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The Hacker Handheld--Mobile Computing for Programmers

17 points by asolove 17y ago

tdoggette 17y ago
A downside of the proposed keyboard design is that no one will be a!le to pick it up for the first time and use it effectively. Come to think of it, you'd have to learn the layout by repeatedly looking it the back of the device, unless there was some kind of onscreen image to guide you.
- fragmede 17y ago
  1. "Target market" - I'd assume that most here can touch type. 2. You could display a full size, full screen picture of the keyboard, with all the symbols in the 'right' place. Where your left pinky would be holding the device, the screen would actually be showing the 'a' key.
  - tdoggette 17y ago
    1. Yes, but can you touch type backwards on a new split keyboard layout that you can't look at? There's definitely going to be a learning curve. 2. Okay.
    - diN0bot 17y ago
      1. yes, that's what touching typing means. (i don't get what you mean by backwards. it's not backwards for my fingers and that's what matters.)
  - asolove 17y ago
    Awesome idea- I definitely envision a training or keyboard-visible mode with translucent letters showing you where the keys were and some kind of visual feedback of where you were touching.
fragmede 17y ago
I've actually tested out this keyboard layout but ran into a problem. What I did was take two separate keyboards and tape em together on a board. Unfortunately, both os x and linux didn't play nice with that setup. (No clue about Windows.)The modifier on one keyboard wouldn't affect the other, which made it hard to use extensively. It was typeable, though I imagine it would be similar to having a Kinesis keyboard where any other keyboard just isn't home.
- asolove 17y ago
  Yeah, you can't just combine two keyboards or the sequencing and modifier keys are off. Isn't it ridiculous that we can make tablet computers but keyboards are still run with this ridiculously old tech? I'm not sure how hard it will be to mock up hardware and get the sequencing right.
diN0bot 17y ago
i'm a developer and i don't like mice, but i love my mac's touch pad. two finger horizontal and vertical scrolling is awesome for reading code quickly, and then getting back to typing. i prefer the continuous movement provided by the touchpad over keyboard shortcuts (er, long cuts!) (i've made my own foot pedal for fun, but i don't suffer from wrist problems normally. i use emacs key bindings with eclipse)
merraksh 17y ago
Isn't half of the keyboard upside down? For symmetry, the side keys (shift, ctrl on both sides, caps and esc on the left, enter, backspace on the right) should all be on the bottom. Otherwise I'd have to re-train my left hand to trewq rather than qwert.
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  A bigger mystery is where the space bar has gone. If he does this then he'd probably need to move the non-alphanumeric keys onto the front like my Kinesis keyboard does. Perhaps make them touchscreen soft-buttons?
  - merraksh 17y ago
    Update: the layout has been fixed. The space bar problem is still there, but given that I use my thumbs I'd place it on the front :)
gphil 17y ago
Reminds me of this request for startup: http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html

17 points by asolove 17y ago

A downside of the proposed keyboard design is that no one will be a!le to pick it up for the first time and use it effectively. Come to think of it, you'd have to learn the layout by repeatedly looking it the back of the device, unless there was some kind of onscreen image to guide you.

fragmede 17y ago
1. "Target market" - I'd assume that most here can touch type. 2. You could display a full size, full screen picture of the keyboard, with all the symbols in the 'right' place. Where your left pinky would be holding the device, the screen would actually be showing the 'a' key.
- tdoggette 17y ago
  1. Yes, but can you touch type backwards on a new split keyboard layout that you can't look at? There's definitely going to be a learning curve. 2. Okay.
  - diN0bot 17y ago
    1. yes, that's what touching typing means. (i don't get what you mean by backwards. it's not backwards for my fingers and that's what matters.)
- asolove 17y ago
  Awesome idea- I definitely envision a training or keyboard-visible mode with translucent letters showing you where the keys were and some kind of visual feedback of where you were touching.

fragmede 17y ago

I've actually tested out this keyboard layout but ran into a problem. What I did was take two separate keyboards and tape em together on a board. Unfortunately, both os x and linux didn't play nice with that setup. (No clue about Windows.)The modifier on one keyboard wouldn't affect the other, which made it hard to use extensively. It was typeable, though I imagine it would be similar to having a Kinesis keyboard where any other keyboard just isn't home.

asolove 17y ago
Yeah, you can't just combine two keyboards or the sequencing and modifier keys are off. Isn't it ridiculous that we can make tablet computers but keyboards are still run with this ridiculously old tech? I'm not sure how hard it will be to mock up hardware and get the sequencing right.

diN0bot 17y ago

i'm a developer and i don't like mice, but i love my mac's touch pad. two finger horizontal and vertical scrolling is awesome for reading code quickly, and then getting back to typing. i prefer the continuous movement provided by the touchpad over keyboard shortcuts (er, long cuts!) (i've made my own foot pedal for fun, but i don't suffer from wrist problems normally. i use emacs key bindings with eclipse)

merraksh 17y ago

Isn't half of the keyboard upside down? For symmetry, the side keys (shift, ctrl on both sides, caps and esc on the left, enter, backspace on the right) should all be on the bottom. Otherwise I'd have to re-train my left hand to trewq rather than qwert.

ZeroGravitas 17y ago
A bigger mystery is where the space bar has gone. If he does this then he'd probably need to move the non-alphanumeric keys onto the front like my Kinesis keyboard does. Perhaps make them touchscreen soft-buttons?
- merraksh 17y ago
  Update: the layout has been fixed. The space bar problem is still there, but given that I use my thumbs I'd place it on the front :)

gphil 17y ago

Reminds me of this request for startup: http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html