Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 10:26:16 +0200 (MET DST) From: grog@lemis.de (Greg Lehey) To: jfieber@indiana.edu (John Fieber) Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG (FreeBSD Chat) Subject: Re: FreeBSD keyboard Message-ID: <199607180826.KAA25055@allegro.lemis.de> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSI.3.95.960717155530.252D-100000@Fieber-John.campusview.indiana.edu> from "John Fieber" at Jul 17, 96 04:04:32 pm
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John Fieber writes: > > On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Greg Lehey wrote: > >> Just by chance I bought a Microsoft "ergonomic" keyboard yesterday >> (no, not for me, for a customer). I tried it out and found it much >> worse than I expected. > > It takes more than a day to settle into it. I could believe that :-( My real question is, why bother? >> I couldn't type at all, and the Alt-ctrl-foo >> combinations were even worse than on a normally broken keyboard, due >> probably to this damn silly flag key. > > I use the little finger on control (mapped to the key labeled > caps lock) and the thumb on alt. It work just dandy for me. I > find alt-control more trouble on regular keyboards, unless the > control is down on the bottom row where it shouldn't be. > However, I can see how control alt would be bad on the MS without > the control remapped. That works for some of the F keys. On my keyboard, F1 is too far to the left for that. And I can get any F key on the left with thumb on the Alt and forefinger on the Ctrl. I've just checked my wife's (conventional, contemporary) keyboard, and yes, the F1 is further to the right than on my keyboard. It's still not as easy to reach as on the left. >> to handle. Normally I rest my forearms on the armrest of the chair, >> and that doesn't work if you have to twist them through 15°. > > I guess you have a different geometry. :-) It's more like my chair. In fact, looking at the way I sit, I *do* have my arms inclined at about 15°, so it's not the angle of the Microsoft keyboard (which is no longer here to try), but the separation of the two halves, which would require a wider chair (or at least, a greater separation of the armrests). > You probably should > check out the US$500 Comfort Keyboard. You can adjust it about > any way you could possibly want. At that price, I'd expect it to type for me. >> intended for that. I wonder if this is the beginning of an indication >> that the mainstream has seen the error of its ways and is coming back >> to using the keyboard for data entry. > > I'd interpret it as a recognition that it is easier to offer a > couple input mechanisms than to standardize the user. That's a recognition, anyway. So far I had the feeling that Microsoft sold "one type fits all". > In reality, I'll bet its more a marketing gimmic than anything else. I think I'd agree on that one. Greg
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