Re: OT: computer keyboard advertisement mentions Quenya

On 2/28/08, Tristan McLeay <conlang@...> wrote:

> This would be hell to type on. Try drawing a keyboard on a piece of
> paper and putting it on your desk --- it'd feel something like that.
> Now imagine doing it for more than about ten minutes and I think it
> would be a recipe for RSI. Bascially, the problem is you don't won't be
> using your muscles to stop your finger, you say "start moving nice and
> fast" and have them stop when they reach something hard. In the case of
> a regular keyboard, there's plenty of reaction time for us to stop them
> with our muscles after we touch and activate the key. In the case of a
> touchscreen keyboard, you'd touch and activate the key at the same time
> as motion is stopped --- there's simply no way to know when to stop the
> movement! (A lot of people even find laptop keyboards bad for extensive
> use because they have a lot less travel. I personally don't have a
> problem with them in that regard.)
>
> It's an attractive concept, sure, but if you use it extensively you'll
> prefer a real keyboard even if it's imperfect.
Totally agreed. Tactile issues are badly overlooked these days.

(Think e.g. iPhone - can you dial the thing blind? Nope. But my
ubercheapo one, sure.)

How about a combination of:
a) http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/
b) a pillow (or other purely nice-to-touch surface)

- Sai

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