Blast from the past -- Cirque GKB380 Smooth Cat / Wave Keyboard

[Snarfangel]

I had one of these a long time ago (I used it for years until I spilled a cup of hot tea on it, if I remember correctly). I don't remember much about the action of the keys themselves (probably some kind of inoffensive rubber domes), but the touch pad was in the perfect spot for me. Here is a pic from Ebay (there is another one currently offered on there which reminded me of it, actually, but it looks quite disgusting well-loved), another from ErgoCanada (which has them in stock -- for $750 (!)), as well as the box of a slightly earlier model from some Russian site:




Compared to most  of the "ergonomic" keyboards with touch pads now, which stick them in the middle below the thumbs, this was much nicer for right-handed people. Compare to this, for example:

I used it so much that I wore the area to the right of the touch pad smooth (it's some kind of ABS of course). There are some manufacturers which replace the arrow keys with the touch pad, which I guess is okay, but I always like this one, even though it isn't as symmetric-looking as the later types.

Any other old Wave Keyboard users out there? I just thought I would mention it, because I see a lot of beautiful projects that put touch pads/trackballs between hands rather than on the right side, when a design like this might actually be more ergonomic for right-handed people.

[davkol]

The keyboard pictured at the top was made by Silitek/LiteOn and sold under various brands including Dell. Model number SK-6000. It had Maxi Switch rubber domes, some of them with Alps mount.

I used to have a LiteOn SK-6000 (without a touchpad). It was very nice. Much nicer and softer domes than any MS Natural, while maintaining essentially the same layout (and with 6 on the *right* side!). I enjoyed some hand separation and especially large bottom-row modifiers. I gave it to my dad to help him solve his forearm/elbow issues, when I switched to mechanical keyboards and eventually the ErgoDox.