T O P I C ��� R E V I E W
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Hobbes
Member # 138
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posted
http://flareupload.pleh.net/uploads/138/hobbespro_keyboard.gif
I hate regular keyboards. Especially the fact that crap tends to fall between the keys and the only way to clean it out is to take the whole damn thing a part.
I was I could build this in real life. It would have a smooth flat black surface, like many microwaves do for their buttons. Only there would be a light inside lighting up the keys.
Spilled soda on the keyboard? No big deal, there's nowhere for it to get inside to mess with wiring or whatever. Just spray some windex type shit on the surface and wipe off.
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Sol System
Member # 30
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posted
The problem is, your primary interaction with your keyboard isn't visual, but tactile. How do you know when you've pressed a key? How do you know where your fingers are?
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TSN
Member # 31
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posted
Of course, one could always just not spill soda on one's keyboard.
One could also buy one of those rubber, roll-up keyboards.
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Topher
Member # 71
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posted
They seem to do just fine in Trek...
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Jason Abbadon
Member # 882
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posted
I never understood why we dont have interactive touchscreen's in addition to keyboards: I've used a color touchscreen on a Xerox digital press for over ten years and it's far faster than point/click with a mouse.... More fun too: the closest thing on Trek was Dax trying to call up interactive holographics in The Visitor.
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Aban Rune
Member # 226
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posted
With no tactile interaction, perhaps a barely auditable clicking sound, replicating the sound of a keyboard stroke, would serve that function. Similar to the sound my browser makes when I click a link.
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Hobbes
Member # 138
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posted
I've never actually spelt soda or anything on my keyboard, but I've heard of people doing it.
All I know if cleaning out my keyboard is a pain in the ass. I have to unscrew everything, take out all the circuit panels and try to get shit that falls between the keys. Whereas with this, I could clean it in seconds.
I just think it looks cool, a little more Star Trek like.
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Aban Rune
Member # 226
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posted
It does look cool. I'm thinking the keys would have to be uber sensative, though, too. But not TOO sensative. Not so sensative that it can distinguish between a finger that's trying to push the key and one that's just resting in the key. But sensative enough that a light tap will trigger the key.
Not impossible. Wacom tablets have all kinds of levels of sensativity.
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machf
Member # 1233
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posted
Go get an Atari 400, it has just the keyboard you're asking for. Or a Sinclair ZX-81/Timex TS-1000.
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Cartman
Member # 256
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posted
"With no tactile interaction, perhaps a barely auditable clicking sound, replicating the sound of a keyboard stroke, would serve that function."
Same problem. You still wouldn't have any feedback about where your fingers were on the keyboard.
"I never understood why we dont have interactive touchscreen's..."
1) Because they are expensive. 2) Because they are tiring to interact with for longer periods of time. 3) Because they are only suitable for a select class of applications. 4) Because they are expensive.
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Jason Abbadon
Member # 882
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posted
hmmmm....not more expensive than most large flatscreens.
I was thinking of touchscreens more for laptops than for upright PC's- nothing tiring thenL it's be like a Padd from Trek.
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B.J.
Member # 858
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posted
Hobbes, you're wanting a membrane keyboard, made mostly for industrial or heavy-duty situations. They don't usually make ones with a standard layout, but I found one manufacturer - Matric: http://www.matric.com/ibm1.htm
As for touchscreens, your finger isn't near as precise as a mouse pointer, plus you'd have to clean off the fingerprints constantly.
B.J.
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Jason Abbadon
Member # 882
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posted
Depends on the aplication: I guess that explains the LCARS wide button interface, eh?
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Captain Boh
Member # 1282
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posted
what if the buttens were slightly raised then? Still not exposing the innerds, but you'd be able to tell where they were (or if they had a different texture from the rest of the surface)
As for cleaning touch screens, what about a stylus?
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akb1979
Member # 557
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posted
Why don't you get that new infrared device that superimposes the keyboard on any surface and detects key touching by your fingers passing through the beam. Saw a gadget show a few months ago and the guy was using on a pub table! Well kewl! It's not that expensive either if I remember correctly.
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Topher
Member # 71
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posted
I seem to remember seeing an ad for something like that years ago. Keyboards that were fully reconfigurable for games and what not.
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Captain39
Member # 1001
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posted
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Dat
Member # 302
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posted
Uh... okay.
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PsyLiam
Member # 73
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posted
Keyboards should not be used for any game ever. Apart from FPSs. And some others. There is that device that I can't remember the name who's job it is to be a keyboard replacement, but I can't remember anything more about it. I shouldn't have bought it up. Sorry.
quote: Originally posted by Hobbes: All I know if cleaning out my keyboard is a pain in the ass. I have to unscrew everything, take out all the circuit panels and try to get shit that falls between the keys. Whereas with this, I could clean it in seconds.
Do you chop wood over your keyboard or something? Unscrewing everything to clean it is the physical equivalent of formatting your hard drive and reinstalling Windows to reset your resolution.
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PsyLiam
Member # 73
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posted
quote: Originally posted by Topher: They seem to do just fine in Trek...
Trek is, frankly, a bit silly in regards to this. Unless there's something going on that we can't see (or feel, or whatever), I really can't see how they can sit at those keyboards typing without actually looking at them. Your fingers would end up all over the place.
(And yes, I do remember Tuvok's "tactile interface on" command in Year of Hell, which only serves to reinforce the notion that there usually isn't a tactile interface.)
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Cartman
Member # 256
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posted
Why do you always have to quote months-old, erh, quotes whenever somebody revives a dead thread? Eh? EH?
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PsyLiam
Member # 73
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posted
Because my point was not heard the first time. Damnit.
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Captain Boh
Member # 1282
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posted
clearly, sighted Starfleet officers have magic powers
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