
Are Keyboards on Laptops the Next Thing to Go? - olalonde
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27084/?p1=blogs
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chucknthem
Every time I hear someone argue that the mouse or keyboard is going away, I'm
reminded of Chung Lee's ignite talk about why that's not the case.
[http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2011/07/myth-of-
dying-m...](http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2011/07/myth-of-dying-
mouse.html)

There are human computer interfaces for different computer sizes. The mouse
and keyboard are good for "human scale" devices like the desktop and laptop.
Touch is great for pocket sized devices, and motion is good for even larger
devices. The mouse and keyboard aren't going away, it's just that we'll have
more non-"human scale" devices.

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rdtsc
They'll have to rip my IBM model M out my cold dead fingers!

I have a tablet. So often I try to type on it & use a terminal, and it is
terrible. I get used to the size and key configuration but what I have problem
with is hitting my fingers in the glass surface repeatedly. Doing it for a
minute or two is ok. Doing for an hour is painful.

Also noticed on a tablet I become more of a passive consumer of a information
-- I read mostly. On the desktop I am more inclined to produce -- I write
code, type comments, write email.

~~~
acangiano
> Also noticed on a tablet I become more of a passive consumer of information

As I mention in my upcoming book on blogging, my workflow works exactly like
that and I definitely recommend it. I mostly produce on my MacBook Pro, while
I use the iPad to consume information and stay up to date at night, thanks to
apps like Reeder and Flipboard. This way I keep work and "play" (well, less
crucial work) separate.

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AndrewDucker
The thing is - blogging isn't work for me, it's play...

~~~
acangiano
Sure. In that sense, it lets you separate "producing" and "consuming".

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AndrewDucker
I find keys by touch. If I'm pressing ctrl-F4 (for instance) I'm find the F4
by the slightly larger gap between it and F5.

Removing this possibility would make typing a _lot_ harder.

~~~
6ren
To find that gap, your fingers would have to move across, feeling a difference
between a key and a gap between keys, until they feel a larger gap.

Feeling different vibrations when your fingers at those places would impart
the same information. e.g. if _ is vibration, and a space is no vibration, the
function keys would feel like this:

    
    
      ___ ___ ___ ___   ___ ___ ___ ___   ___ ___ ___ ___

~~~
AndrewDucker
If they can react extremely quickly, and to a light touch, then maybe it will
work.

I'm happy to give it a go, but it really is going to have to be very
impressive to allow touch typists to function.

~~~
6ren
Agreed it would be impressive. And quite strange, if a vibration on the whole
surface had the same effect as an actual physical change ona specific part of
the surface, just because that's where your finger was when it vibrated.

(Reminds me of arthur dent, zapped to the RatEotU, encountering pain where-
ever he touched his body, and eventually realizing it was his finger that
hurt).

I wonder, if it responding fast enough, you could brush your finger across it,
and it would _feel_ like there was a pattern on the surface (by it
vibrating/not depending on where your finger was)... Sort of a zero-
dimensional display. Of course, wouldn't work for multi-touch (though the
haptic patent does seem to manage this, by creating a waveform whose peak is
sharply localized).

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shabble
Maybe if they can produce a truly realistic mechanical feedback system. The
'haptic touchscreens' I've seen have generally been 'we buzz this little
offset-counterweight pager motor when you hit something'

Doing it right would probably require some sort of truly flexible (and
incredibly resillient) display, with some sort of adaptive force-feedback
(matrix of tiny pistons with pressure control, or something)

The patently apple article linked gives a bit more detail about the image
presented, but it still looks very low resolution (although there looks to be
some novelty in suppressing feedback from surrounding haptic elements)

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PedroCandeias
There's a lot more to the feedback one gets from a good keyboard than just
"tiny vibrations". Haptic virtual keyboards may well end up replacing hackers'
/ writers' primitive push button ones one day, but they must get pretty damn
good before they do.

That being said, I'm quite certain this is the future. At least for mainstream
users.

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eftpotrm
If a manufacturer can produce a virtual keyboard that I can type blind on at
100wpm, without slowly drifting off target, and correct typos that I've _felt_
rather than seen, then we might be getting somewhere. Until then, no way.

Which might, I suspect, be up there with affordable tabletop cold fusion.

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alextingle
It's amazing that these people are working so hard to recreate the experience
of "typing" on a ZX81 keyboard.

Most laptop (and desktop) keyboards are pretty horrible already. So I'm sure
that the final step to these awful abominations is not far away. Depressing.

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stewartbutler
Not unless laptop manufacturers wanted to create the next gorilla arm. Using
an input device without mechanical feedback will not work for serious data
entry, our hands aren't designed for it. It would cause a huge increase in
RSI.

~~~
ajanuary
Isn't that a little like saying touchpads will never take off because they're
not good enough for precision movement? If you're doing "serious data entry"
you'd get an external keyboard.

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zobzu
everyone knows how much better it is to type on tablets, right? right.. yeah
well that's why the keyboard isn't going anywhere.

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merraksh
I wonder how this will fit to people who type on a keyboard 10-12 hours a day.

The advantage with virtual keyboard is the infinite reconfiguration
capabilities w.r.t. repositioning of keys for reasons of ergonomics.

For the same reasons, though, keyboards designed with ergonomics in mind (e.g.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergonomic_keyboard>) can't be replicated because
of size and three-dimensional profile.

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azov
I believe keyboards are on the way out regardless of whether haptic technology
ever develops to the point where it can replace a real keyboard. Few people do
serious data entry. On-screen keyboard is good enough for overwhelming
majority of users. I think physical keyboard will become a peripheral device
used in some professional settings, but not by an average user.

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daimyoyo
It very well could be, but I very much doubt that the keyboard will be
replaced in the near future. 10 years? Maybe. But not for the near future.
People are too ingrained to let keyboards go any time soon.

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nextparadigms
I don't think. Actually, I think it's tablets that will be receiving
keyboards, a la Asus Transformer style. You get the best of both worlds.

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pasbesoin
No one's mentioned. Keys also serve as a shock absorber. I speculate that
years of tapping/rapping/pounding on a glass or hard plastic surface might
produce significant joint problems.

P.S. I'm referring not just, or primarily, to the force applied, but the the
suddenness of the transition to full pressure (cushioned only by one's soft
tissue).

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eulo
Oh dear god please NO!

