Thursday, October 13, 2005

Keyboards.

I have been interested in alternate keyboards ever since I ordered my FingerWorks TouchStream keyboard. Unfortunately, Fingerworks was bought out by another larger company (many suspect Apple), and their product line has been discontinued. Hopefully, whoever bought the technology will use it to create the same type of keyboards again.

One interesting keyboard I have found is the TypeMatrix EZ-Reach 2030. This is a standard keyboard, with some extra features that seem like it would be nice to use. Notice that the keys are not displaced, but all are in a vertical row (just like my TouchStream, which is easier to type on). Also, note the heavy use of modifier keys to gain access to other keyboard features.

Slightly less conventional is the iFrog bluetooth enabled keyboard. This is a one-handed keyboard, which would be ideal for putting information into small devices like PDAs and mobile phones. I think it could even be good for standard keyboard entry, but I'm not sure how it would be at code entry. Agan, this keyboard makes heavy use of modifier keys, so much that you need to use modifiers to get the othe other half of the letters.