Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!dsl.pitt.edu!pitt!willett!ForthNet
From: ForthNet@willett.pgh.pa.us (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: PHILOSOPHY & CM
Message-ID: <1504.UUL1.3#5129@willett.pgh.pa.us>
Date: 13 Aug 90 03:45:00 GMT
Organization: String, Scotch tape, and Paperclips.  (in Pgh, PA)
Lines: 46

Category 1,  Topic 12
Message 69        Sat Aug 11, 1990
F.SERGEANT [Frank]           at 17:31 CDT
 
     To Phil Koopman, re 3-key keyboard & CM

     An ongoing interest of mine, as well.  All the details would be 
appreciated.  For example, did you see him entering text - as one might  into
a word processor?  That is, typing away, character by character?   How fast
was it?  I gather he was picking out letters, for example one  of seven picks
the group, e.g.  LETTERS  NUMBERS PUNCTUATION TOGGLES  etc, then under LETTERS
might be
   ABCDEFG   HIJKMNO   PQRSTUV   XYZ.,?Space
                     Capitalize-Previous-Letter    BS     UP etc.  Then under
ABCDEFG might be  A  B  C  D  E  F  G.  The more  details from you & others,
the better.

     With the system above, it would seem that each any char would take  about
5 strokes max, with 2 being the most common.  For example.  Once  you select
LETTERS, you then choose the group and then the single  letter and are
automatically returned to the LETTERS menu, so as long  as you are just typing
letters, it is two strokes.  When you need  something else, you pick UP to get
out of the LETTERS menu.           

     As I type now, I'm often using only a single keystroke per letter.  
However, it takes both hands and there is the slow down from reaching  away
from home position.  Even reaching for the shift key is a bit  jarring, from
the stand point of staying in home position, and the  Enter key, allllll the
way over there is almost intolerable (if I could  stand the smiley faces I
might consider putting one here).  All concept  of "home" disappears when I
shift over to function keys or to the  cursor pad.

     I consider it possible, but not proved, that the 3 key keyboard's 
promise of NEVER EVER having to leave HOME might pay for the doubling, 
trebling, whatever of strokes.  Plus it would free up an extra arm and  hand
and most of your body (your posture is greatly affected by having  to get BOTH
hands on the keyboard).  We might begin to "hear" our text  as we drum out
passages.  Additional benefits would be portability (to  go with a battery
powered RTX computer) and, if you didn't display the  menus, system security!

     Anyway, thanks for the details you've mentioned so far.

  -- Frank
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