Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!Firewall!uunet!mcsun!ukc!slxsys!ibmpcug!mantis!mathew From: mathew@mantis.co.uk (Giving C News a *HUG*) Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: Chord Keyboards Message-ID: Date: 14 Jun 91 14:06:43 GMT References: <=m8kp9#@rpi.edu> Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK. Lines: 33 prisoner@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Allen S. Firstenberg) writes: > levene@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Robert A. Levene) writes: > > * How widespread is their use? > > The only oen I've ever seen used for any length of time is the one that > Douglas Engelbart still uses. But I'm very interested in hearing about > commercial products as well. I have a Microwriter AgendA, a portable computer which uses a chord keyboard. It uses five keys and two shifts to provide a full character set plus function keys and control keys. Microwriter have devised a set of mnemonics to help you to learn the key combinations; the geometric arrangement of the buttons you press is often related in some mnemonic way to the shape of the letter. It took me a couple of hours to learn all the letters A to Z, and another hour to learn various punctuation marks, digits, function keys and so on. After a week or so, I was up to a reasonable speed -- almost the same as my speed at touch-typing on a normal keyboard, although it's only fair to point out that I've not had any training in typing. Certainly, though, the chord keyboard was faster than writing neatly. The main advantages of chord keyboards are portability, ease of learning, and the fact that you're touch-typing right from the start. (In fact, I find it easier to microwrite if I look away from the keyboard; seeing my fingers moving seems to distract me.) mathew