[HECnet] New Face

On 06/15/2012 10:16 AM, Mark Benson wrote: Who you calling odd, eh? Well, I guess from the general public's point of view, maybe. For anyone with knowledge of the joys of vintage computing, definitely not. :-) People have, in fact, been beaten with an LK201 for less ;) I resemble that remark! ;) My opinions on keyboards for example have recently been ratified when attempting to use the on-screen keyboard of an ipad. And that's the future... Well, one part of the future. Keyboards aren't going away. I suppose we'll see, but I'm willing to place a hefty bet on it. The familiar layouts, perhaps not, but as a physical device with switched real keys I think they will in the next 10 years (legacy systems notwithstanding) Companies are already working on prototype screens that provide tactile feedback when you tap the keys on them. I anticipate glass keyboards will begin to replace physical ones before long as they are easier to produce than physical ones (no physical change required for languages etc.). Eventually forcefields (you think I'm kidding, right?) will replace the glass and they'll be nothing but a projection in mid-air. Possibly. Such technologies are, in my opinion, solutions looking for problems. Not that this has stopped our society before, though. None of the pseudo-switch tactile feedback systems I've seen have had any real potential IMO. But if that problem is solved, we'll still have keyboards, just without physical clicking switches. :) They'll still be QWERTY in 2050 though ;) OH yes. :) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA