Anybody Have Any 2010 Keyboard Predictions??

[itlnstln]

That sounds solid to me, Nostradamus.  Perhaps we will get a (good) distributor for Cherry Corp 'boards in the US.  Hopefully, we will also get a distributor for KBC (or similar) keycaps in the US, too.

[Viett]

Still eager to see these ship:

[microsoft windows]

In 2010, I predict a Compaq MX11800 will somehow transfer itself from ebay to my home.

[InSanCen]

- Unicomp will ship a new product.  Bwahahahahahahaha!

You resisted the Mini comment. I applaud your self restraint.

Keyboard predictions for *me* for 2010 include getting an F, Getting Blue Cherries, and getting something heavy round the head when Her Ladyship finds out I've got yet more keyboards.

[ak_nala]

1.  The return of the Beam Spring!

2.  The return of hemispherical depression double-shot keys made out of Bakelite.

3.  Mag-lev keyboards will be all the rage after Apple introduces one bundled with a 16-core Mac Pro.

4.  ALPS will start making keyswitches and keyboards again.

5.  IBM will make a triumphal return to the keyboard market with the Model N, which combines the features of predictions 1 through 3 with a new, proprietary, modular switching technology that is rated at over 10,000,000,000 (that's billion!) key-presses before failure and is spill-proof & dust-proof w/ N-key rollover in a compact form-factor that takes the breath away for elegance, while being both light-weight and rugged with a price-point under $90.

6.  IBM will sell the switches and fully-programmable, multi-layer controllers to DYI'ers so they can make their own keyboard layouts.

[ch_123]

Das will make a keyboard that works. However the Union representing the people in the returns department will go ape****, so the keyboard's microcode will have a race condition deliberately inserted so that the keyboard will register input only when 12 or more keys are pressed.

That, and Apple will probably replace keyboards with some fancy touchscreen doohickey, because buttons are, loike, so twenty years ago.

[ak_nala]

7.  After their market-share begins to slip, Microsoft will introduce a Minority Report computer interface in an attempt to obsolete all keyboards and mice, but due to a programming error any computer it is actually installed on will implode whenever a certain gesture is invoked. Consumer acceptance is understandably slow.

8.  In an attempt to gain market share, Topre will market their capacitive keyboards to just above what they actually cost to produce ($15.00), and as a result will corner the market for low-cost retail and OEM keyboards.

[ak_nala]

9.  James Cameron will introduce a revolutionary new 3D keyboard, but consumers will object to the need to wear special glasses to operate it and that it only comes in blue.

[msiegel]

^^ :lol:

* Logitech buys Unicomp and produces backlit BS gaming boards.

* Microsoft releases Nike-branded ergo boards with gel inserts.

* Apple's new input device is a featureless metal pyramid, which you stare at and it reads your mind. Claims of brain damage are silently ignored.

[ak_nala]

10.  Apple will put five Golden Tickets in randomly chosen retail boxes of their new mag-lev keyboard as part of a contest to see who will replace Steve Jobs as iCEO.

[Hak Foo]

10.  Apple will put five Golden Tickets in randomly chosen retail boxes of their new mag-lev keyboard as part of a contest to see who will replace Steve Jobs as iCEO.

11.  Order code confusion will result in a major retailer shipping over three hundred thousand Cherry G80s with purple switches, Russian layout, and a 17-port USB hub in the rear.  Geekhack will absorb the order within a month.

12.  Unicomp will rebrand their 122 with a programmable controller as the Samurai King Death 3000 Kapow Extreme and sell it for $149.  Maximum PC will give it a 4, as "too loud" and reccomend a rubber dome.

[microsoft windows]

[Buckling_Summer]

1) Unicomp finally launches "Model M Mini Space Saving keyboard" with/without trackpoint. Available in beige, gray or stealth black colours

2) Kinesis builds the ultimate Advantage Contour ergonomic keyboard, more stylish, with 1 trackpad, 2 trackpoints and full glory, blue cherry MX switches

[ricercar]

You reading my mind? I'm slowly moving blues from Welly's Scorpius M10 to my Kinesis Contour.

[timw4mail]

You reading my mind? I'm slowly moving blues from Welly's Scorpius M10 to my Kinesis Contour.

Nooo!!! Stop the desecration of the Scorpius!!!

[ch_123]

I hate to make a potentially "Everything that can be invented has been invented already" style statement, but I'd find it hard to imagine that you could replace a keyboard with a touchscreen for real proper touch-typing.

But hey, if it ever became the case that keyboards were specialized items, I could quite easily imagine that mechanicals would be the only thing that would sell.

[ricercar]

Nooo!!! Stop the desecration of the Scorpius!!!

So you want to trade me some loose Cherry blues for the still-intact doomed Scorpius M10? I'm just looking to make a Cherry blue Contour. Doesn't matter to me where the switches come from.

[Input Nirvana]

2 trackpoints? One for each hand, or...? What exact location? I'm tearing into mine right now to install a trackpoint on the right key bowl. I have a thought of a scroll wheel left of the G or right of the H.

[Buckling_Summer]

You reading my mind? I'm slowly moving blues from Welly's Scorpius M10 to my Kinesis Contour.

Call me Yuri Geller.

[ricercar]

Call me Yuri Geller.

You're Yuri Geller. What have you done to my forks?

[J888www]

I have three predictions:

1) Bobgate Repairs will see the error of his intuitive decision and decides to sell to me a SIIG Minitouch JK-A10032.

2) Everyone acquires, purchase, steals, modify their ultimate dream keyboard only to realise that Apocalypse  and the Four Horsemen are hiding just around the corner of Time.

3) I find out my three Shillings worth to be valueless.

[microsoft windows]

The Onion's a fun show.

[quadibloc]

12.  Unicomp will rebrand their 122 with a programmable controller as the Samurai King Death 3000 Kapow Extreme and sell it for $149.  Maximum PC will give it a 4, as "too loud" and reccomend a rubber dome.

In order to do that successfully, in addition to giving it a programmable controller, they will have to reduce the number of keys to 121 keys - by replacing the left-hand shift key, and the key adjacent to it, with the type of left-hand shift key found on a normal U.S. layout keyboard.

Then I would buy one too, and it would be a really good idea.

But can they even do that (without retooling)? The placement of contacts on the membrane may allow the same membrane to be used for 101-key and 102-key ANSI and ISO keyboards, but that doesn't mean the shift key is off-center the same way on a 122-key keyboard.

EDIT: Of course, what I would really like is not a 121-key keyboard, but a 133-key keyboard:



The diagram shows how the keys of a 101-key keyboard, a 122-key keyboard, and a Sun SPARCstation keyboard map to it. The mapping for the 102-key, 104-key, and 105-key keyboards should be trivially obvious (except for the right Windows Shift key in the latter two cases, which would be left out) as well as that for the Macintosh.

[ch_123]

I want one of those Selectric-style backspaces!

Oh, and who is that "Witweb" chap who has the same keycaps as you? =P

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Since it's near the end of 2010 I'm gonna bump this thread.

Rip got the chiclet key things right. Ugh...

[Ekaros]

So, can I now guess that there won't happen anything major by the end of 2010?

[microsoft windows]

Well, my computers are all now a year older.

[microsoft windows]

In 2010, I predict a Compaq MX11800 will somehow transfer itself from ebay to my home.

This prediction was accurate. Typing this right now on a Compaq MX11800.

[microsoft windows]

Apple will introduce their tablet without keyboard, and it will be the beginning of the end.

Another accurate prediction.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

So, for 2011, do you think we'll see a non-DIY Wireless Mechanical on US shores?

(Of course, I'm joking. It won't happen)

[muchadoaboutnothing]

I doubt that. I'm sure a lot of people want mechanicals for HTPCs.

[iMav]

Unicomp's available keyboard models for sale will be reduced by 10%.

Clickclack will not make the keys I REALLY want...but it won't matter.  I'll still buy every keycap he makes.  

[quadibloc]

1.  The return of the Beam Spring!

2.  The return of hemispherical depression double-shot keys made out of Bakelite.

(1): Don't I wish.

(2): I think you mean ABS. There were hemispherical-depression keys made out of Bakelite. But they weren't double-shot molded. You could get them on two devices: a Flexowriter, or a non-Selectric IBM electric typewriter. The keys were 1/2 inch square instead of flaring out at the bottom to occupy a 3/4 inch square cell.

[Lanx]

I doubt that. I'm sure a lot of people want mechanicals for HTPCs.

i have a ml4100 for my htpc and honestly i don't use it much, it's just there gathering dust.
For htpc ppl really should use ... ugh... ipod touch/ipad

my old ipod touch makes a great htpc remote for mousing and keyboard use. Would i still use the ml4100 if it was wireless and near me instead of the touch? prolly not, i'm not typing huge replys, only web addresses at most and even for that the horrible itouch works.

[J888www]

My three predictions sort of came true.

1) Found my ONE MiniTouch, albeit maybe not from the expected source.

2) Many people purchased a Ducky and was disappointed with the build quality.

3) My three Shillings worth is definitely valueless.

Future predictions ?...........I'm still contemplating.

[quadibloc]

Oh, I didn't notice this thread was bumped. I thought people were giving their 2011 predictions.

I'm hoping we see the Optimus Popularis during 2011.

As there are symphony orchestras in China, and the ability of computer chips to synthesize sound just keeps improving, I'm expecting someone in China to come out with a cheap keyboard that's almost as good as a Tyros 2, and pretty much sweep the market.

Oh, wrong kind of keyboard.

I think that the beam spring keyboard will return someday... but not necessarily next year. Sometime before 2020, though, I think it will be tried. It is possible, however, that the result will be as awful as the buckling spring keyboards made for a time by one Chinese company.

Keys with hemispherical depressions? Not likely; the seriously retro keyboard fan is just not a big enough market. Although I wouldn't put it past Fwiffo to organize having a set of keycap replacements like that made for people here if there were enough demand. But out there in the real commercial world? I don't know how it could happen.

[clickclack]

...Clickclack will not make the keys I REALLY want...but it won't matter.  I'll still buy every keycap he makes.  

*grins*
Then if things go well I promise to make them even more irresistable! =D

I made my deadline of introducing the keys by Dec 1st =)
My prediction was that it would take a full year to get things underway. If you look at my last post in "project board chow" it was almost exactly 1 year ago! =D
I also predicted that If didn't have them by then I would never hear the end of it from rippy! =P
(i still don't think I will hear the end of it)
I did predict releasing them before post #900 in the other thread

Looks like rippy did some good predictions though!


Since this year is not over yet I have some more predictions for it.

- I will...