Micro-ErgoDox

[kurplop]

In five years we may find that  the ErgoDox's greatest contribution was that is became a springboard for even better designs. To be fair however, credit must be given to the key64 concept on which the ErgoDox was based.

  I like the creativity and "out of the Dox" thinking that has followed. Suka's work and projects like the "Grand Piano" are evidence of the fertile fields of ideas yet to be tilled. The one downside is that just when you think you have the ideal set up something else comes along.


I like the portability and reachability of the minimalist design but unless I used it exclusively, I probably would never get use to a layout that different. As it is, I have a hard time using a standard keyboard after a few months with the ErgoDox. No regrets though.

[flc]

It is fun to see how flc is getting  hopelessly sucked into the vortex of keyboard fanaticism. Quick man! Get out while you can. He started a few days ago  innocently inquiring about ergonomic concerns and wanting to spend a small sum on an ergonomic keyboard. And look at him now, scheming about modding exotic prototype boards.

I give him three more months and he will be with the rest of us; in a line at the soup kitchen, penniless, clutching on to an elegant hardwood case protecting the loveliest little keyboard you've ever seen.

Buy the Freestyle and get out while you still can.

ROFL
Last night I reached the event horizon as I became #160 in this group buy. I reasoned I have a few weeks before delivery to change my mind. If I do you may see my kit in the classifieds.

Kinesis did offer to remap the Freestyle for me if needed (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=45207.msg945000#msg945000) so that is still a possibility I suppose.

[tp4tissue]

In five years we may find that  the ErgoDox's greatest contribution was that is became a springboard for even better designs. To be fair however, credit must be given to the key64 concept on which the ErgoDox was based.

  I like the creativity and "out of the Dox" thinking that has followed. Suka's work and projects like the "Grand Piano" are evidence of the fertile fields of ideas yet to be tilled. The one downside is that just when you think you have the ideal set up something else comes along.


I like the portability and reachability of the minimalist design but unless I used it exclusively, I probably would never get use to a layout that different. As it is, I have a hard time using a standard keyboard after a few months with the ErgoDox. No regrets though.

mmm..... while I like the edox immensely..

I'm not sure about the whole "fertile lands" part..  Because the future clearly points to neural implants so we can do away with keyboards all together.

The reason i say that is, it's a race to get RID of keyboards, rather than to IMPROVE it.

Realistically basic keyboards are already good enough to take us all the way up till Neural implants.


At GH, we're primarly a materialistic crowd with keyboard nostalgia...  This is very different from real world progress

[Glod]

I agree that the ergodox is just a start of what is to come. More keyboards, more ergo, more hacking of my wallet. I lack some creativity but i got a soldering iron so bring it on!

[hramrach]

When the neural implants get cheaper than ergodox it will become an option.

Still there are health concerns and security concerns. Implants are certainly not for everyone even when the time comes for getting them off-the-shelf. And that time is not going to come for years, more likely decades. Much room for keyboard development still.

The reduced erogodox design is interesting. I am not sure it would be comfortable to use and that very much depends on the layout.

I don't have an ergodox so I can't check how the slanted thumb clusters work but would it not be easier to press keys that are one above another rather one next to another when you want multi-key presses on those? There is only one combination that might work that way - the big key with a smaller one above.

There are very few keys in these clusters so hard to balance but having layer switches and shift all on one hand and enter,space and escape all on other does not seem right.

When it comes to layer switches you could research Japanese thumb-shift keyboards a bit. They are trying to fit some 70 characters on a keyboard so pretty cramped as well. From what I read they use an unique shifting system with shift on both sides and each shift doing different thing when applied to same side key and opposite side key. This allows to encode more key variants with fewer shifts. They are typist keyboards and Japanese has no uppercase so they do not need to worry about getting stuff like normal shift, ctrl, alt, meta and whatnot, however. I would expect that one dedicated modifier or even application buttons would be enough for activating word processor functions.

[kurplop]

When the neural implants get cheaper than ergodox it will become an option.

Just one question. Will the neural implants be RD or mechanical?

[tp4tissue]

When the neural implants get cheaper than ergodox it will become an option.

Just one question. Will the neural implants be RD or mechanical?

well the neural implant will be two types probably,  we could implant it at the spine, which is probably too dangerous..

we could implant in the brain, again too dangerous..

So PROBABLY, we're going to do it at the nerve endings in our hands or arms.

So if that's the case i'd think it'd probably feel more like a touch screen, but more accurate because you could never MISS..

As the target is always line up..

you could still misspell, but you wouldn't miss the target because there's no phsyical motion.

[zoolzoo]

kinda into it

[Calyx]

mmm..... while I like the edox immensely..

I'm not sure about the whole "fertile lands" part..  Because the future clearly points to neural implants so we can do away with keyboards all together.

The reason i say that is, it's a race to get RID of keyboards, rather than to IMPROVE it.

Realistically basic keyboards are already good enough to take us all the way up till Neural implants.

At GH, we're primarly a materialistic crowd with keyboard nostalgia...  This is very different from real world progress

It will be a very long time before people are comfortable enough with neural implants (safety and cost) for them to replace manual input.  The only way it will ever happen is if the technology is completely non-invasive.