Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!rochester!rutgers!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!dht
From: dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Alternative Keyboards
Keywords: keyboards alternate
Message-ID: <10233@drutx.ATT.COM>
Date: 8 Feb 89 17:27:28 GMT
References: <400012@hpdsla.HP.COM> <8901251606.AA16241@pinocchio.UUCP> <11350@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO
Lines: 26

<11350@watdragon.waterloo.edu>, sagibson@dahlia.waterloo.edu (Slime) writes:
> I find that the problem with current keyboards is that you still
> have to remember how to spell. Wouldn't it be much more natural
> to use a keyboard wwith phonemes and have the computer translate
> the input into real (and correctly spelled) words?

The problem is with the English language. In Italy, they don't have
spelling bees like we do. But I find the English language to have
beauty and power of expression: why? It borrows from lots of langu-
ages, mostly French. Our language is ever-changing, mutable and 
healthy. 

> Some type of touch pad (the screen?) instead of a mouse or trackball.
> But that's probably religious.

I've used a touchscreen, the keyboard is easier. I'm not a touch-
typer. But as I use terminals more (I would hate to have one at home)
I'm a faster typer. How many phonemes are in the English language?
It would be like a Chinese typewriter, bulky but fast, if the comp-
uter goes down, what will the user do? English has a lot of homonyms,
like 'reel' which has two different meanings. As a verb, as a noun,
two different meanings for fishing and film. 

Do you want to see Eric Blair's (George Orwell, it's time we give him
credit for his stupendous work) _1984_ come true? Newspeak, double-
plusungood. It straightjackets the mind.