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From: Xah Lee on 14 Jun 2010 11:30 just spent several more hours researching the Kinesis keyboard. Much update to the page: ⢠Kinesis Contoured Keyboard Review and RSI http://xahlee.org/emacs/keyboard_Kinesis.html in particular, added criticism of what i think are flaws, and also links to other's say about the keyboard. interesting excerpt follows -------------------------------------------------- Problems The function keys F1 to F12 are made of rubber. Instead of normal key with good tactile sensation, now becomes rubbish. Hard to press and hard to know if it registered. For detail about this problem, see: Keyboard Shortcut Design: Dedicated keys, Special Buttons, Extra Keys. The arrangement of F keys is now a contiguous row, instead of 3 blocks of 4 keys each. The left row has F1 to F8. The contiguous design makes it difficult to find the key without looking at the keyboard, especially for keys in the middle of the row, like f3, f4, f5. The Esc key is now part of the rubber key in the F key row. The Esc key is important in many applications. Now it being a special rubber key, makes it very bad. Possibly hard to reach Ctrl and Alt keys. If you use key combo extensively, such as in Emacs, Second Life, Blender, that requires a lot combination keypresses such as âCtrl+â¹letterâºâ and âAlt+â¹letterâºâ, âCtrl+Alt+â¹letterâºâ, âCtrl+Shift+â¹letterâºâ, and even âCtrl+Alt+Shift +â¹letterâºâ, they are much difficult with Kinesis than a popular Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. Also, many of 3D modeling app require using the mouse while a combination of Alt, Ctrl, Shift is held down. It may be any 2 of them or all of them. This will be difficult with Kinesis. Not enough keys. For a programable keyboard, it should have a lot special keys that people can assign them for dedicated purposes. F1 to F12 is not enough. They are often already used up by key-intensive applications such as emacs, 3D modeling apps. The bowl shaped surface makes it difficult for casual use of the keyboard. Even for a touch typist, you are not always in a typing intesive situation. Sometimes you are watching a movie on your computer, or just need to press a few keys while reading in a browser. The Kinesis requires you to put both of your hands in position if you just want to press a few keys. I've been a admirer of the Kinesis ever since i saw it around 1991 in a store and have been kept reading about it over the years on the web. I particularly find many of the improvements to the standard keyboard fantastic. I've always been wanting to have one, but due to the high price ($250), i never did. However, today, with my analysis above, i'm guessing that i wouldn't find this keyboard to be my best keyboard even if is just $50, due to the several problems above. I'm certain i'd prefer my current and all-time favorite The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. I'm also a heavy emacs user for the past 10 years. If you have RSI problem, i recommend you use a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, learn the Dvorak Layout, and use ErgoEmacs Keybinding in emacs. -------------------------------------------------- Misc This guy Tim Tyler, modified his Kinesis extensively. http://mykeyboard.co.uk/kinesis/ Bill Clementson, a long time lisp programer and emacs user, developed RSI, and got Kinesis, wrote several blog articles about the keyboard in 2006. source Alex Schroeder, best known as the one who started emacswiki.org, also developed RSI. He now uses Kinesis. You can find some discussion about RSI here: emacswiki.org RepeatedStrainInjury. Jamie Zawinski, main developer of Netscape browser, and famously known for as the one to blame for the Emacs/Xemacs schism, also developed RSI. He wrote a lot about his experiences in several places. He did not like Kinesis. See: http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/wrists.html. Xah â http://xahlee.org/ â
From: Giovanni Gigante on 14 Jun 2010 12:01 >> Unicomp currently makes modern version of keyboard with this >> mechanism. It's called the "unicomp customizer". I have one. Its touch is a bit different from the model M (which I also have). But it is absolutely a fantastic keyboard. I recommend it. (I don't work for unicomp, I just love this thing).
From: Marc Mientki on 14 Jun 2010 12:05 Am 14.06.2010 18:01, schrieb Giovanni Gigante: > >>> Unicomp currently makes modern version of keyboard with this >>> mechanism. > > It's called the "unicomp customizer". I have one. Its touch is a bit > different from the model M (which I also have). But it is absolutely a > fantastic keyboard. I recommend it. > > (I don't work for unicomp, I just love this thing). Do you have the opportunity to test this keyboard with a Mac? regards Marc
From: Marc Mientki on 14 Jun 2010 12:06 Am 14.06.2010 13:35, schrieb Elena: > On 14 Giu, 08:02, Marc Mientki<mien...(a)nonet.com> wrote: >> Unfortunately the Modell M (with PS/2-USB adapter) is not working >> properly with my new MacBook Pro :-( This is very likely not problem >> of the adapter, because on dell laptop everything is working very fine >> and on Mac normal keys are working, too. Only modifiers are wrong. > > Not all adapters are created equal, that is: not all adapters work the > same with different hosts. I recommend checking another adapter. Ask > here if someone else has already found one which works with your > setup: http://geekhack.org/forumdisplay.php?f=31 Thanks for the hint! regards Marc
From: Xah Lee on 14 Jun 2010 13:35
> http://geekhack.org/forumdisplay.php?f=31 very interesting link! Seems lots in-depth keyboard expert there! from which i discovered something very weird. Hold down both Shift keys, then press x key. Hold down both Shift keys, then press slash key. On my PC and Mac each using a different keyboard, the key doesn't show!! does it show on your computer? is this expected due to some usb weirdness?? I got this at the bottom of this page: http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=10275 Xah â http://xahlee.org/ â |