Optimus Tactus

[Nicholas Bodley]

On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:59:03 -0500, Samuel Baldwin <shardz4217 at gmail.com>  
wrote:

> http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-tactus/

> Star Trek anyone? I think it's very, very cool, and would be very,
> very fun, but the lack of feedback

See the Upravlator, coming this year.

> (coupled with the price), would probably keep me from buying this.

I must hand it to Artemy Lebedev and his staff. Their Maximus keyboard has  
one OLED display in each of 113 keys, and each display can run at 10  
frames/sec. In a few unusual writing systems, colors had meaning in its  
character repertoire. The Maximus should have great possibilities for  
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean input, although the user would be looking at  
the keyboard a lot more than a touch typist.

> I'm wondering what the common consensus on keyboards is with BLU  
> members. I personally like things like the Model M, and Das Keyboard.

I'd be rather surprised if there were a consensus! :)

For me, Dvorak letter layout (might try Colemak on my model M; a few Linux  
distros have the keymap included). I really want to be able to switch  
keymaps in the keyboard; for those times before the Dvorak keymap is set,  
it's wonderful to be able to do that. Until about a year ago, or maybe  
later, I was using a DvortyBoards kbd. with a switchable keymap, and liked  
it a lot; however, I actually wore it out, mechanically! The left shift  
key's guide cracked (more than once). That keyboard is an Adesso Eagle  
Touch, not really durable, with custom electronics, logo, and  
somewhat-amateurish keptop markings (dual layout).

I tried the Key Tronic FlexPro; ultimately, didn't like it; for one, the  
wrist rests weren't good enough. (Still have it, btw; anyone want it?  
Remains of dual Dvorak Qwerty stickers are still in place. Good condition.)

Tried Dvorak on the Model M a while back, and got sore fingers from  
aggressive keystroking; the "down-stop" for each key is really abrupt, and  
it was like typing on a brick. later, I taught myself not to pound, and it  
was nice, although the spacebar switch had started to develop a slow  
bounce (or contact "tease") if one's strokes were tentative.

The PCD Maltron (name has probably changed...) looks quite interesting,  
but it's far more than I can afford.
Also interested in The TypeMatrix kbds. with switchable maps; their keys  
are not staggered between rows.
<http://www.typematrix.com/dvorak/>

Present machine (emachines T6532) came with a kbd. having the [emachines]  
logo and lots of extra keys, and I decided to swap keys for Dvorak.  Ran  
into some Fun -- the two keys with little tactile ridges that help you  
stay aligned for touch-typing had their guides (not really keystems)  
rotated a quarter turn, probably to prevent mis-assembly. Bought a set of  
conversion stickers, and used only those really needed. It's a  
Chinese-made keyboard, and I just love its feel. Friction is very low, key  
movement seems butter-smooth, there's a mild "snap action" feel, and the  
"down-stops" are resilient. Would love to keep track of who made it.

As to swapping keytops or whole keys, it seems that some good number of  
recent keyboards have the same keytop tilt for all rows; that makes swaps  
OK, avoiding the motley array of tilts* that would result from swapping on  
one with a different tilt on each row. *need for dentistry

Hope this isn't too verbose...

Regards to all,

-- 
Nicholas Bodley
Waltham, Mass.
who looks at his Dvorak layout all the time

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