geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: mlangner001 on Fri, 16 September 2011, 18:59:28
-
The perfect keyboard already exists... it just needs new and better switches.
It is the keyboard that Apple put on its keyboard nowadays, minus the CAPS LOCK KEY (we don't really need that key anymore).
I would just like to have that one with Cherry Blue or Brown Switches...
All the Letter-Keys in Otaku.
All the other keys side-imprinted.
It is backlight with white-blue LEDs.
The keys in white, rounded, and a little rough.
The keyboard is called: Interface or The Interface Keyboard.
Feel free to built and use this idea.
-
But Apple makes chiclet keyboards. I just imagine a super thin keyboard with excessively tall keys
-
At least Logitech has a few chiclet keyboards out there right now where the keys are 3 mm tall.
I have also seen other "island" - type keyboards with relatively tall keys, but they were not scissor-switch keyboards and therefore not as nice to type on.
You can't modify an Apple aluminum keyboard. They use membranes and are glued together so that you can't take them apart without breaking them.
If you want flat low-profile keys and Cherry MX switches, get a "point of sale" keyboard from Tipro. You can find them on eBay now and then.
-
Apple should re-issue the Touchstream keyboard. Typing on one right now. It's a pity they acquired Fingerworks only to use a small portion of their technology. Even the iGesture trackpad by Fingerworks, was way more powerful than the Magic Trackpad, and that was years ago. I honestly can't understand what Apple was thinking. Here's the iGesture quick reference to give you an idea. The text cursor control is amazing, the Touchstream keyboard has that too, I can move the text cursor even on console/text terminal and vi, by dragging my fingers! And that's with NO DRIVERS. You can even configure the device settings from the device itself witheout software. There are gestures that print out settings or selections to choose from (while you are on any text editor) and with further presses on the device you select the setting you want.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26816[/ATTACH]
-
Maybe because Fingerworks gestures are too different from what people are used to from most other trackpads.. For instance, a single finger moved the text cursor instead of the mouse cursor.
-
Perhaps they could just swap the 2 functions. On the Touchstream keyboard it makes sense though, a single finger types, 2 finger drag of the right hand moves the mouse, 2 finger drag of the left hand moves the text cursor (dragging actuates multiple arrow key presses). 3 finger drag on the right hand marks/drags a window. 3 finger drag of the left hand does shifted arrow-key movement.
4 finger drag of the right hand does scroll. 4 finger drag of the left hand does page up/down, home/end, depending on the direction.
It's amazing to be able to do typing and mousing from the same surface, and cursor control via drags is absolutely wonderful. I even use on shell prompts!
Dragging my left hand up/down goes through my command history, and dragging left/right I can quickly go and edit a parameter in the middle of a long command line!