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<SadMac> I'll reserve judgement on the new TouchBar, since I haven't had a chance to play with one. I'll say this, though, what they've done is dipped their to
by bluejekyll 10y ago
<SadMac>
I'll reserve judgement on the new TouchBar, since I haven't had a chance to play with one. I'll say this, though, what they've done is dipped their toe into the fully programmable keyboard space: http://www.geeknaut.com/cool-computer-keyboards-2219350.html http://www.geeknaut.com/cool-computer-keyboards-2219350.html
This could be a stepping stone to a fully redrawable keyboard. Not saying I want such a thing, but it's interesting. imagine the entire keyboard surface being the TouchBar? It would suck (I think) for typing, but it would certainly differentiate itself from the iPad, and would start making for custom controls that augment the display.
In some cases I could see this as a better experience than just a pure touchscreen (though it would probably be very niche).
Anyway, even with all of the negatives you mentioned, it's still going to be the best Unix laptop out there. My dream is that HP or Dell find a backbone, and starts pitching supporting and building a perfect Linux (pick any distro really) laptop to devs, or maybe Google makes ChromeOS, that perfect OS. Until then...
- davesque 10y agoThe only way I can imagine a fully-drawable keyboard working is if they perfected one of the haptic feedback technologies like ultra-sonic keys or something crazy.
- basch 10y agothe fully drawable keyboard is already here. expect apple to perfect it in three years one the other OEMs rush it to market and fail. http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/2/12769094/lenovo-yoga-book-love-poem-ifa-2016 http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/2/12769094/len...
- sudhirj 10y agoThey already have, I think. The force touch trackpads don't move - they give the illusion of clicking using haptics. Don't see why keys would be much more difficult.
- blowski 10y agoWell it would have to be much, much better than any haptic keyboard I've used so far. Those that I've used may give feedback, but it's nothing like using a keyboard.
- rbanffy 10y agoI don't think the haptics are fine enough to allow for feeling the key boundaries with your fingertips.
- uptown 10y agoI'd bet they will be one-day, or perhaps they are in a lab, but they can't achieve it at-scale, or at an acceptable cost. It's likely why they're trending the existing keyboards towards a flatter profile -- in preparation for the sensation they know they'll be able to pull-off in 3 or 5 or however many years it'll take to deliver a haptic implementation on their products.
- davesque 10y agoWhat I was referring to was technologies that give not just the illusion of some click but of physical texture before a key is even clicked. If your fingers can't feel the keys before you even click them, IMHO it's a no go.
- ChuckMcM 10y agoGiven that they have gone out of their way to create actual keyboards for the iPad pro line I don't think Apple is convinced a fully drawable keyboard is the way to go either.
- mannykannot 10y ago> This could be a stepping stone to a fully redrawable keyboard. Not saying I want such a thing, but it's interesting. Something to be approached with caution. There may be an appropriate programming metaphor for the opportunities and risk, somewhere between operator overloading and self-modifying code.
- majewsky 10y agoI can already imagine websites placing the "Buy now" button where "Esc" used to be.
- notatoad 10y ago>imagine the entire keyboard surface being the TouchBar? It seems very likely to me that apple is moving this direction. They continue to pour resources into "taptic" feedback, to make flat fixed surfaces feel like buttons, and at the same time are decreasing the travel of their physical keyboards. They're definitely converging on a full touchscreen keyboard.
- lutorm 10y agoThis could be a stepping stone to a fully redrawable keyboard. There was one (not redrawable, but who looks at the keys anyway), but Apple bought it and killed it: http://ergocanada.com/products/keyboards/fingerworks_lp.html http://ergocanada.com/products/keyboards/fingerworks_lp.html I had one. It was not good for typing.
- jfoutz 10y agoI agree. It was not good for typing. I gave a good 4 months before i gave up. If someone made an e-paper optimus style keyboard, i would definitely give that a try. Little animations are neat. they pop. i really like them. for about a day. Then they're just annoying.
- jordybg 10y agohttp://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13328710/apple-e-ink-keyboard-macbook-sonder-rumors http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13328710/apple-e-ink-keyb... There is one by Sonder
- hboon 10y agoJust an anecdote: I typed pretty decently on it and used it for years for everything including programming. (For reference sake, I've never timed, but I'm one of the fastest typist among people I know when not using the Touchstream)
- fusiongyro 10y agoBuying that company is what got them multitouch, which is what made the iPhone and iPad possible. It's funny, but they're really just closing the loop on that acquisition by making a programmable keyboard. By the way, a friend of mine had the Fingerworks (I use a Kinesis Advantage) and in the winter it would always go wonky because of static. He wound up having the company buy a humidifier... for his keyboard. I thought it was a neat idea (especially switching between typing and mousing by just sliding around) but I found the lack of feedback jarring and didn't fall in love with it.
- hammock 10y agoFully redrawable touch keyboard exists. It's in the iPad.
- jasonkostempski 10y agoIt'd be nice if you could take old "obsolete" iPads and turn them into dedicated control panels for other devices. Better that than in a dump.
- CaptSpify 10y agoI'm doing that with my old android phones. I've got a home-automation server setup, and the phones are all able to control lights, speaker volume, etc.
- guelo 10y ago> HP or Dell find a backbone, and starts pitching supporting and building a perfect Linux laptop to devs Dell has been selling a beautiful developer Linux laptop for a while, http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-13-linux http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-13-linux
- fdgdasfadsf 10y ago> This product is currently unavailable. Please find our recommendation for a comparable system below.