|
by bastage 02/10/2003, 10:58pm PST |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Keyboard++ FAQ wrote:
What do I do to touch type?
[...] no pressure or force is needed to input characters.
Ray, of Light wrote:
Translation: No key travel. Minus 1/2 §§§§¤.
Agreed, although that's kind of the point. Still, the 1/2 § deduction is warranted since it's still kind of weird to only have to 'drum' your fingers over the keyboard instead of actually pressing the keys.
Can I rest my fingers, palms, or entire hands on the surface without causing unwanted input?
... most isolated finger taps near keys are interpreted as typing, so you must be careful to only tap the keys you intend.
...
- single finger taps convert to typing
- multi-finger touch means mouse, gesture, or resting
Ray, of Light wrote:
I have a similar device on my laptop, called the "Rectangle of Mystery". While typing, inadvertent contact with RoM is randomly penalized: maybe a window focus change, or maybe a new text selection (which your next keystroke will erase), or maybe by clicking the "Go Fucking Crazy' icon that was under the mouse pointer. Minus 1. §§§¤
I have a "Rectangle of Mystery" too but I think that's outside the scope of this conversation.
Anyway, it happens but not nearly as often as you'd think considering the entire thing is really just a large (but intelligent) touchpad. It may just be marketing fluff, but according to the site it can actually recognize where, what, and to an extent who is (as you elegently say further down) 'caressing' it. heh ..
While most touchpads that you find in laptops will cause the mouse to jump if you, for instance, put one finger on the bottom left corner and then place another finger on the top right, that doesn't happen here because it can track each point of contact and determine if it was intentional or not.
How fast can people type on the TouchStream ST/LP?
Touch typists can achieve up to 70 wpm on the QWERTY layout once they master Zero-Force typing.
Ray, of Light wrote:
To recap: once I learn Xtreme Typing, I can expect (up to) half of current speed, and recoup the difference by Undoing with gentle carresses instead of control-Z? Minus 1. §§¤
Wait a second. Are you claiming you can type 140wpm using QWERTY ..? (Or that 140 is the theoretical max ..?)
Anyway, the gentle caresses are really the bread and butter of this thing so if you're a middle of the road 50-65wpm kind of guy like me the ability to speed up some of the 'non-typing' parts of the keyboard really do make a difference. They also let you get at modifier keys like Shift or Ctrl using 'Chords' .. four fingers of either hand placed on the top row equals Ctrl, middle row equals Shift, and bottom row equals Alt. See the little enter keys on the right side and bottom left of the right pad ..? Never use 'em. Three fingers on both hands simultaneously does the same thing. (It's more like playing an instrument or fingerpainting than typing.)
The 'non-mouse' side of the keyboard controls things like arrow keys, Home, End, etc. (Two fingers = arrow key, three fingers = arrow key + shift, etc.)
I won't continue boring you with specifics since it looks like you've already taken a look at some of their documentation but the point I'm trying to make is that you're taking a full shuriken (a FULL shuriken, damnit) away for what is essentially the entire point of the thing and I won't stand for it. Damnit.
Will the TouchStream key layouts include a numberpad?
... embedded in the right hand alphabetic layout like on laptops,
Ray, of Light wrote:
A three hundred dollar keyboard product's description should not contain the words "like on laptops." Minus 1. §¤
Definitely agreed, but that's not the point of this particular model. If your into hard core number entry, buy this one.
Is there any audible feedback when typing?
... the KeyTick utility ... lets you choose clicking sounds ranging from a whistle to an old-fashioned typewriter.
Ray, of Light wrote:
I'm being generous, here, by deducting only a half. Not for lack of audible feedback, but for making a utility that fucking whistles on each keypress. §
Yech. Most of the utilties they mention on the site are actually links to third parties who had built them for 'real' keyboards so they may be clear on this one. Either way, I tried a utility that emits little clicking noises as I typed but realized that I didn't rely as much on the audible feedback of a keybaoard as had I originally thought and deleted it. Hard core, mo-fo. Didn't even run the uninstall routine. It takes a real bad ass to run a keyboard like this the right way so I felt a show of force would scare it into submission. (Did it work ..? Hells yes ..! This post as lioving proiof.)
Ray, of Light wrote:
One out of five sounds bad, but it still beats most other replacements and comes close to the default 101-key's score of 3. I sentence this device to five years' hard development.
Thankfully they're pretty regular when it comes to updates and have been fairly responsive to suggestions which is nice.
I'd like to be able to map 'virtual' keys to the small spaces that currently don't have any letters 'attached' but otherwise they seem to already know what the users want/need and have either implemented or are in the process.
It definitely takes some getting used to due to the lack of feedback and there are many more occasions where I'll type 'off the home row' since I'm less apt to know exactly where my fingers are at any specific point in time, but really, can't that be said about most of the people posting here ..? (And cleaning up my mess only means having to wipe my hand across the keyboard a few times.)
Oh, wait .. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
This post serves no purpose other than to show off my new keyboard. by Zseni 02/09/2003, 2:43pm PST 
Three werds: by Entropy Stew 02/09/2003, 5:15pm PST 
^______________________^ (nt) by Zseni 02/09/2003, 5:18pm PST 
DVORAK by Senor Barborito 02/09/2003, 5:55pm PST 
Re: DVORAK by Zebco Fuckface 02/09/2003, 7:34pm PST 
Yeah I've heard - it's just the most doritos-in-beard thing I could think of NT by Senor Barborito 02/09/2003, 8:27pm PST 
Weak. Try this: by Entropy Stew 02/09/2003, 9:57pm PST 
what a waste of time, money, and effort -nt NT by arbit 02/09/2003, 10:42pm PST 
You obviously don't understand -nt- NT by Entropy Stew 02/09/2003, 11:17pm PST 
I have strongly-held opinions regarding keyboards by Ray, of Light 02/09/2003, 10:01pm PST 
|@|-|34|2 |^|3 by Zseni 02/09/2003, 10:40pm PST 
</i> (nt) by Zseni 02/09/2003, 10:41pm PST 
This thread has taken a turn for the baffling by Ray, of Light 02/09/2003, 10:53pm PST 
Re: This thread has taken a turn for the baffling by Zseni 02/09/2003, 11:16pm PST 
Re: I have strongly-held opinions regarding keyboards by bastage 02/09/2003, 10:47pm PST 
Re: I have strongly-held opinions regarding keyboards by Ray, of Light 02/10/2003, 12:07am PST 
Re: I have strongly-held opinions regarding keyboards by bastage 02/10/2003, 10:58pm PST 
Re: I have strongly-held opinions regarding keyboards by Zebco Fuckface 02/09/2003, 11:31pm PST 
I have only a few minor convictions by Senor Barborito 02/09/2003, 11:39pm PST 
Re: I have only a few minor convictions by creativepig 02/10/2003, 12:10am PST 
On fucking those gel pad things by Ray, of Light 02/10/2003, 12:32am PST 
Wow by Senor Barborito 02/10/2003, 12:42am PST 
Re: religion by Entropy Stew 02/11/2003, 1:23am PST 
Win-D goes to the desktop instantly. Good "boss key" among other uses. by Fussbett 02/11/2003, 5:20am PST 
Typing is for fags by Monty Cantsin 02/10/2003, 1:32am PST 
I use a twiddler by - not really - 02/11/2003, 5:50pm PST 
|
|