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I agree with what I take as the underlying premise of this blog entry: if you're going to call something a "keyboard for programmers" it would be nice if you ma
by bhauer 13y ago
I agree with what I take as the underlying premise of this blog entry: if you're going to call something a "keyboard for programmers" it would be nice if you made concerted effort to improve matters for programmers, moreso than just tactile ergonomics.
However, I have mixed feelings with several of the author's specific points.
1. In general, I think a keyboard should retain all legacy keys, including Scroll Lock and Printscreen because they have acquired specific meaning through their many years. If a new keyboard were paired with a new operating system, then I'd be comfortable--even happy--with disposing of legacy. As it is though, Printscreen is the easiest way to grab a screen-capture or window-capture.
2. The CODE keyboard may be marketed as designed for programmers, but it seems to also carry over a certain "gamer programmer" target. Hence, the PS/2 adapter (I believe some harder-core gamers profess to PS/2 being faster).
3. Space is indeed very important. I am not sure if the author is just pointing that out matter-of-factly or intends it as criticism. I assume the prior.
4. Very much agree that Caps Lock should be diminished in importance. It should be located on some fringe alongside Scroll Lock. Many of my colleagues and I simply disable the key outright.
5. Also agree that backslash should be diminished in importance. However, I personally would like a "programmers keyboard" that made all variations of brackets < > ( ) [ ] { } / \ available (a) without modifier keys of any sort and (b) in side-by-side pairings. It bothers me that / and \ are not side-by-side on most/all keyboards.
6. Strongly disagree that Page Up (and presumably Page Down, although it's not cited by name) is a dumb key. I press Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End hundreds of times per day.
7. I don't actually like that function keys are often trimmed to half-height even on desktop keyboards. That is fine for a laptop. But on my desktop, I have the room for an additional row of full-height keys, thank you. In general, desktop keyboards that are built to laptop aesthetics are dubious to me.
8. Strongly disagree that arrow keys lack importance. I smell a vimmer. Oh, sure enough, he mentions the ADM3A. Please, I beg of you, vimmers: don't pretend to speak for all programmers.
9. Strongly agree with the premise that a programmer's keyboard should avoid use of modifier keys for symbols. I have often ranted that programming language designers should avoid arrow operators -> and => in their syntax because of the shift transition required to type an arrow on most keyboards.
I like the premise of this blog entry a great deal! Please, let's see some actual innovation in programmer's keyboards. But apparently, we should have one style for vimmers and one for other programmers. :)
- jfb 13y agoI think there should be a 100% remappable keyboard. I never use any of the legacy key functions, but the switches are precious on a fixed piece of hardware. It is maddening to me that there are dead keys on my keyboards; having a completely soft layout would allow me to customize things exactly the way I want.
- bhauer 13y agoI'd like that too. Wasn't that the premise of that ultra expensive keyboard with individual OLED displays for each key [1]? I've never seen one first hand because I live in the world of mere mortals. Hard to conceive of spending that much and having to continue typing after all. If I had that kind of money, I'd have a keyboard chauffeur. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard
- mike_h 13y agoThe Kinesis Advantage line is fully remappable, including macros. It's also premium hardware (nice switches) and a supremely ergo layout, with most keys within reach of the home row, and the thumb region divided up into multiple frequently-used (remappable) keys: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm Don't be cowed by the esoteric appearance; it's really just a tweak on the standard layout.
- jerf 13y ago"I think there should be a 100% remappable keyboard." You have one. It's the one you typed that post on. A keyboard just emits numbers, it's up to the computer OS to determine what to do with it. Exactly how to customize your keyboard is OS-specific, but it can be done in all the major ones, as far as I know. (Can't commit to Windows 8. Windows 7 did require some unpleasant registry hacking for changing caps lock.) If you want control over what your keyboard does, take it. Incidentally, the big key to trying things out is that if you remap a new function onto Caps Lock and you want to see if it works for you, be sure to demap the other copy of the key. If you make Caps Lock a new Backspace, you'll never use it. If you make Caps Lock a new Backspace, and then demap the current one, you'll literally be adjusted in a matter of minutes, and if you decide you don't like it, returning is also a matter of minutes. Once you work out what you need to do for your OS, keyboard layout experimentation is far more rapid than people realize, I think.