Isotopically Cool

[libertango]

darkmane points to this page showing a keyboard that gives whole new meaning to "flexible". No, it's not one of those rubber sheet thingies -- it's a keyboard where every key is an LCD screen, so the function (and language) of each key can change on the fly. Examples shown are between English and Russian, then Photoshop and Quake, with a revival of the left-side F-keys of the old AT keyboard to call up applications iconically.

At this point, the images are of a Photoshopped mock-up... But the FAQ column on the right side say they're after a 2006 release of a real object.

(title in tribute to Glenn Davis and Cool Site of the Day -- how the times have changed)

Comments

[samildanach.livejournal.com]

The problem with this as a technology is that the strength of a keyboard lies in my ability to use it without consciously thinking about the act of typing; the knowledge of how to type common character combinations is all the way down in muscle memory. Reconfiguring a keyboard so that you're back at hunt-and-peck level seems like a dramatic efficiency loss.

Rather than having an extension to Application X so that it knows how to reprogram my keyboard to its function keyset, I'd rather have generalized scripting technology that lets me make the most of my painstakingly acquired muscle memory.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I've been being driven nuts here buy some odd quirks in the keyboard management. Having the damned thing decide it's going to change to cyrillic, mid-word; and finding a hidden trigger, which can't be reset, which makes all after it Russian, is maddening.

To avoid it, I have to find the trigger spot, go past it, swtich back to Latin, type (so I can find the safe zone) and then, avoiding the triggering location, delete back, switch to English, and stop beforte I hit the reset.

This happened only once typing this response.

TK