Keyboards
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From: Jim Janney on 30 Apr 2010 15:26 Roedy Green <see_website(a)mindprod.com.invalid> writes: > On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:49:57 +0100, Tom Anderson > <twic(a)urchin.earth.li> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who > said : > >> >>Maybe a keyboard should just come as a collection of 105 lego bricks with >>keys on top, and a baseboard. Some kind of personal-area network could >>collect the keypresses. Keys could use the energy of keystrokes to power >>themselves. Everyone would be able to adjust their keyboard on a whim, and >>everyone would have exactly the layout they wanted. > > I proposed that idea a couple of decades ago, as vision of the future. > However, by now with a throw-away display in every pregnancy test > strip, it might be possible to put a display on every key, and have > the legends change as you type -- so for example you could flip to > accents mode, or Greek or Cyrillic -- letting you type the complete > Unicode set with visual feedback, and of course fully customisable > layouts. > > You could also have work in learn-to-type mode where legends were > hidden, with occasional peeks. > > It might come with half a dozen spare keys, so this might be a 20 year > high end investment. Keyboard labels are for wimps: http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard_model_s_ultimate.php -- Jim Janney
From: Lew on 30 Apr 2010 16:14 Lew wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >> It is silly to make pronouncements about "the numpad not being that >> useful" since that depends on the user > Roedy Green wrote: > Exactly. All I said was CONSIDER a keyboard without such a keypad if > you don't use it. > > [expletive deleted] > You said to consider it because the numpad isn't that useful. I joined in the OPEN DISCUSSION with my own take. That is my right. I will continue to exercise that right no matter how much you think cursing at me will intimidate or browbeat me into submission to your will. I am seriously disappointed at your descent into trollishness on this one. Most of the time I respect your contribution, but this wasn't one of those times. Show some couth. -- Lew
From: Lew on 30 Apr 2010 19:08 Lew wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >> Actually, it's a really, really terrible point since the numpad is >> very useful. Roedy Green wrote: > What do you use it for? Typing numbers. -- Lew
From: Andreas Leitgeb on 1 May 2010 06:41 >> Lew wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >>> Actually, it's a really, really terrible point since the numpad is >>> very useful. > Roedy Green wrote: >> What do you use it for? Lew <noone(a)lewscanon.com> wrote: > Typing numbers. Up to two digits: upper row Three subsequent digits or more: numpad That's how I usually do it, anyway. PS: my mouse is on the right side, for my left hand sucks at positioning the mouse, and I'd mix up the buttons, too (no matter if they'd be reassigned or not).
From: Arved Sandstrom on 1 May 2010 08:11
Lew wrote: > Tom Anderson wrote: >> I don't use the numpad much, but i [sic] do use the keys in between the numpad >> and the main block, and without a numpad, you don't get a proper version >> of those. But yes, good point about the numpad not being that useful. > > Actually, it's a really, really terrible point since the numpad is > very useful. > > -- > Lew Useful for some, useless for others. For example, on Windows keyboards I never use any key off to the right of the main block. Not the numpad, not the arrow keys, not the Insert-Home-Delete-etc block, nothing. So when I use my primary computer - a Mac laptop - which has none of that off to the right anyway, I notice no real change. I'm not saying get rid of those extra keys, by any means. I'm simply pointing out that they are not very useful as a general rule, they are useful for some people, irrelevant for others. Me, I'm not an accountant so I couldn't care less about the numpad. AHS |