, gestures, and handwriting. These technologies already exist, but have a lot of room for improvement.

One example he gives is holding up your hand to pause a video.

302 comments

  1. Computer keyboards will be phased out by future+assassin · · Score: 2
    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
    1. Re: Computer keyboards will be phased out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This Rich Miner guy is a retard. Wow you confounded Android? That shit already doesn't have a keyboard by default it uses touchscreen.

      This guy has nothing to do with PCs and is phasing nothing out ever. He's a suit, he doesn't do anything but talk.

    2. Re: Computer keyboards will be phased out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Besides, when people want to have something stop they almost always hold up both hands in a pushing gesture. It would be much better to pause a video by holding up both hands. Oh, wait...

    3. Re: Computer keyboards will be phased out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly. Answer: probably nothing. What is millennial Silicon Valley's obsession with 'replacing' things? I'm sorry all of the good concepts were already taken when you were born and all you get are incremental improvements, but 'disruption' for its own sake quickly becomes arrogance quickly becomes supremely annoying quickly becomes a dead end. The best sci-fi and speculative fiction was about solving problems that actually existed at the time, and not about manufacturing them.

    4. Re: Computer keyboards will be phased out by dougdonovan · · Score: 1

      voice activation has been around for years. do you actually think i am still using a keyboard now ?

    5. Re: Computer keyboards will be phased out by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      There's nothing wrong with challenging paradigms, but if you want to replace something as ubiquitous and entrenched as the humble keyboard, you'd better bring your AAA+ game, and this guy certainly didn't.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  2. All the above by haggie · · Score: 2

    It is actually quite obvious: A combination of eye tracking, voice, motion capture, and predictive AI.

    1. Re:All the above by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wow, you are totally wrong.

      It is actually extremely obvious: A combination of ears tracking, sneezing, chicken dance capture and subjugated pattern-matching subroutines.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re: All the above by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      Nothing ever gets phased out completely and in fact, we have more manner of keyboards than we ever had before.

    3. Re:All the above by Tuidjy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Don't these morons get tired? I have been hearing this since the fucking Eighties. If it is not one thing, it's another.

      Nothing will make the keyboard obsolete. NOTHING.

      It may become much less common it is now, but it will always remain the tool of choice of the person who needs precise control, versatility with a minimum of physical effort. Its looks may change, but as long as we have blocks of keys on a flat(ish) surface, we will have keyboards, and they will be better than the more user friendly, casual, etc. input devices.

      I do not want my every twitch interpreted. I do not want my mind read and immediately obeyed. I do not want to have to say five words to specify a less common symbol. I do not want my eyes tracked when lives may depend on a false positive... or even a few dozen dollars.

      There is a time and a place for alternatives. But obsolete? Gone and forgotten? Anyone who says that is either ignorant, or trying to provoke a reaction.

      ------------

      I just spent 30 seconds trying (and failing) to locate an alternative that was being pushed in France in the 80s. It looked like two modern gaming mice, with a ton of buttons that were easy to access without moving your fingers too much. You could create a lot of different inputs with button combinations. I wasted a few days getting better at the contraption than anyone I knew. My father saw me, and asked me to spent eight hours getting better at using a keyboard. Guess what turned out to be faster, more accurate, and not noticeably more tiring?

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
    4. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or we could just revert to communicating with grunts. Anyone know the grunt-Morse code for “god this is a stupid idea, let’s just stick with keyboards already?”

    5. Re:All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1

      I do not want my mind read and immediately obeyed.

      If you didn't want it, then why would it obey it? Or are you supposing that what you want isn't part of your mindset?

    6. Re:All the above by toonces33 · · Score: 1

      Emojis are where we are headed. Instead of a keyboard, you just have a touchpad with the common emojis. Of course that would be limiting, so they will add a bunch of shift keys or some such brain death.

    7. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is actually quite obvious that "Minority Report" style interfaces are ergonomics nightmares and I don't necessarily want everyone around me listening to everything I'm doing. Typing is actually pretty efficient if you are good at it and it's also reasonably quiet and private. The only replacement that I can think of would be a brain/machine interface that can respond to your thoughts. Eye tracking, voice and motion capture won't replace keyboards because they lack the properties of a keyboard that many people are unwilling to give up.

    8. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My AI is so predictive, it writes want I want to say before I even get my phone out.

    9. Re: All the above by kpainter · · Score: 1

      I'm still waiting for the paperless society computers were supposed to bring.

    10. Re:All the above by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      Keyboards will be replaced, but whatever they'll be replaced with hasn't been invented yet.

      No touchscreen nor speakwrite has either the accuracy nor bandwidth of an actual keyboard. Likewise on phones: popular input methods are fit at most for a status update on this week's MySpace replacement (I lost track of what's in fashion today), while N900 or hopefully Gemini are fit for a multi-hour hacking session. Try writing C or Perl code on a modern "smart"phone, go ahead.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    11. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hieroglyphs will make a comeback...

    12. Re:All the above by msauve · · Score: 1

      "Nothing will make the keyboard obsolete. NOTHING."

      Millennials might. Perhaps you haven't noticed - look for instructions on something, and rather than low bandwidth, high content text, you'll more often find Youtube videos which are high bandwidth, low content. A picture is worth a thousand words, my ass. A thousand words is worth 1000 kilobytes of video.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    13. Re: All the above by mcswell · · Score: 1

      They already did, it's called the Ribbon.

    14. Re:All the above by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      There might be more enthusiasm for getting rid of keyboards in places that don't use languages built around small alphabets, since they have always relied on a (sometimes fairly dodgy) software layer munging their input into characters; but for anyone using latin, cyrillic, or similarly-sized alphabets, the ability to provide the entire alphabet plus numbers and a bunch of common symbols with just two hands and one modifier key(if you want to do it with one hand, the modifiers get a little more complex, though it is an option) on a piece of hardware that starts at ~$5 if you don't care about quality is pretty hard to beat.

    15. Re:All the above by Tuidjy · · Score: 1

      Do you immediately act on all your desires?

      I do not know about you, but I often think that something may be a good idea, and then reconsider. Or sometimes, I get startled, and my first reflex is quite unsuitable for modern society. Or sometimes, I get upset with somebody, but force myself to wait until some time has passed, and I will not be the prime suspect.

      You must be one of the wisest, most coldly rational, and most self-controlled individuals on the planet. Sure, for you and your kind, direct mind control may work. For flawed people like me, a cutoff between impulse and execution is wiser.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
    16. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only if you're an idiot.

      The keyboard isn't going anywhere. There is no other input device that is remotely as fast or accurate.

    17. Re:All the above by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It seems like there are two(for broad simplification purposes, there are definitely more or at least cases that mix elements of both) 'styles' of use; one of which is fairly hard to imagine replacing keyboards in; the other much more amenable(already partially done in some cases).

      There are the tasks that involve relatively precise symbol manipulation. Programming is probably the most extreme case(human readers might be disgusted by your spelling, grammer, and atrocious taste in formatting; but they are likely to understand what you meant than the compiler or interpreter is); spreadsheet data munging, word processing, and the like are the other big ones. You can substitute something for a keyboard in these cases; but it is generally pretty clunky and you really need a reason to bother. Speech-to-text, say, works; and can be a valuable assistive technology for those who can't type for one reason or another; but it isn't actually all that impressive compared to typing if you have the option of either(both because it is somewhat error prone; because some operations have extremely terse expressions on the keyboard "move right one cell" is expressed with one touch of an arrow key, which is far faster than saying it, and certainly at least as fast as even a specially defined codeword of some sort; and because people, without substantial practice, aren't terribly good at speaking the way they want to write; pauses, 'umm', etc.)

      Then there are tasks that can be done by manipulating symbols; but are really about snapping together some primitives the system is already familiar with in one of a reasonably limited number of ways according to what is basically a template provided by the system. Creating a calendar event or starting a phone call are probably reasonably good examples: For a calendar event; you are snapping together one or more items from your contacts(if it's a 'reminder', it just contains you; if it's a meeting or something, it will have additional participants), a date/time, and a location(sometimes just a human-readable description intended for the participants, in company settings often a conference room or the like that is also a specialized type of contact that is known to the system so that room availability tracking works). Placing a phone call is an even simpler case: you are specifying a contact and a known operation to perform against that contact(and possibly an additional detail if the contact has a work, home, and mobile number or the like, in which case the command has to be 'call X at work').

      This set of tasks is inherently somewhat limited, because (barring markedly more expert expert systems than we yet enjoy) you can really only perform them if the system already has a template defined; but many of the common cases are really, really common; so it isn't prohibitive to enumerate and support those cases; which reduces the ambiguity involved and makes it easier for a relatively imperfect input mechanism to assemble the correct answer (or at least recognize that it needs to ask you to repeat yourself) because the context automatically excludes the vast majority of possible inputs.

      If your plan involves a grim future where computers are basically just for scheduling meetings and asking Alexa to buy things; it becomes much easier to imagine replacing the keyboard; but that is much less about improvements in speech to text or other new input mechanisms than it is about defining down the list of possible activities until you no longer need precision, general purpose input, or other things your alternative input mechanism is bad at.

    18. Re: All the above by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm still waiting for the paperless society computers were supposed to bring.

      Not me!
      I'm afraid I won't know how to use the 3 seashells...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    19. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a drummer. I started playing in the early 80's, and everything I learned on my own came as text, mainly from magazines. I could hear examples of what was being spoken about on records, but couldn't really tell exactly what was going on just by listening. There were myths and rumors bruited about of the 'Buddy Rich single handed roll' technique, but no one I met could do it themselves.

      Decades later, YouTube comes along, and now there are a dozen examples available of just how several similar extremely advanced techniques are performed, many being demonstrated by Millennials. In decades to come, this kind of instruction will continue to push forward human capability in ways we can't conceive.

      Perhaps only a drummer can understand how much of a brain-twisting breakthrough this guy's ability is:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chQg5_ZzPes

      Text can only convey so much information. Internet video may not be the be-all-end-all of knowledge transfer, but it's a fucking fantastic supplement. The mere fact that you are seeing contemporaries and peers execute what only legends could once perform is a reality changing feat.

    20. Re:All the above by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Don't forget, once grocery stores become popular, farming started being phased out too!

    21. Re:All the above by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      human readers might be disgusted by your spelling, grammer

      *Golf clap*.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    22. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And since Amazon arrived, we haven't needed factories anymore...

    23. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only someone would find the Rosetta Stone for that thing it might even be useful.

    24. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are too many fucks on YouTube trying to make a quick ad buck by making videos out of text or worse, the assholes that use text to speech to read the news off of someone else's site and encode that into a video.

      I prefer videos if they actually SHOW what I'm looking for. This past weekend, I did some not insignificant repairs on my car (reupholstering the headliner, two fender panel replacements, an exterior mirror replacement and installing LED headlights) and I was only able to do it because I watched YouTube videos of other people doing it. I am not at all a car guy but had no problems thanks to the videos.

    25. Re:All the above by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Skynet won't need keyboards.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    26. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you’ve never seen someone hot (pick your gender) walk past and think of a dozen things you want to do to them right here right now? Never been really, really angry at some idiot in another car and wanted to do something illegal to them? Hell, never thought “I could so order a pizza right now, and a stripper to make this presentation more interesting” in the middle of a meeting?

      Of course you have. Everyone has. But we have a filter between that part of our mind and our mouth/keyboard/mouse. Do you really want to remove the filter?

    27. Re:All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1

      That so-called filter is entirely in the brain itself though. In exactly the same way you can decide to not go through with physically typing what you might have briefly thought about, with a purely mental UI, one could decide to not mentally "transmit" whatever they might have at first wanted to do with no more effort than it takes to not speak every little thing you happen to think out loud.

    28. Re:All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Do you immediately act on all your desires?

      No... but why would you think a computer that could read your mind would do so? The very same so-called "filters" that you use to stop yourself from saying or doing every little thing you happen to think about could, at least in theory, also be used by a computer that can so evaluate a person's mental state to limit the data that a computer would accept from you as input.

      Not to mention it would be a boon for people with disabilities who cannot communicate any other way.

    29. Re:All the above by Dusty101 · · Score: 1

      You're referring to some sort of chorded keyboard:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    30. Re:All the above by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      I wish I could say that I intended to do that; but no.

    31. Re:All the above by Opyros · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, Language Log put up this post just a few hours ago. (It's about which of the various methods people actually use to input Chinese characters.)

    32. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Protip: Sticky Keys makes one-handed typing a lot easier.

      t. 40 wpm one handed

    33. Re:All the above by flargleblarg · · Score: 0

      I do not want my mind read and immediately obeyed.

      "Please confirm launch of bigly nuclear missiles at Fucking North Korea."

    34. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent analogy.

      Yoink. hastag loveheart and all that.

    35. Re:All the above by ctilsie242 · · Score: 1

      If you are doing any type of serious document processing or coding, you will be using a keyboard. A touch screen, even on a tablet, is an exercise in pain for more than trivial uses.

      It may not be as prevalent, but like the role of a desktop/laptop computer, it isn't going away anytime soon.

    36. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i would suck your fat cock

    37. Re:All the above by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      You type: "I'm going to kill you." And then follow that with a paragraph of how you're going to accomplish that. Before you're done with the paragraph, you recover your temper and backspace over the whole thing. No harm done.

      You think: "I'm going to kill you," Before you even begin the descriptive paragraph, your Personal Computer Bodyguard (tm) kills the person you're angry at.

      The technology would need a lot of safeguards, and they're not going to be in place initially.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    38. Re:All the above by Insanity+Defense · · Score: 1

      I do not want my mind read and immediately obeyed.

      If you didn't want it, then why would it obey it? Or are you supposing that what you want isn't part of your mindset?

      You've never watched Forbidden Planet?

    39. Re:All the above by An+Ominous+Coward · · Score: 1

      Keyboards obsoleted by the Kegelboard.

    40. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The market for tech gear is so big that no one input device will satisfy everyone. There's no end in sight for keyboards. If anything, the market seems to be showing a renewed surge toward real quality in keyboards, with mechanical tactile switches, like Corsair's keyboards, or Razer's, or Deck's, or many others advertising Cherry MX or similar switches. A lot of them are advertised for "gamers," but whatever the reason, good keyboards are back!

      We've suffered through too many years of cheesy chicklet wireless keyboards being the norm, led by Apple, who seemed to think the IBM's ultimate keyboard wasn't the Model F or the Model M, but the one they shipped with the IBM PC jr.

    41. Re:All the above by onkelonkel · · Score: 1

      If I want to know how to replace a taillight bulb on my car, a video is perfect. If I want the registry entry to let me open 50 files at once in windows 10, half a page of text will do. They each have their place. The problem is when somebody makes a 7 minute video instead of typing that half page of text.

      --
      None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
    42. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you talking about the Datahand?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataHand

      This is one of the few devices I could see replacing a keyboard, despite being significantly more complicated than a standard keyboard. I happen to own one (cost me a pretty penny too- over $1300 USD in 2008), it's one of the best input devices (and methods) I've ever used. I still use it today, albeit through a mess of dongles and converters, but it works well enough on a modern day computer. It has completely eliminated my RSI, and I can comfortably type as fast or faster than I could on a normal keyboard (and I'm a programmer by trade, so I do a ton of typing).

      As far as keyboards go, there are definitely better solutions out there- they're just not standardized and as universally recognizable as a board with buttons in offset rows. All of them still have mechanical switches though (just like the Datahand). That's what I don't see changing- I don't think you'll ever beat the speed and reliability of triggering an electronic switch for data input. I owned one of those holographic "keyboards" (the one that projects an image of a keyboard onto a flat surface, which you then type on). It was just about as pleasant as typing on a glass tablet surface, which is to say, not pleasant at all.

      I do think anyone touting the end of keyboards and mechanical switches is living in a dream world, and probably peddling their own agenda somehow. As flashy as some of these ideas are, none of them are as reliable as putting pressure on a contact switch and having the computer read that, and I don't think any of them ever will be.

    43. Re: All the above by Jesus+H+Rolle · · Score: 1

      Protip: One-handed typing makes Keys Sticky.

      Ftfy

    44. Re:All the above by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Video probably does work for explaining drumming technique, but for many other cases (particularly computer related tasks which are performed on a keyboard - things that the average slashdot reader is likely to be interested in) it is absolutely terrible...

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    45. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm part of your "millennials" epithet (1985) and if it wasn't for keyboards, I don't think I'd still be using a computer. What passes for educational YT videos are trash. A good educational video will give you a quick before/after, and get right into the instructions (which are also written below the video). Bonus points if you provide subtitles, in case I can't understand a redneck's explanation of a car problem.

      When it comes down to it, though, reading and typing has a shitload more information bandwidth. Well-written instructions are hard to beat.

      There are some of us who know quality when we see it.

    46. Re:All the above by Tuidjy · · Score: 1

      Yes, it was chorded keyboard - a French "improvement", in software, on the Microwriter MW4, using two of the devices in tandem. A few years afterward, a further development on the same principle became the DataHand, which a poster references further down.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
    47. Re: All the above by vlad30 · · Score: 2
      Reminds me of this I heard the other day

      A Millennial sees a typewriter operated for the first time and says "A keyboard and printer all-in-one , Cool"

      --
      Your'e all thinking it, I just said it for you
    48. Re:All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1

      If you can undo something by simply sending any appropriate mental commands to your fingers to press the appropriate keys, there's no real reason that you could not use mental commands to directly command whatever you were otherwise controlling by keyboard.

    49. Re:All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1
      gah... pressed submit instead of preview.

      What I meant was that there's no real reason you could not use mental commands to directly *undo* whatever you would otherwise control by keyboard.

    50. Re:All the above by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      After training, you can control computers in all sorts of ways, even altering the tension in your genitals, when hooked up to a computer ie morse code, long or short ;D. Of course people need to communicate with people and using that method instead of a letter or note, would not go well. Sure empty heads who do nothing but consumer content, will not need keyboards but anyone who creates content and shares it with other content creators will need one.

      Here is an interesting side note. MMORPG, to keyboard or to microphone. Well you certainly can more 'readily' communicate via microphone and speaker but do you really want to. My choice is strictly keyboard only and sound from microphones disabled. Went with that stuff on once, watched a guild self destruct and listened to some god awful waffle until I switch if off and uninstalled the software and never looked back.

      I know crazy assed SJW feminists want to waste their life arguing with young teenage boys (grown women mind you) but I do not. Very rarely will those immature chaps ever reach for the keyboard and you can fillet them with leisurely indifference, if you could be bothered, else block is only a right click away (along with the religious fundies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..., corporate political stooges and paid for with taxpayer dollars government propaganda, as well as the least offensive of that group, spammers).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    51. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Our office is almost paperless. The company forced us to input password to the printer every time we want to print something. I still remember 10 years ago when I came to that company, everyone printed everything they were reviewing (for example all of the code was printed for every reviewer). A lot less paper is used nowadays.

    52. Re:All the above by Alumoi · · Score: 1

      Before you even begin the descriptive paragraph, your Personal Computer Bodyguard (tm) kills the person you're angry at.

      Are they on sale? Can I buy one? Just asking for a firend, you know,.

    53. Re:All the above by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Except no command will undo your posts......You have proven the case you are arguing against.

      --
      Good-bye
    54. Re:All the above by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      The problem people are replacing text with video for all the wrong reasons. Advertisers are forcing a move to all video because its the opposite of text, its not malleable information..

      --
      Good-bye
    55. Re: All the above by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      We cut paper use by moving the printer to the back of a smelly warehouse that is as hot as a sauna in the summer, and frigid in the winter. Printer use dropped by about 80% just by making it less convenient.

    56. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. In the same way that you can learn to walk in a game with one of those eeg helmets by walking, and then keep walking even when you stand still. You could very easily train a computer to use a modifier muscle, so that it only writes while you actively avoid moving your index finger, accesses menus while you are actively curling you index finger, etc.

      My worries are more for those of us with heavy mental dyslexia. I can't think a full sentence silently, I have no "inner voice," and while I can think in colors, pictures, smells, tastes, touch sensations, and gestures, I cannot actually think this passage to myself in any language. How will these "keyboard replacement" devices function with that?

    57. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are the tasks that involve relatively precise symbol manipulation. Programming is probably the most extreme case

      Spoken like someone who has never done graduate level physics, mathematics or other STEM disciplines.

    58. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A millennial sees a 3.5" floppy disk and says "cool, someone printed a save icon".

    59. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Not to mention it would be a boon for people with disabilities who cannot communicate any other way.

      So? They can use that technology, then. Personally, I would rather not subject myself to the user interface equivalent of a wheelchair just so that I get to use those sweet parking spaces.

    60. Re:All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well written.

      Keyboards aren't going away soon. The last thing I want to do is spend time talking to a computer all day long when I can type quietly.

      I do look forward to the day that some sort of neural interface is developed, but it would have to be a very complex one. I don't want a computer just reading my mind. But an interface that gives the same level of input as a keyboard and mouse and that your brain could control effectively - that's where we should be looking.

    61. Re:All the above by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Just be careful not to blink, sneeze or yawn when editing anything important.

      --
      No sig today...
    62. Re:All the above by Capt.Albatross · · Score: 1

      Picking up a phone is already a minefield of unintended actions...

    63. Re: All the above by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Im sure Apple will soon show enough 'courage' to do what they can to remove keyboards everywhere and replace them with speech recognition.

      They will well computers Without the possibility to add a keyboard and the MacBooks will disappear in favor of voice controlled ipads

      Then the rest of the IT industri will follow because.. They will blindly and without thought or question.. Just copy any damn move made by Apple .. Simple because they do not seem to acknowledge the reality distortion field

    64. Re:All the above by Whibla · · Score: 1

      D

      I just spent 30 seconds trying (and failing) to locate an alternative that was being pushed in France in the 80s. It looked like two modern gaming mice, with a ton of buttons that were easy to access without moving your fingers too much. You could create a lot of different inputs with button combinations. I wasted a few days getting better at the contraption than anyone I knew. My father saw me, and asked me to spent eight hours getting better at using a keyboard. Guess what turned out to be faster, more accurate, and not noticeably more tiring?

      Are you talking about a chording keyboard, perhaps? They still exist in various forms, though it looks like the design of them has actually gone backwards in the last 20 years. They service a niche (at least) in that you can type with one hand and, since you're holding it in your hand, they do not require a surface to rest on. However, the number of people that can't get by without typing as they walk etc. is pretty damn small.

      As for the rest of your post, yup. Keyboards are not going anywhere.

    65. Re:All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Well yes... so you could be dealing with the exact same sort of phenomenon... just as you've seen that typing on a keyboard isn't sufficient to prevent something from being sent inadvertently.

    66. Re: All the above by mark-t · · Score: 1

      I don't think in real words either, but I have no difficulty in imagining a computer programming environment, for instance, that generates code that I imagine in my brain, even if I do not yet know what the specifics of it are. The concept of a code fragment begins as a mental envisioning of a general structure, which corresponds to some kind of pattern, and then as I concentrate on individual details of the pattern, they are then fleshed out in the resulting code, enabling the generation of the equivalent of many thousands of lines of code in moments.

    67. Re:All the above by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      As somebody who actually ended up very heavily into the cognitive end of psychology: Thank you, I needed a good laugh.

      The question of at what point an AI may become a person in the legal sense will be long settled before a computer is capable of reading a mind with the preciseness you're suggesting and filter intentions with sufficient reliability to be safe outside of the lab on isolated systems. Just because in theory it's possible doesn't mean that it will be a Good Idea in practice.

    68. Re:All the above by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Nothing will make the keyboard obsolete. NOTHING.

      Absolutely, 110% correct.

    69. Re:All the above by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      So my mad earwiggling skillz will finally be in demand!

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    70. Re: All the above by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      I didn't do it at the graduate level, true; but at the undergraduate level these tended to involve either programming or using a markup language for typesetting mathematical symbols. The programming was, for obvious reasons, a case of programming; while the typesetting was reasonably touchy about syntax; but (in principle; I don't know of any implementation that actually does the job) seemed more amenable to, say, a handwriting recognition mechanism that actually worked: my handwriting is substantially slower than my typing for alphanumeric plus a few basic symbols; while I can hand write more complex formulas and such faster than I can write the markup; but my handwriting is far too awful for anything formal.

      Is it different at the graduate level, or are you just pointing out that I didn't include the LaTeX case?

    71. Re:All the above by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      I do not want my mind read and immediately obeyed.

      Someone will create a keyboard shortcut (or voice/hand/right-big-toenail combination) that stands for "Do what I want you to, not what I told you to do, idiot machine!"

      Or ... perhaps I'm deluded about those "undo" icons I see in so many applications.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  3. Spoons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    clearly the answer is right in front of us, spoons will replace them!!

    1. Re:Spoons by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      But... I've been told that there is no spoon!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:Spoons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RTFA - in 20 years (after much research conducted from android phones)

    3. Re: Spoons by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      just a piece of metal that also doesn't exist.

    4. Re:Spoons by sconeu · · Score: 1

      If there is no spoon, then how will The Tick fight evil?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    5. Re:Spoons by n329619 · · Score: 1

      Where's the spoon?

  4. Nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What a stupid question.

    1. Re:Nothing by Stephen+Battleware · · Score: 1

      I think you're probably right. MS Word has had dictation for eons, and it is very accurate and fast, yet, I would find trying to dictated the printed/text word rather cumbersome compared to merrily typing along. It is unlikely "the document" whether it be a book, a term paper, a blog, a contract, an email etc. is going away any time this century. So I will be using a keyboard for a long time yet.

  5. No!!!! by mfh · · Score: 1

    Nobody better touch my corsair k95 mechanical keyboard. :)

    The G-keys up the side are so good for binding keys for any games or productivity and it's mechanical so that's awesome too.

    I'm on the fence about interfaces that watch your hand movements. They seem like they would be prone to repeat stress injuries far worse than mouse & keys. Still waiting to see what people come up with. Perhaps a kind of malleable putty that lets you bind your own commands in it to whatever shapes or keys you come up with?

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:No!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It will be neural interface.

    2. Re:No!!!! by willoughby · · Score: 1

      Yep, I agree. I'm typing this on an IBM 122 key Model F made in 1985. More than eight pounds of clicky goodness.

    3. Re:No!!!! by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Color me jealous. I had a clicky keyboard (not the Model F) on my Christmas list.

    4. Re:No!!!! by willoughby · · Score: 1

      The old terminal keyboards can often be found pretty cheap because they won't work on modern computers. If you search for "Soarer's converter" you'll find info on a converter which can be made for easily under $25 and will bring these old terminal keyboards like mine into the 21st Century with USB communication and full programmability.

    5. Re:No!!!! by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Interesting!

      What does "full programmability" mean? I ask because I use a keyboard remapper written in C that "hooks" the Windows input, so it maps things like J to , and does so for every program (even command-line based programs, like the Win10 Linux terminal). So far it's worked with every version of Windows since (IIRC) 3.1, but I fear some day it's going to stop working. (And indeed it doesn't work with Edge, although I fortunately don't use Edge.) And I've never been able to get something similar working for Linux. I'm sure it's possible to build a keyboard driver that does what I want, but that seems like a lot of work.

      One of the things that makes my remapper different from other remappers (like SharpKeys) is that it actually has two states; one in which case all the cursor movement keys (Ctrl-J, Ctrl-H, etc.) behave like the key is pressed (so they select text), and one in which they behave like the key is released (so they don't select text). Toggling from the non-shift state to the shift state is done by Ctrl-Q, while shifting back can be done by Ctrl-Q, Ctrl-C (copy) etc.

      Another thing that makes my remapper different is that some keystrokes emit a sequence of key up/down messages. Ctrl-D, for example, emits seven arrow key messages, while Ctrl-U emits seven arrow messages.

      Anyway, I guess Soarer's converter doesn't work with a laptop's built-in keyboard...

    6. Re:No!!!! by willoughby · · Score: 1

      In the keyboard world the "states" you refer to are called layers. There are programmable keyboards, which allow you to move things around which are already on the keyboard, and fully programmable keyboards which allow you to not only rearrange the layout but also add keys/functions which aren't in the original layout. Soarer's also allows - I can't remember how many - layers. So you can have, for example, a qwerty keyboard and press a key or combo of keys and switch to a layer programmed with a dvorak layout and back.

      I've added two Windows keys to my old IBM terminal keyboard, one each for the right and left half, moved the ESC key, added Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause, volume control keys and... I think that's it.

      The Soarer's is a hardware mod and requires access to the wires - either at the cable-end plug, in the case of an external converter, or you can put it inside the keyboard as I've done with this old beast. You're only working with four wires but it would be problematic to hook up to a laptop keyboard.

    7. Re:No!!!! by sheramil · · Score: 1

      I ask because I use a keyboard remapper written in C that "hooks" the Windows input, so it maps things like J to , and does so for every program (even command-line based programs, like the Win10 Linux terminal).

      ,esus christ, why would anyone do that?

    8. Re:No!!!! by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Well, I can't say that He told me to. But it does allow me to edit stuff I'm writing in any application without taking my hands off the alphabetic part of the keyboard. When I'm on a computer that doesn't have my app, it's much more cumbersome to look over at the various cursor keys, move my right hand over there, and then move that hand back to find the JKL keys on the home row. Selecting is even worse, because I have to hold down the shift key as well; and if I want to select several words, or some other extended selection, that means holding down the control *and* shift keys. Much easier to type Ctrl-Q (start selecting), Ctrl-W a few times to select some words, and Ctrl-C to copy them.

      I suspect most emacs and vi users would be familiar with this. The advantage of remapping the keyboard is I can have the same keys in any application that I use in my programmer's editor.

      Ah--now that I've written the above, I see a possible reason for your response: I had said I map Ctrl-J to the Down arrow, etc., but somehow the Ctrl and the Down disappeared in my post. I probably put less-than and greater-than symbols to the left and right of the words Ctrl and Down, and Slashdot in its wisdom removed them. I'll try to make sure Slashdot doesn't butcher this post...

      And don't you dare tell me I should be using the mouse for this!

    9. Re:No!!!! by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Can't you use xmodmap to do basically the same thing on linux?

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    10. Re:No!!!! by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Last time I looked (a couple years ago), no. I could do a couple things, like map Ctrl-J to Down, but last time I looked it couldn't give me the two modes (selecting and non-selecting), nor could a single keystroke map to a sequence of commands. My memory is a bit vague, but I'm thinking it only worked in some apps; but I could be wrong about that.

    11. Re:No!!!! by mfh · · Score: 1

      Ahh kindred spirits!! There simply is something about the feeling of a perfectly machined system. Typing was a real bitch when I first learned in grade 9. By the time I was at Uni, my typing outpaced everyone I knew. It was then I discovered coding.

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    12. Re: No!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Followers of a certain fruity religion, will NOT tolerate that someone could use a piece of tech that is manufactured more than 3 years ago.. Much less 32 years ago.. So that company WILL find a way to force you away from keyboards...

      The fruity company will only allow tech more than 3 years old if they themselves have "invented" it in their own products within the 3 year window...so at best you May be allowed to use 3+4=7 year old tech but officially it will be 3 years old

      The fruity company is 4 years behind the competition at every opportunity

  6. Just Like Star Trek! by mschwanke97402 · · Score: 1

    No, not really. There are times when we want to talk to people. There are times when we want to text them. There are times when we will need to write them a letter. The point is I don't always want to say something out loud. I won't want to speak to my computer. So, short of gaining the ability to read my mind, I am going to need to enter commands or data in some other non-verbal fashion. Let me know what you think that non-verbal keyboard replacement might be.

    1. Re:Just Like Star Trek! by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      I know in Star Trek: The Next Generation era they had touch screen everything... However even towards the end of the series and supplement shows they seem to go further back to physical buttons. There isn't any real replacement for a physical button, that is well designed for its purpose. The problem is for the past 25 years, computers have been given cheap old keyboards, while functional fail to give the joy of typing. While I enjoy a good mechanical keyboard, I find good quality membrane keyboards also make a big difference too, vs just from a cheap $10.00 keyboard. Just the right amount of pressure and feedback to let you know that you have done something.

      Now I can see enhancements in they keyboard such as OLED Displays in the keys changing to your need, or having mechanics to raise and lower keys, or adjust their pressure depending on what is needed. However as long as we have screens that are bigger then a playing card where we are expected to sit down and use the device a keyboard while not requires, is certainly helpful.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Just Like Star Trek! by Megol · · Score: 1

      A bad keyboard is still better than a touchscreen for almost any use. Well, finger-painting is better with the touchscreen.

    3. Re:Just Like Star Trek! by mark-t · · Score: 1

      So, short of gaining the ability to read my mind...

      And why do you suppose this would be forever technologically impossible?

    4. Re:Just Like Star Trek! by mschwanke97402 · · Score: 1

      So, short of gaining the ability to read my mind...

      And why do you suppose this would be forever technologically impossible?

      Oh, I don’t. I am sure that mind to computer interfaces will happen. I am sure that we’ll have computers augmenting our brains right in our heads. I am not sure that any of this will replace keyboards in the next 25 years. Keyboards are incredibly efficient (for those who’ve bothered to learn to type) and very inexpensive. Most of the tech I’m reading about seems faddish or far-fetched or many decades off. When I see Siri or Alexa working a couple of orders of magnitude better I might be willing to believe in that direct mind to machine interface.

      Can you imagine the opportunity for data-mining the mind reading computer interface will create...

    5. Re:Just Like Star Trek! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can buy a good, back-lit, mechanical keyboard for like $25 now.

  7. obligatory by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    Leela, knocking on bathroom door: "Bender..... are you jacking on in there?"

  8. Probably nothing by sconeu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It depends on the job, but in general, I'd say nothing.

    Voice requires insane amounts of processing power compared to a keyboard, is lower bandwidth, and is difficult to use, except for normal words.

    Try reading some C (or your language of choice -- except maybe Ada) out loud and see what you'd have to do to get the voice parser to recognize stuff as characters not words.

    As to my bandwidth argument, a trained typist can easily type 60 characters per second (60 wpm), or better, whereas voice is much slower.

    Not to mention the noise factor in an office, when someone would be using speech.

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Probably nothing by bogaboga · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What Will Replace Computer Keyboards?

      Question is: Do they *need* to be replaced? If so, why?

    2. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, try replacing keyboards with voice recognition in those dumbass open plan offices.

    3. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What Will Replace Computer Keyboards?

      Question is: Do they *need* to be replaced? If so, why?

      COURAGE!

    4. Re:Probably nothing by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Your logic is ok, your math is bad. Sixty wpm is more like 60*7 (word average) = 420 chars per *minute*. I've never heard of anyone who can type sixty characters per second.

      But what your writing about is transcription, not writing what you're thinking as you go. Typing is actually pretty bad for that as your speech doesn't form grammatically correct (just witness all the bad sentences spoken aloud by anyone not reading notes - and even those that are).

      Yes, I can type faster than I can talk normally, but only don't give a shit how the text looks or reads afterward and if I don't try to rush my speech.

      Writing takes much more time but it also is far more precise.

    5. Re:Probably nothing by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      HAH! And even that post had errors because I only edited it once over 3-4 minutes.

    6. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As to my bandwidth argument, a trained typist can easily type 60 characters per second (60 wpm), or better, whereas voice is much slower.

      60 words per minute or about five or six* keystrokes per second, not 60, is what the stereotypical self-taught nerd manages. That includes me: I can do a hair better but the main thing is that I can easily type without looking at the keyboard for most keys. This leaves me more room to think and possibly say useful things. A trained touch-typist should be able to do quite a bit more than that, 120-ish WPM over long stretches. Of course, that training was a little more common in the typewriter era.

      Many many office people are still hunt-and-peckers, typing with two to four fingers and watching their own fingers like a hawk.** That's not productive. That's quite a lot of low-hanging fruit that could easily be reaped with a little training and without stupid fragile technology requiring stupidly big chunks of processing power.

      In fact, I note that much of today's "consumer"-oriented technology is pessimised for touch-typists. You can't really do it on any touchscreen and chicklet keyboards suck too much for serious typing also.

      Given the choice between re-introducing a little training and good keyboards to type on, and have world+dog yabber at each their own little screens... yeah, I can see why we're going where we're going, if we let the silly valley bunch have their way. They could be solving real-world problems, if only they'd get out of their saccharine sugarland utopia for but a week a year or so.

      Not to mention the noise factor in an office, when someone would be using speech.

      Those cones of silence ought to solve that.

      * The "standard word" is five characters, but hitting space is another keystroke on a keyboard, if not on a morse key. With a dedicated thumb to do it, typically, so whether that counts is another discussion entirely.
      ** Including the bigwigs who previously would dictate their letters to trained typist secretaries. So now you want to go back and have the computer do all that typing and proofreading and other handling? But of course, friend computer knows best. How could I forget?

    7. Re:Probably nothing by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I used to be able to type really fast and accurately until my arthritis got worse. So as much as I actually love typing, something that isn't affected by arthritis would be nice.

      I'm sure most people who can't type particularly fast would like something new too.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:Probably nothing by mhkohne · · Score: 1

      Ohh. If noise is a problem, we could use this to get offices.

      --
      A thousand pounds of wood moving at 300 feet per minute. Don't get in the way.
    9. Re:Probably nothing by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Try reading some C (or your language of choice -- except maybe Ada) out loud and see what you'd have to do to get the voice parser to recognize stuff as characters not words.
      You read it out like what it means, not as single characters.


      char* strcpy(char* dest, char* src) {
              *dest++ = *src++;
      }

      Function returning a pointer to char, named 'strcpy', two arguments: a pointer to char called dest, a pointer to char called src.
      Body: dereference 'dest' with post increment becomes dereference 'src' with post increment. End Of Function.

      I guess I'm lucky you never had to dictate code to me via a phone :)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    10. Re:Probably nothing by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Most if not all arthritis problems can be handled with diet changes.
      Find a good medic.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    11. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Try reading some C (or your language of choice -- except maybe Ada) out loud

      IntelliSense would make that much easier. After watching my coworkers use it, I've realized most of them can't work without that crutch. Of course, with voice, it would be a useful tool. It might work.

    12. Re:Probably nothing by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      They are old, therefore they are bad and must be replaced, even though all the alternatives are worse. See also: headphone jack.

    13. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Keyboards do NOT need to replaced, nor will they. Touch screens suck for typing more than a few characters, voice recognition is not anywhere near accurate enough, and no one is ever gonna tap into my brain!

      Silly bastards keep coming up with this stupid crap far too often!!

    14. Re:Probably nothing by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      All you've demonstrated is that dictating C sucks. Period.

    15. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That would be a totally different language that needs to be at least as exact and unambiguous as C. But let's assume we have a converter that turns your words into actual C.
      Now you notice that this is not correct and you forgot the 'while' loop.
      What do you say now? Would that still be faster than using a keyboard?

    16. Re:Probably nothing by gravewax · · Score: 1

      skilled typists are actually 100-120 words per minute or about 15-20 characters per second. average typists like me are 50-70 words per minute, still way faster than anyone can talk or gesture or any other shit.

    17. Re:Probably nothing by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Why?
      In Pascal you would more or less say the same :)
      Unless you program in a very close to natural language (AppleScrip, HyperTalk), dictating a piece of code always sucks.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    18. Re:Probably nothing by mcswell · · Score: 1

      See also: Hierarchical menu, WinXP or Win7 UI, Buttons

    19. Re:Probably nothing by mcswell · · Score: 1

      I don't understand your math. If the average English word length is 7 chars (including the whitespace or punctuation at the end), then that's 7 chars/sec, not 60.

      I'm with you, though, on writing; no way do I want to dictate documents to my computer out loud.

    20. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Not to mention the noise factor in an office, when someone would be using speech.

      Worse when everyone is talking to their computers.

    21. Re:Probably nothing by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      It's hard to imagine ever wanting to code by talking or writing.

      I don't care if voice recognition or handwriting interpretation gets to 100% accuracy - they're still significantly slower than I can type. And accurately positioning a cursor, now done quickly with a mouse or trackpad, would be horribly inefficient by voice (and, frankly, even touch screens are a big step backward for this purpose).

      These methods could be very useful as supplementary input for certain specific use cases, so I do want to see them continue to advance... but they're not going to do away with our current input devices.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    22. Re:Probably nothing by mrbester · · Score: 1

      Try COBOL...

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    23. Re:Probably nothing by sconeu · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When I took typing way back in school (more years ago than I care to admit), WPM was measured in 5 character increments. I'm not by any means claiming that the average word is 5 characters.

      See also http://smallbusiness.chron.com/good-typing-speed-per-minute-71789.html

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    24. Re:Probably nothing by sconeu · · Score: 1

      That's a typo on my part. Thank you. I mean 5 cps.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    25. Re:Probably nothing by sconeu · · Score: 1

      Exactly. It would be a nightmare.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    26. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there is no return function in this code, the compiler is going to bitch at you.

    27. Re:Probably nothing by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Question is: Do they *need* to be replaced? If so, why?

      These are questions that do not get asked by courageous thinkers.

    28. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amen. An older example is PS/2 peripherals. If it weren't for Microsoft's Windows Logo requirements, every desktop would have two PS/2 ports. Even my 2007 Pentium 4 has them.

      I'm going to complain about the removal of the floppy drive too. Flash drives are expensive, and CDs are both expensive and a PITA. But floppy disks are cheap and easy to use, making them great for turning in homework, distributing software, etc.

    29. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As to my bandwidth argument, a trained typist can easily type 60 characters per second (60 wpm), or better, whereas voice is much slower.

      60 characters per second, that must make for some blurry hand movement, RSI here we come. And 60 wpm, this must be one hell of an environment to work in, 60 character words being typed constantly.

      But yes, I touch type at a pretty good pace relatively error free. Some people call me rather than IM me, since it both speeds them up and slows me down. And forget using speech to make corrections it's slow as anything.

    30. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most if not all arthritis problems can be handled with diet changes.

      Most, but definitely not all. I have arthritis as a result of an autoimmune disorder. There isn't a diet change possible that fixes that. Anti-inflammatories, a COX-2 inhibitor, and a DMARD on the other hand are doing wonders for me.

      I'd recommend a good rheumatologist. They'll be able to help you determine what the underlying cause is, suggest diet changes that may help, or proscribe appropriate medication if necessary.

    31. Re:Probably nothing by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      Sixty words per minute is 300 characters a minute, or 5 characters a second. A word for these types of purposes is defined as five characters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    32. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're still using a headphone jack then you simply haven't been paying attention. Time to get rid of the cable, get in a Delorean an come join us in 2017.

    33. Re: Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see your logic and raise with big amounts of courage.

      Actually I reject your reality and substitute my own, where I pretend that voice recognition is superior to keyboard and ignore all problems.. Just like certain companies

    34. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most if not all arthritis problems can be handled with diet changes.
      Find a good medic.

      Young idiot.

    35. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speak for yourself. I can pretty much type what I'm thinking at a pretty good clip without too many errors. Especially since I switched back to a mechanical "gaming" keyboard-- Ye Gods I've missed Cherry MX 'brown' switches. DIdn't realize how bad my typing had become on membrane-click style keyboards until I bought myself a mechanical keyboard for Christmas.

      I think my typing speed jumped about 15-20 wpm.

    36. Re:Probably nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't understand your math.

      Read the post he/she was replying to.

    37. Re:Probably nothing by olau · · Score: 1

      I replace mine every few years.

      It's a cheap Microsoft model, with a bit of curvature built into it, making Emacsing a bit easier. Probably lasts about 3-6 years. I like the way it feels, there's a lot of shitty keyboards out there (or at least used to be, last time I actually went out trying a lot of models, that's probably a decade ago though, hmmm).

      So, yeah, I'd say they need replacing every few years, can probably last longer if you buy higher quality. Unless you're using one of the good old IBM tankers (CLICK, CLICK, CLICKCLICKCLICK), wouldn't be surprised if they could last a lifetime.

    38. Re:Probably nothing by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Make Automata Great Again!

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  9. You can have my keyboard when... by rknop · · Score: 1

    ...cold, dead, fingers, etc.

    The GUI has "completely" replaced the command line in the last 20 years. And, yet, there are still a lot of us (very few proportionally speaking, but a lot in an absolute sense) who use the command line either as a large fraction, or even a primary way, of controlling their computers. Despite the fact that the GUI is easier to just pick up and use, the command line remains more powerful if you're willing to take them time to learn it, and makes it possible to do obscure things.

    It also remains an important way of interacting with some programs where having enough GUI elements would get in the way of what the display is really supposed to do, i.e. *displaying* stuff . So, Blender, for example, is largely GUI, but probably almost everybody still hits space and types some commands every now and again.

    The keyboard isn't going anywhere. Yeah, it may become less of a "primary" interface device. But we'll find that gesture-based control isn't nearly as expressive as using a mouse and a keyboard, and we'll find that having a keyboard to tune up the text that we spoke is going to be essential. (Sure, you can say "go back, respell, add a comma", etc... but it will be way more efficient just to hit a few keys and put in what you want! Hell, even when talking to *people* right now, it's sometimes more efficient to just show what you mean by typing it.)

    The race to make everything a touch screen right now, in my opinion, is a kind of a mass insanity that has gripped us all. Yes, it has some advantages. But I find it far easier to get a computer to do what I want it to do with a keyboard and a mouse than with a touchscreen. And, sometimes, a touchscreen is just not a good idea. For instance, the heater/air controls on my car are all on a touchscreen now. On my older car, I can operate them entirely by feel, because the three knobs are tactile and I can tell where I'm turning them. With the touch screen, I *have* to look at them... which means looking away from the road. The touch screen is not the cure-all that device manufacturers seem to think it is. Likewise, whatever input system we use instead of a keyboard is probably going to drive a few of us nuts all the time, and will drive everybody nuts enough of the time that we'll still have a keyboard for at *least* decades to come.

  10. Nothing by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    Nothing will replace the computer keyboards that we know and use today.

    What will happens is that computers themselves will be replaced by something else. Are smartphones and tablets "computers"? Yes and no. Are smartwatches "computers"? Yes and no.

    The only things most people count as "computers" are desktops and laptops.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  11. ...other computer keyboards. by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

    keyboards give tactile feedback. They give the ability to enter information quickly and accurately, and they do not require noise to be made (unless you have a Model M), and don't require a computer at the other end to guess what you mean. Whether the presumed successor is a gesture-based method (which the computer will get right...How often?) or the assumption is more comprehensive voice input, it requires a whole lot of computing power to turn these into reliable input and are generally inefficient.

    Moreover, the piano has had the same 88-key layout for hundreds of years, and I've yet to hear anyone looking to change it.

    Keyboards may not be the most exciting thing to ever exist, and I've used Siri to compose a short email on more than one occasion...but so long as there is data entry to be done that does not readily lend itself to being interpreted, keyboards will remain.

    1. Re:...other computer keyboards. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moreover, the piano has had the same 88-key layout for hundreds of years, and I've yet to hear anyone looking to change it.

      Try Googling Jankó keyboard.

  12. A better keyboard by grungeman · · Score: 1

    If a keyboard has the following characteristics, it is the perfect input device for me:

    - mechanical Switches (blue ones, with click for me)
    - heavy weight
    - rubber feet
    - included usb hub
    - tenkeyless

    This is extremely hard to get. The Keyboard 4C comes close, but the ruler at the bottom is total crap. So I am hoping for a Das Keyboard 4c+, which has just some rubber feet instead of the slippery ruler.

    --

    Signature deleted by lameness filter.
    1. Re:A better keyboard by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Your shout out for the 4C would have worked better if the Das Keyboard 4C Professional web page didn't return "Page not found." for the "Buy Now" button.

    2. Re:A better keyboard by Golden_Rider · · Score: 1

      I got this here: https://www.lioncast.com/en/lk...

      tenkeyless, cherry blue, good build quality. Just has no USB hub (they call it "gaming keyboard", but it does not have any macro functions - all you can adjust is the lighting).

    3. Re:A better keyboard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lose the ruler (inches? what?) and stick on some nice sturdy rubber feet. You can probably buy'em in a hardware shop or something, along with glue or double sided tape or whatever you'd like to use.

      Me, I'd be happy with a cherry rs6000 or something else sturdy but clickless, high rather than wide enter key, without the windows keys, without the keypad, but with a trackpoint. Maybe add a compose key somewhere.

      USB hub seems nice until you realise that usb keyboard handling is actually rather brittle. On this tiny core linux, some stupid browser munching up all the memory ("only" 2GB so easily exhausted with just a few open tabs these days, thanks webmonkeys) can actually fsck up keyboard and mouse handling. If Xorg doesn't get mysteriously stuck itself, thanks Keith. And the keyboard regularly gets stuck on repeat, even of keys not actually recently hit. It's a mushy mushy apple keyboard but never exhibited those problems on a mac, so I'm assuming it's a software stack issue somewhere. So I'll take PS/2 for the keyboard, and leave the USB for the cup heaters and other bullshit.

      Besides, I found an angled USB extension base thingy and stuck it to the monitor's foot. That works pretty well too.

    4. Re:A better keyboard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That thing is a fucking rip-off. My keyboard is mechanical, has a metal back plate, floating keys (MUCH easier to keep clean), back lighting and is tenkeyless and only cost $25 USD. It has non-Cherry "blue" switches in it, but I've been using it for a couple of years now without any problem.

  13. systemd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "What Will Replace Computer Keyboards?"

    That's easy. systemd

    1. Re: systemd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent up. Poettering's already working on a module that will replace keyboard input with pretty close approximation to what you wanted to type, and it's written in systemd's new python interpreter module so it's relatively fast.

    2. Re: systemd by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      systemd's new python interpreter module so it's relatively fast.

      Real pythons are a good bit faster and more accurate (and if well trained probably write PHP natively).

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  14. Probably the poor will be using keyboards/voice by bobstreo · · Score: 1

    The wealthy will have brain implants. The very wealthy will have "people" to do that sort of thing.

    1. Re:Probably the poor will be using keyboards/voice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The very wealthy will have "people" to do that sort of thing.

      Or andriods!

    2. Re:Probably the poor will be using keyboards/voice by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Oddly, that's what some people (bosses, not necessarily very wealthy) used to have, before PCs came along. And having those people (secretaries, usually female) meant the managers at Xerox Parc couldn't see the Xerox Star for what it could have been: a PC before there were PCs. What Important Person (read: themselves) would want to type into a computer, when they already had a secretary to do that?

      At least that's the story I've heard. And there were of course other issues with the Star, like the price.

    3. Re:Probably the poor will be using keyboards/voice by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      So about 100 people will be using brain implants, and the remaining 7 billion will have keyboards.

  15. Just look at the stimuli babies react upon by ffkom · · Score: 1

    Keyboards require sophisticated language plus motor skills to operate, voice recognition still requires language skills, gesture recognition still requires motor skills.

    So obviously, none of those are candidates for the upcoming brave new world in which humankind will be either pampered or enslaved by machine overlords.

    The only logical successor to current input technology is whatever humans can use without requiring any training/education: Primitive vocal utterances of current emotional state (like crying or giggling), inapt touching of anything colorful, blinking, or sweet tasting.

  16. Better computer keyboards or cheaper ones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Computer keyboards will not be phased out.

  17. It has/will split up by Casandro · · Score: 1

    There will be the consumers who don't need any kind of "advanced" input device. They'll happily just swipe and click wherever they are told to do so... That's essentially being click-cattle.

    Those who actually work with computers already use the keyboard and will most likely use them in the foreseeable future. It's simply a local optimum and probably your only solution when you want to enter complex data and or commands. Just look at the mouse. Despite of it being around for decades now, neither one of the 2 main text editors have meaningful integration for it.

  18. My answer? by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    Screw you and the very leading question you rode in on. Agenda, anyone?

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    1. Re: My answer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Duh, it's the suits at Androind tryin to push Android even though they have nothing new...and apparently their only focus for the next 20 years is phasing out keyboards on a device that has no keyboard.

  19. holding up your hand to pause a video by Mikkeles · · Score: 1

    ... and grabbing your crotch to initiate a search for porn!

    --
    Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
    1. Re: holding up your hand to pause a video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that a mouse in your pocket or are you just being gross?

    2. Re:holding up your hand to pause a video by mrbester · · Score: 1

      If you don't turn Safe Search off first, all you'll get is videos of Michael Jackson.

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    3. Re:holding up your hand to pause a video by sconeu · · Score: 1

      Or even worse... Roseanne Barr

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  20. Apple showed it in January 2009 by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2
    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  21. People think we're just "talking" to computers. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They think that all that stands between them and making a computer do what they want is a better interface. No, folks, that's not what we do. The hard works isn't entering stuff into a computer. Programming won't get easier if you can talk to a computer. The hardest part is figuring out what you want and formalizing that, resolving contradicting requirements and filling in the things that you didn't even think about. We'll have hard AI before computers will be able to do that. No, you won't be a Scotty once you're no longer hampered by archaic user interfaces. You're not a sculptor held back by chisel and hammer either, waiting to be freed by a better human-stone interface.

  22. Real men use blue switches by grungeman · · Score: 1

    Nuff said!

    --

    Signature deleted by lameness filter.
    1. Re:Real men use blue switches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Real men use IBM Model M...

    2. Re:Real men use blue switches by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      Real men use IBM Model M...

      And those who wish they had a keyboard for grown-ups use a prosthetic.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    3. Re:Real men use blue switches by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      It takes a real man just to pick one up!

      Note: I typed that so fast, on a real keyboard, that slashdot objected and told me I was too fast. :)

  23. Keyboards will be replaced by other keyboards by John_3000 · · Score: 1

    Chordite.com. I don't give a damn what they say, chording will rise again :-)

    It tickles me, sort of, when people say chording is too hard for people to learn and they'll prefer surgery instead. Or that folks will want to say out loud everything they might type. Or that the folks around them would tolerate them doing that.

    1. Re:Keyboards will be replaced by other keyboards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      26 gwam is pretty low. I was enamored by chorded keyboard designs long ago, but there aren't any settled-on standards, and I don't want to spend 3 months training to some random one only to get 1/4 the speed I can type on a standard keyboard, a skill which I can take to just about any desktop computer, not just my own.

      It's worth it to learn to type on your country's standard keyboard layout. It's maybe worth it to learn dvorak, as that's just a software setting, really. It's not really worth it to build skill on an uncommon device unless your performance can be significantly better than on the common device, though.

    2. Re:Keyboards will be replaced by other keyboards by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      I don't give a damn what they say, chording will rise again

      As someone who used to punch cards with a hand punch*, I doubt it very much.

      * The keyboard was sort of like a hex keypad, with one key for each of the 12 punch positions. Three hole codes for punctuation required three fingers simultaneously: Just try coding to get the feel of it.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    3. Re:Keyboards will be replaced by other keyboards by John_3000 · · Score: 1

      It's about mobility, amigo. The competition isn't a 101 qwerty on a desk, it's you moving your thumbs as fast as you can on your little telephone.

      Anyway, I've been at over 40 wpm for years. Way faster than I ever was on a qwerty. Who knows what one of you supersonic thumbers could achieve.

      As for you, card puncher: details matter.

    4. Re:Keyboards will be replaced by other keyboards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that coding that should be tried a Code Blue?

  24. It's simple. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Find something that lets us input text more efficiently than a touch-typist can, and you'll inherit the world. But good luck with that. Even a direct neural link has the potential to be more frustrating and unreliable.

  25. Why is it dystopian? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is being "plugged in" dystopian? It sounds for all the world like old man complaining. We already look at our screens ever more frequently, according to 20 years ago were already in some dystopian nightmare.

    1. Re:Why is it dystopian? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re AC and "Why is being "plugged in" dystopian?"
      The voice commands and all other voices used around the input mic are getting free offers of advanced CPU power in the cloud.
      Every word, comment and background noise is been sold to 3rd and 4th parties.
      A cat or dog in the background? Expect cat and dog ads.
      The user is the product and has to pay for all that free CPU time.
      Use the wrong worlds and the mil/gov rents that user data set too.
      A keyboard allows a consumer to type in what they want or not.
      A live on mic thats always "listening" picks up every part of a persons existence.
      Once a brain is been tracked, the ads get even more exact. What makes a person feel fun can be personalized and sent back as an ad.
      That user is really going crave buying sugar water for decades.
      We have seen what persistent cookies and other efforts did to browsers and the early www. The user still had some control over their computer and could wipe all data in near real time. A networked live mic just keeps on collecting all sounds, voices for years.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:Why is it dystopian? by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Yes, yes, we're in a dystopian nightmare! That explains everything!

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  26. I can think of many ways of NO KEYBOARD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A lot of his coworkers also started doing the minimum they could get away with because they now had a guaranteed 32-hour/week salary even if they only showed up to sit on the bench all day.

    With today's technology that can be done with nerve impulses (artificial limbs), eye movement (Steve Hawking), visual systems (industrial equipment), touch screens (who says it has to be text? Icons - like McDonald's registers.), movement (gaming consoles) and there gotta be more that I don't know about.

    And who knows what will be invented in the future.

    I mean really, with all the sci-fi consumed by folks here and what's available now, I'd expect a little more imagination from everyone here.

    Geeze!

  27. Bring on the replacement reality by Kevin+Oldman · · Score: 1

    Can't come fast enough IMO.

  28. pc gaming REQUIRES KEYBOARDS IDIOT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    pc gaming REQUIRES KEYBOARDS IDIOT

    this parent post brought to you by the makers of stupid consoles and in association with your favorite 3 letter govt org for CONTROL of the future

    just fuck off with retarded crap

    1. Re:pc gaming REQUIRES KEYBOARDS IDIOT by MercTech · · Score: 1

      pc gaming REQUIRES KEYBOARDS IDIOT

      this parent post brought to you by the makers of stupid consoles and in association with your favorite 3 letter govt org for CONTROL of the future

      just fuck off with retarded crap

      You do know you can attach a Xbox controller to the PC and play games without a keyboard, don't you?

      --
      NRRPT/RCT
  29. Re: Probably the poor will be using keyboards/voic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's cool, we will just give implant people brain damage with a few hood kicks. See how much their implant works after that.

  30. For technical stuff, nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For technical work there will probably never be a replacement.

    For general purpose use it's probably going to be something we haven't seen. Maybe a hybrid keyboard/brain/voice thing. Voice alone is too cumbersome, I doubt it will ever be the primary means of input.

  31. Social justice and electric cars by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 0

    will replace computer keyboards. Makes about as much sense as every other "disruption" prediction.

  32. Re: Probably the poor will be using keyboards/voi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perfect example why this shit won't work. They spent more than 20 years on autocorrect and it likes to correct words that aren't even misspelled.

    Somehow good becomes hood, these auto interfaces suck, and don't even try to correct grammar when Word could do that 25 years ago.

  33. We know what will by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    There is already a well published proposal to eliminate the keyboards.

    The first step in any scientific thesis is the literature survey, as every PhD student knows. Not paying attention work already done will lead to reinventing the wheel and secondary papers confirming the path breaking original paper. Your paper will be counted as a mere citation and the paper will end up as the leaf node in the citation tree. So pay attention it first.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  34. Hm... by xlsior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...There's a reason that PC keyboards are essentially the same today as they were 40 years ago -- THEY WORK, and they work well.

    Speech to text, waving your hands around in the air and other innovations are cute, but all have massive downsides: can't be used in a noisy office, you can't keep waving your hands around in the air for hours on end.
    Keyboards can be used in any environment, and are much less ambiguous than voice control. The same goes for mice -- trackballs, touchscreens, eye tracking, etc. have all been around for many years, all work reliably, yet none of them have any significant market share compared to the mouse.

    I'm sure you can find some alternatives input methods in niche use cases (and for certain devices like mobile phones), but I'd still fully expect my 2040 computer to still be bundled with a boring old keyboard and mouse.

    1. Re:Hm... by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Indeed. Keyboards will be "phased out" the same as pencils or paper were. Oh, wait, they were not. Because they do work well and they are familiar to any educated person. If it is not broken, do not fix it.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Hm... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      40 years? More like 140... computer keyboards are essentially the same today as typewriter keyboards were more than a century ago. A little tweaking around the periphery; but that's about it.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:Hm... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      .There's a reason that PC keyboards are essentially the same today as they were 40 years ago -- THEY WORK, and they work well.

      Extend that back to the essentially identical typewriter keyboards they were copied from and you can date it back to over 150 years ago. Nobody's come up with anything better yet.

  35. It's obvious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Human Hands. We will cut them off of welfare people and connect AI devices to them!! What else can it be with all of these AMAZING declarations of advancements in science. ROFLMA.

    Heck, we've already landed on Mars, colonized it, and terraformed the planet with the comic book generation.

  36. What if you don't have any arms? by natex84 · · Score: 1

    One example he gives is holding up your hand to pause a video.

    What about the people without arms, you insensitive clod!

  37. From my cold dead fingers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can try to pry my keyboard!

    1. Re:From my cold dead fingers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google = spyware. They want to tap into your brain waves. If they murdered the keyboard, you'd have no choice except to use their brain-scanning keyboard replacement.

  38. Really? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years

    [citation needed]

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Really? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      It's [complete bollocks].

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  39. Speech is not better. by CptLoRes · · Score: 2

    The core idea seem to be that keyboards will go away the moment when we have 'flawless' speech recognition. But guess what. Speech is a terrible computer interface. It's slow, imprecise and physically taxing to do for long periods of time. Just imagine a room filled with developer, all talking over each other trying to code using speech.

    1. Re:Speech is not better. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      Exactly. How long does it take to type:

      for (i=0; i<10; i++) {

      compared to saying

      for, no, the word "for", bracket, I mean open bracket, i equals 0 semi-colon* i less than, I mean less than symbol, oh fuck it

      * look at that, four syllables for a single keypress.

      Keyboards aren't going anywhere for a long time yet.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:Speech is not better. by quantaman · · Score: 1

      Exactly. How long does it take to type:

      for (i=0; i<10; i++) {

      compared to saying

      for, no, the word "for", bracket, I mean open bracket, i equals 0 semi-colon* i less than, I mean less than symbol, oh fuck it

      * look at that, four syllables for a single keypress.

      Keyboards aren't going anywhere for a long time yet.

      Though, to be fair, if we develop speech recognition good enough to replace a keyboard we can also make a programming language that's easier to speak than C.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    3. Re:Speech is not better. by RhettLivingston · · Score: 1

      I'm thinking we need something higher level than that. Sort of an editor that is similar to a beginning programmer that can program in any language as I verbally paint what I'd like with broad strokes and watch to make sure it got the details right.

      The same is true of document writing. A really good secretary of old didn't just transcribe dictated memos verbatim. They could be given the gist of a desired memo and write it. It was faster than typing because you didn't have to tell them everything. A good future document writing program will do the same.

  40. Anal Clenching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not only is this the an underutilized input device it was predicted by South Park so it's destined to become true.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  41. This one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  42. A new keyboard by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    When my 25 year old Cherry Keyboard fails, I buy a new one.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    1. Re:A new keyboard by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Those things fail? I thought they were like Sequoya trees, immortal.

    2. Re:A new keyboard by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I did not exterience one failing yet :)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  43. "Phased out" same as in the last 20 years? by gweihir · · Score: 1

    This is just another instance of somebody that has nothing worthwhile to say making ridiculous grande claims. Keyboards will be around for the foreseeable future.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  44. Is this that much distopyan ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is so good about reality ? Many of us are in position of privilege, but for the majority of the world, there isn't. And having the same privilege in the 3rd world as in the 1st, would lead on resource requirement which would be horrendous. On the other hand the resource requirement from somebody being jacked in... Would be much much lower, and possibly make them happier.

  45. EDITORDAVID'S BONER! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    EditorDavid's 3 inch long p3n0r

  46. hands down by mcswell · · Score: 1

    And I'm supposed to hold up my hand to create this response, or what? And no, I do NOT want to dictate to my computer (nor do the people who live or work around me want me to do that).

  47. Sorry, who says? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years

    Oh, will they? Who's declared this? The Elders of the Internet?

    Keyboards aren't going anywhere, certainly not within 20 years.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Sorry, who says? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years

      Oh, will they? Who's declared this? The Elders of the Internet?

      I seem to remember someone predicting this in about 1973. Probably around the time I heard we were all getting hoverboards.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  48. AS Jim Jefferies would say: by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    "Fuckin' nothing!"

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  49. But keyboards won't be phased out. by shess · · Score: 1

    The total number of people using computers will continue to rise dramatically, so that the percentage of people using keyboards will continue to fall over time. But the core set of people who were using keyboard for functional reasons will continue to use keyboards. For instance, programmers, or writers, or people who use spreadsheets, etc.

    So the question is not "What will replace keyboards", the question is "What will people use computers for?" If they're using computers for virtual reality, then goggles probably _are_ the way to go. But just because a lot of people are using computers for virtual reality doesn't mean that people have to use virtual reality for other tasks.

    This comes from the same strain of short-sightedness which leads to phrases like "iPhone killer" and "email killer". I have more confidence that I'll still be using email in 20 years than that I'll still have to drive my car.

    Worse, chances are I'll still be using a keyboard to write something which looks a lot like C++ code.

  50. Or they jack by skaag · · Score: 1

    off directly into a computer!

    --

    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... time... to... die...

  51. The future of keyboards is VR by natex84 · · Score: 2

    The future of keyboards is VR.

    We will log into a VR system, sit down at a virtual desk and keyboard, and type away.

    1. Re:The future of keyboards is VR by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      We will log into a VR system, sit down at a virtual desk and keyboard, and type away.

      The same way we are all using 3D already.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    2. Re:The future of keyboards is VR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just with more RSI and tendonitis.

  52. Like all the musical instruments... by mspring · · Score: 2

    which have been phased out by now. Ever heard of muscle memory???

    1. Re:Like all the musical instruments... by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      which have been phased out by now. Ever heard of muscle memory???

      Well, the UI experts apparently haven't. They (or SOMEONE) keeps on dramatically changing the interface for no good reason.

      Not that change is bad, but not for it's own sake. Make the workflow easier or something. But don't "fix it" just because you're bored and want to keep your job. (Examples: See most any Linux desktop environment history. Or Windows XP vs on vs Metro. And I suspect Apple's OS/X, from what little I've heard.)

      Speaking of Muscle Memory: I've permanently set some aside just for Lennart Poettering of SystemD "Fame." You have no idea how long I've has his picture glued on a punching bag.

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
  53. I want voice to text by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At least as an option...

  54. Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    Based on history, worse computer keyboards.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Ob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, but at one time the computer keyboards may become so bad that even speech recognition is better.

      Progress!

    2. Re:Ob by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Ha! Well, for years "radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program. "

      Same with keyboards. Unless the cat runs across it.

      (With apologies to DA (cut n paste is not cheating any more, is it?))

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    3. Re:Ob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fortunately, keyboards have been getting better since the explosion in the number of "gamers". True mechanical keyboards are widely available, good quality, and cheap. I'm typing on a $70 Rosewill right now with Cherry MX brown keyswitches. It's wonderful.

      Even the shitty rubber-dome keyboards aren't nearly as shitty as they used to be.

      Note, however, that if I ever meet the Microsoft PHB who approved the squished cursor keys (vice true inverted-T) on the second-gen Natural keyboard, I will kick them so hard in the genitals they will have to list their sex as "non-binary" forever more!

  55. He is full of guano by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Software will still be developed with keyboards.
    email will still be composed with keyboards.
    games will still be played with keyboards (or console controllers)
    I DARE him to write an android app without a keyboard. (he will fail ignominiously, ignorantly, and ineptly).

    1. Re:He is full of guano by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Email? What's that? (say these people, who probably use their thumbs to text, but think of email the same way I think of postage stamps)

      Software? Not many people write software. I do, and maybe you do, but most people don't.

      Games? I suspect that many games will become voice actuated (all the more reason to make young men live in the basement), plus other kinds of interfaces. (How do you aim a gun with your keyboard?) Except for a few diehards, I imagine the days of "you are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike" are long over. (That said, I haven't played computer games since the last time I played Flight Simulator, probably well over a decade ago. So I could be wrong...)

      Now I too think keyboards will remain relevant for at least some kinds of work (including mine, computational linguistics). But for people who do nothing more than websurf, play games, and text--which I'm guessing is the majority of the population--keyboards may go the way of the typewriter.

  56. Keyboards cannot be replaced easily... by Golden_Rider · · Score: 1

    It would have to be some completely new technology. Nothing else we have right now can replace a keyboard because it has a very specific function and is very very good at that.

    What else do we have and how does it compare to a keyboard?

    - replacing a physical keyboard with one pictured on a touchscreen: horrible for typing long text documents. Ergonomic disaster unless you put the screen right where you would have a physical keyboard (flat on your table). Same for similar stuff like those "project a keyboard on your desk with a laser" solutions, This is pretty much "replacing a keyboard with something which is used the same way, but it is just worse at being a keyboard".

    - voice input: gets very tiring after a while (anybody who has a job which involves talking all day long knows this). Slower than just typing, especially if you have to correct something when the computer misunderstands you. Formatting text / putting it where you want on the screen (e.g spreadsheets) is difficult. I can only see this as a good solution when you need to input text but your hands are not free (e.g. dictating a text message while driving your car). Also, who wants to work in an office where everybody is talking all the time. That's just annoying - plus there are the obvious privacy problems. Plus technical issues which need to be solved (voice recognition when there are dozens other people talking at the same time).

    - using eye tracking / brain wave stuff (electrodes, whatever): too slow, too inaccurate. Also probably tiring. Why track eye movement when we have ten fingers which can just press a button. Also probably only a niche solution for when you cannot use your hands.

    - plugging a cable into your brain and just thinking the text: that's just science fiction and probably at least a hundred years away.

    The only decent alternative solution is voice recognition, but even that has obvious flaws - the main one being that it is not a good solution for an office setting.

  57. argues Android co-founder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    into the trash it goes

  58. efficiency by Crass+Spektakel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There is only one relevant factor for computer interaction:

    bandwidth.

    I can type 500 characters per minute on my G80-3000 cherry keyboard with an error rate less than 1% thus producing highly complex content faster than some people can speak or listen. Also I can read text at a speed of 5000 characters per minute allowing me to consume highly complex content faster than any person alive can speak or listen. In fact I HATE youtube videos because they often need ten or twentyfold the time it takes me to read the same content from text.

    Give me something which allows me to interact even faster and you got me as a customer.

    But honestly I think there isn't anything close to accomplish that. Maybe we'll see direct brain links in a couple of decades but I can not even remotely imagine anything else increasing my performance.

    But if your problem is not "efficency" but "made for idiots" then there might be something around the corner. Which I am not even remotely interested in.

    --
    "Life is short and in most cases it ends with death." Sir Sinclair
    1. Re:efficiency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. Efficiency of the keyboard is unmatched by any current technology.

      Direct neural interface is the only thing that has a chance at replacing they keyboard.

    2. Re:efficiency by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      >> I can type 500 characters per minute

      But that's you.

    3. Re:efficiency by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      ...as long as one uses correction fluid as necessary.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    4. Re:efficiency by houghi · · Score: 1

      If you would type 250 characters per minute instead of 500, how much slower would you be? Ot if you where able to type 1000 per minute, how much faster would you me?

      There are not that many places where typing speed is the limiting factor. e.g. what I am typing now is not all fullout typing. I stop, reread, re-thing, delete and rewrite. Perhaps 10% of the time is used for actual typing. When I look at other things, this becomes even less.

      Processing what I need to type is much more than just the typing. The thinking takes most of the time. (Should have timed how log this took to type, with the whole process, not just the typing.)

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  59. Keyboards will be outlawed eventually by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because they will be associated as the preferred tool for hackers.
    Removing the a keyboard will rob users of terminal access.
    So they can't write and run scripts or malware.

  60. Nothing -- have speech or pen been replaced? by redelm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Speech was the first communication device, ~200k years ago. Then came stylii and reed-pens ~4000 years ago and typewriters ~150 years ago. All have been improved (language precision, steel nibs 1815, electronics) but all are still around and used as appropriate.

    1. Re:Nothing -- have speech or pen been replaced? by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Walkie-talkies. Everyone will be a walkie-talkie. Not that we'll *actually* talk to some one, nor shall we be walking (how gauche). But we will talk to our devices and that'll send a text which the target device will translate to a text to voice and then sit in a queue until rotated out. This, of course, is in the future, when it will be retro.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    2. Re:Nothing -- have speech or pen been replaced? by Lost+Race · · Score: 1

      stylii

      Keybounce, or stutter?

    3. Re:Nothing -- have speech or pen been replaced? by ET3D · · Score: 1

      The guy didn't say that keyboards will die altogether, just that they'll be used for 'legacy applications'. And the same is true for pens. Students no longer write long handwritten works, we don't write handwritten letters, we even often leave digital notes. So sure, pens are still around, they just don't get nearly as much use as they used to. Speech has also seen some decline, at least in terms of percentage of communication. We text a lot more these days, often texting instead of calling someone. Not that I expect talking to go away (unlike pens, which I do expect to be gone at some point in the future), but it's also been superseded to an extent. So sure, old stuff sticks around. We still have vinyl and CD's and DVD's and cable TV and paper books and a lot of other stuff that's still kicking, even if it already has more successful replacements. Still, arguing that something isn't going away just because it still remains doesn't make sense. Sure, people like to cling to old stuff for various reasons, but 'mostly dead' is dead enough.

    4. Re:Nothing -- have speech or pen been replaced? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      The guy didn't say that keyboards will die altogether, just that they'll be used for 'legacy applications'. And the same is true for pens.

      Yep and it's a silly claim. Keyboards have supplanted pens in a number of cases, but by no means all. Try you know whiteboading, sketching a quick diagram or a bit of maths with a on-pen-like input device.

      None of those things are "legacy applications".

      And what on earth does this guy think will be used to create the "non legacy" applications?

      Keyboards aren't going away any time soon, in the same way that neither pens nor speech are.

      Not that I expect talking to go away (unlike pens, which I do expect to be gone at some point in the future),

      How far in the future? I'm betting against you.

      and paper books and a lot of other stuff that's still kicking, even if it already has more successful replacements.

      I don't understand the idea that everything must be replaced wholesale. Some modern tech supplants some of the use of older tech. It seems unlikely that paper books will disappear any time soon, in the same way that keyboards haven't replaced speech or pens and that metal hasn't replaced wood and stone.

      Sure, people like to cling to old stuff for various reasons, but 'mostly dead' is dead enough.

      And one of the variety of reasons is that they're greatly superior for some tasks.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:Nothing -- have speech or pen been replaced? by redelm · · Score: 1
      "legacy" is a smear, especially if you're referring to all coding. I often handwrite when typing would be awkward, intrusive or incompatible with my creative processes. I've got lots of handwritten code fragments especially ASM.

      A larger point is that newer technologies ADD to means of communication. Mousing & touchscreen are preferred for some input tasks. But this gets into the GUI v CLI debate/flamefest.

      Perhaps some new tech will be developed, but it will have to be compelling to compete against a kbd collecting up to 60 bit/s with ~1% error from a human mind. Mouse/touch have their place, but mostly for simplicity & graphics not bandwidth. It is possible to code with a menu/mouse, but I very much doubt anyone would prefer it outside of a learning environment.

  61. What will replace a keyboard? by CptLoRes · · Score: 1

    A better keyboard..

  62. Keyboards and Print by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The question is like asking if we would like to replace printed text with beautiful hand written manuscripts, prepared with religious passions by celibate monks. Sure, the sentient machines of the future might value our craftsmanship and artistic flavor as we tried to script with an electronic fountain pen short letters to the editor, CVs, or scripts to batch process our movie or music libraries. Printing and typing was invented to improve the efficiency of communication. Going back to hard written text is like an expression of digital Rousseauism.

  63. "they jack directly into computers" by kiviQr · · Score: 1

    "they jack directly into computers" - I guess Apple is going to sell another dongle for headphones.

  64. Sex Robots. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you start screwing your computer... and your computer starts screwing you... I doubt too many people will use their computers as much.

    1. Re:Sex Robots. by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      When you start screwing your computer... and your computer starts screwing you... I doubt too many people will use their computers as much.

      I'm more worried about people won't use their people as much.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  65. He's wrong, he should be ignored. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'Nuff said.

  66. Array mics by JBMcB · · Score: 1

    You can use array mics, or boom mics, to cut down on noise in an office environment, but every other criticism is spot on.

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  67. Orwell got it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah - let's have microphones and cameras active around us all the time. Good thing computers never get hacked.
    And voice input means everybody around us listening in on all we do and it's noisy.

    OTOH we could use an efficient input system that:s cheap and already well established - like a keyboard.

  68. WHaaaa .... aaaaTTTTT???? by Tjp($)pjT · · Score: 1

    Speech recognition is nice until you fail to notice the added text by your cubicle next door neighbor. I had this issue at home in my home office when my roommate would come in an utter the words my mac recognized as the shutdown command. Pretty annoying, and not an uncommon experience 20 years ago. And handwriting ??? We stopped teaching cursive in many schools, and even with cursive, I type faster.

    So my future preferred input method is thoughts. "Think it. Compile it. Run it."(tm)

    --
    - Tjp

    I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!

    1. Re:WHaaaa .... aaaaTTTTT???? by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Ha! As xkcd sorta said, "Siri, order 2000 pounds of lima beans", "Confirmed."

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  69. gestures ftw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Make the sign of the Devil to vote for Obama.
    Heil Hitler to vote for Trump.

  70. Who is saying this? by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    "Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years..."

    Who is saying this, on what authority?

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Who is saying this? by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      The following are also scheduled to be phased out over the next 20 years:

      -Steering Wheels
      -Power/Light Switches
      -Doorknobs
      -Spoons

  71. Look on the bright side... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At least it will put an end to emacs vs vim

  72. I find I must weigh in here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years, and we should think carefully about what replaces them as the dominant mode of communicating with machines, argues Android co-founder Rich Miner.

    Okay, one, he's wrong. Unless of course, HANDS and FINGERS will ALSO be phased out. Two, people are still buying vinyl records. They're buying music on a format whose underlying technology came into being AT, and WITH, the advent of being able to record music, or indeed SOUND in a way that allowed it to be reproduced. (The basic tech of a 33 1/3 RPM LP Full-Frequency Range Recording, with Hi-Fidelity Sound... was the same as that used by the wax cylinder Edison used to let his boyfriend know how he felt about him.). The only REAL change was the geometry of the recording medium, from a rolled-up scroll-like, bulky but hollow three-dimensional solid, the cylinder, to the easily stacked-up, flat DISC, that we today simply call "a record".

    But to get back to keyboards, they allow for high-speed, high-precision text entry and require very little in the sense of drivers to operate. You don't have to get much of an OS to boot or work for a KEYBOARD to function, while if you try to boot a computer and it encounters a problem requiring editing of boot parameters, you can't very well say, "hey, Siri... attempt to boot from the recovery partition..." or edit GRUB options, or whatever nightmare or joke M$ Windows uses in version 9, (or "10" as they hilariously call it,) to set and manipulate ITS boot params... simply because any kind of voice recognition and conversion software at the end of the day is FAR, FAR, FAR AND AWAY more complex than the software needed to drive a keyboard, or receive input therefrom.

    I remember only about a decade ago being amazed the first time I opened a computer's BIOS (by holding DEL or F2 or F10 or whatever the hell it was,) on boot, and seeing that it had a MOUSE CURSOR in the center of the screen... instead of that white on blue with red design I'd seen so often for years and years on computer after computer. Press PgUp to go to the previous tab... press PgDn to go to the next tab, press ESC to exit without saving changes...

    Ah, the good old days.

    Yeah, I'll believe computers without keyboards for daily use by people who still use computers, the day after they sell the last shoe with laces, the last piece of tableware, (the last fork, knife, or spoon,) the last pair of chopsticks, the last wind-up wrist watch... (or analog style digitally operated one...) which I don't see being for a VERY long time barring some event that decimates human civilization.

    OH, BY THE WAY... we haven't even reached a point where "digital assistants" or whatever, can reliably understand us even MOST of the time. Most systems I've encountered like Siri are REALLY hit-or-miss, and I'm sure Amazon's POS personal home spy (or whatever,) and Google's aren't THAT much better.

    In short, you can have my keyboard when you pry it from my cold, dead FINGERS!

    PS... I use a clicky keyboard, a REAL one, built like the original IBM PC keyboards, which can be gotten from a place called PC Keyboard dot com. (Look them up if interested...) These are NOT like the phony clicky keyboards made with those cherry POS fake-click keys, where the clicking mechanism is incidental to the actual receipt of the keypress... this is an actual buckling spring keyboard, and I've been using it for YEARS now, and it shows no sign it won't last for EVER. (It's attached now to the THIRD different MAC, and I'm sure I will use it on the next one... (in a few years,) and the next one... and when Apple stops making Macs without USB 1/2/3 (USB A or whatever,) ports, I will stop buying Apple computers. (That's where I draw the line... and part of why I didn't buy a MacBook. USB-C is a dealbreaker for me, just like when they got rid of the headphone jack. I will NOT buy a phone without a headphone JACK, and I won't buy a computer without a standard USB port, or more to the point, SEVERAL of them.

    But yeah, keyboards are, I predict here for the long-haul.

    1. Re:I find I must weigh in here. by mcswell · · Score: 1

      "I remember only about a decade ago being amazed the first time I opened a computer's BIOS... Press PgUp to go to the previous tab... press PgDn to go to the next tab, press ESC to exit without saving changes... Ah, the good old days." Son, in the Good Old Days, we set the boot sequence with toggle switches. This topic actually came up last week on /. I'm proud to say that I really did work on such a computer once, a Cyber 170/750. There's a picture of a similar "deadstart panel" (for a different Cyber computer) here: https://www.eetimes.com/docume...

    2. Re:I find I must weigh in here. by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      I could tell if the comp was stuck in a loop by looking at the blinkenlights. Simple, natch. Seeing if the damn thing was booting correctly took a bit more stutz.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    3. Re:I find I must weigh in here. by mcswell · · Score: 1

      You worked on one of those machines? You must be an old coot, like me...

    4. Re:I find I must weigh in here. by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Toggle the switches, baby!

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  73. Like TV "will replace" radio by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    When TV came out, it was widely predicted that it would replace radio. Obviously, it didn't, but it did change the way we use radio. Before TV, people regularly listened to radio shows, glued to the set to hear the end of the story. Now, radio has become more of a background music device, or a medium for talk shows, while TV has taken over the story-telling role.

    Sure, there will be input methods that replace some of what keyboards now do: touch screen input, voice input, mouse input, and so on. But none of these replace what can be done with a keyboard. They each fill a niche.

    The phone and tablet DID replace the desktop computer for many households, but the computer isn't going anywhere. Neither is the keyboard.

    1. Re:Like TV "will replace" radio by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Actually, I think you'll find that a lot of people use TV for the background noise now.

      And I want to get to the point where we can wave our hands over cheap plastic colored blocks and have marvels done for us, like Star Trek et al.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  74. Following on other successes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the new release of Xcode allows you to compose apps that deliver Code Smells from famous development teams.

    Quickly and easily launch your next app in the App Store using building blocks of tried and true (but hip) boilerplate.

    Coming soon - enhance your personal correspondence with 30GW of AI, giving you access to a wealth of literary styles; Dylan, Burrows, Rand, and Shakespeare, with more to come. Email will never be the same! TM

  75. on a serious note by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is taking a paradigm shift to get the steering wheel out of the car. Self-driving may finally eliminate the traditional interfaces. But I still bet it will have buttons.

    1. Re:on a serious note by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      It is taking a paradigm shift to get the steering wheel out of the car. Self-driving may finally eliminate the traditional interfaces. But I still bet it will have buttons.

      Yes. I expect it will have a keyboard.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  76. The successor to the IBM clackety-clack keyboard by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1

    http://www.pckeyboard.com/mm5/...

    This thing is awesome. And no, I don't have an Amazon Affiliate page. Replacing the keyboard is probably an idea by the same asshats who replaced the Firefox classic UI with the Atrocious ^H^H^H^H^H^H Australis UI.

    --

    I'm not repeating myself
    I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
  77. Same seers announcing end of email? by lpq · · Score: 1

    Are these the same guys who announce the end-of-email every few years?

    1. Re: Same seers announcing end of email? by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Are these the same guys who announce the end-of-email every few years?

      ...right along with the paperless office.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  78. That's easy. by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

    Batteries and wires. Then you can type ALL you want without moving a muscle.

    Of course you won't have the will to type anything, but that's besides the point.

    --
    If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    1. Re:That's easy. by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Is this like the Niven thing?

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  79. Re:The successor to the IBM clackety-clack keyboar by sysrammer · · Score: 1

    Oh, the joy of a positive feedback! And if you're going to go with a non-standard key, make it a BIG key, right above the Enter!

    --
    His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  80. Face ID sensors to evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can see some evolution of interaction from the face id sensors Apple have developed.

  81. So we'll text each other but talk to computers? by ET3D · · Score: 1

    What he says makes no sense. We've moved to a culture where we text more and talk less, and it's natural because it provides privacy and doesn't require us to consider the noise levels around (or contribute to it). So for most people the replacement to a physical keyboard is a touch keyboard, but that's about it. Mind typing, if it works, will be an improvement, so will catch on, but talking to devices? That's a step back. The problem with trying to predict a future based on what you don't want to happen is that it's illogical.

  82. Oh, really, now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years

    Is that so, hmm?

    There's really only one response to that, and you already know what it's going to be, but you'll get it anyway:

    "[citation needed]"

  83. Poorly framed by kiminator · · Score: 1

    Desktop computers in general will continue a long, gradual decline over the next couple of decades as people find it easier and more convenient to use mobile devices instead.

    Desktop computers will retain their usefulness mostly for work purposes. Even though many work functions will become quicker and easier on mobile, I can't see the keyboard or the desktop going away for any purpose that requires a noticeable amount of writing or programming. Especially programming.

    But it may be pretty rare for people to bother with PCs in their homes in ten or twenty years.

  84. A brain-computer interface ... by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    ... and until then probably nothing else.

    Speaking uses 80% brain power, typing use 20%, roughly. Typing is pretty fast and efficient. Talking won't replace it entirely.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  85. Better question by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

    What will replace idiotic tech journalists who think that keyboards, which have been around for hundreds of years and are used by billions of people around the world, will be phased out in the next 20 years?

    I'm as pessimistic about the future as just about anyone else, but even I don't think the future will be filled with dumbasses who only communicate through emojis and can't read or write.

  86. Nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Keyboards are the fastest and most accurate input method for text. Even when computers understand handwriting and speech as well as humans do (which they will soon), keyboard input will still be superior and will only be replaced where people need to have their hands free. What might happen is virtual keyboards with some sort of tactile feedback.

  87. aip by nten · · Score: 1

    If it is autoimmune then a diet like the autoimmune protocol probably would help, but good luck finding a doctor to tell you that. IME they all try to put you on immunosuppressives. Also if the Arthritis is just worn through cartilage, there is no diet to grow it back that I have heard.

    --
    refactor the law, its bloated, confusing and unmaintainable.
    1. Re:aip by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Also if the Arthritis is just worn through cartilage, there is no diet to grow it back that I have heard.

      I think that one has a different name.
      There are ways to regenerate it, but it is not common science yet. Depending where is (e.g. knee) often they do surgery for a prothesis.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  88. Raise hand to pause video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's really going to suck when the video pauses everytime I take a bite of popcorn.

  89. Nothing is as efficient, fast, cheap by fygment · · Score: 1

    What more do you need? What could be better?

    --
    "Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
  90. How Quaint by cstacy · · Score: 1

    Keyboards are very human interfaces: we invented them because we have fingers. Aside from a theremin, what other musical instruments do you play without some digital manipulation (keys, holes, strings, etc.)? Keyboards for text are super efficient like piano and organ keyboards are for discrete and chorded inputs. When speech recognition is much better someday, perhaps we will use gestures and drawing in conjunction with speech.

    I am guessing our cubicles then will be one-way glass domes with a barstool in the middle. My login passphrase will be "Klingon mummification glyph" to go with the breath scan.

  91. We wonâ(TM)t live in VR goggles in 20 years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That requires 8K per eye resolution rolling at 120 fps, we are nowhere close to that. We can barely drive a single 4K at 60 Hz how the heck can we drive two 8K displays at 120 Hz â" a task that requires four technology doublings? Historically it has taken a decade for a technology to double. Without even considering the indisputable fact that CPU technology has nearly plateaued it will take at least 40 years minimum before we get to a point where we can run two 8K displays at 120 Hz simultaneously.

  92. Apple by cstacy · · Score: 1

    Stupid articles will be phased out and eliminated 20 years from now, too!
    (Actually, that's more likely!)

    Meanwhile, it's been 8 years since Apple got rid of keyboards:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  93. History is a guide here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are two good historical examples that provide guidance here: the piano keyboard and the typewriter keyboard.

    The piano keyboard was created with white and black notes because a long time ago (before Bach's time) we didn't use "equal tempered" tuning, and some scales were more out-of-tune than others. the lesser-used notes were coloured black and placed where they were harder to reach. Despite centuries passing during which this was no longer an issue, the piano keyboard had not changed.

    The typewriter keyboard was originally designed so that the layout would slow down typists, as the early machines had mechanical problems if people typed too fast. Despite this not being an issue for many years now, the design persists.

    From this, I would argue that while we will add additional input modes and devices, the keyboard will remain as a staple input method for a very long time.

  94. Come again? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

    Computer keyboards will be phased out over the next 20 years

    [citation needed]

  95. minority report interface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ4KxaWraJc

  96. Better designed keyboards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... should replace the current shitty standard ones.

    https://shop.keyboard.io/
    https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/
    https://ergodox-ez.com/

    to list but 3

  97. From my COLD, DEAD hands ... by Ihlosi · · Score: 1

    You can have my keyboard and my mouse when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

  98. Suggested: What You Were Just About To Say by jman.org · · Score: 1

    Between the NSA, FaceBook, and Cortana, there will be no need for keyboards.

    By combining predictive text technologies with routine snooping on every detail of our private lives, not only typing, but actual, human-to-human conversation will be rendered obsolete.

    This will turn out to be a good thing; not having to bother with the tedious task of composition, everyone will have more time to stare at their Wall.

    I miss the days when the only other person that truly knew what was inside my head was Santa Claus.

  99. They'll go away, signed, A. Idiot by whitroth · · Score: 1

    So, they can't master typing? Reminds me of the seventies and eighties, when Managers Didn't Type, like, that was for lowly secretaries.

    And if you want to do something other than wave your hands to decide what some marketer thinks should be presented to, well, that's also *so* lowbrow and caveman....

  100. Myopic Point Awarded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Myopic Point Awarded