Mouse closer to the hands, all the time. In turn, the right arm does not have to reach far for the mouse.
Being able to put the keyboard exactly in the center of the monitor => better posture.
Saving space on the desk, obviously.
Generally speaking, we are sick and tired of those huge keyboards, and we have come to think that the smaller it is, the better.
The problem is the layout.If you want some inspiration, here is a layout I have designed to allow both the presence of dedicated arrow keys AND the use of standard keycaps:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47888.msg1023617#msg1023617It would also be great to have a switch that would allow Ctrl+LeftArrow to do Home, Ctrl+RightArrow to do End, Ctrl+DownArrow to do Page Down and Ctrl+UpArrow to do Page Up. Home/End/PgUp/PgDn on a 60% are generally very badly designed. Sometimes they require Fn + an arrow (which is acceptable but not that convenient, because we already have to combine the arrows with Ctrl and Shift very often) and sometimes they are randomly splattered on the keyboard, which is very bad.
Many people are used to the fact that Ctrl + right or left arrow "moves faster" to the right or the left, so it is not hard to get that Ctrl+right does End and Ctrl+left does Home. And BTW it's exactly how it works on a Mac already, so you could allow PC and Linux users to do the same
if they wish.
I think the secret of the success for a 60% keyboard is to give
CHOICE. You need a set of switches at the back of the keyboard and allow them to change the position of Ctrl, CapsLock, the mandatory Fn key (it could be on CapsLock, on the Win key, on one of the Alt keys...), the arrows (like the design I suggest, or Poker-X-like, or HHKB-like, or maybe WASD for those who like it...), of the way to do Home/End/PgUp/PgDn, and so on. Allow them to do something useful with the "App" or "Menu" key (located at the left of the right Ctrl). For most people, this key is totally useless!
Include a few additional keycaps to accommodate for these settings: if I swap Ctrl and CapsLock, I need a big Ctrl and a small CapsLock (these were included with my Realforce). Provide a big Fn key in case I want to put it on CapsLock.
If the problem is that most customers will not understand why you provide additional keycaps, or will not be able to remove keycaps without breaking them, don't provide them with the keyboard. Charge some extra for them for those who know how to do it.
I don't think a switch on the back of the keyboard, a software to manage these and 4 or 5 additional keycaps will cost you much. On the other hand, more people will be able to say yes to this keyboard if they know that their favorite layout is available.
Additionally, if you manage to make it a STANDARD layout (by this I mean that all the keys have the same sizes than on the alphabetical cluster of a standard PC keyboard), you allow people to customize their keycaps. Most customers won't notice, but you'll get a lot of free PR for it.
Be smart. Make a smart 60% keyboard that will please both your basic users and the most advanced ones. Such a keyboard does not exist yet (not on a large scale at least).
