> I'd just like to get some opinions, see what you think of chording devices > and what potential utility they could have in Plan 9.
If I recall correctly Rob Pike's comments in this forum a long time ago apropos the issue of customisation, I would suggest that such a chording pad would be more frustrating than useful. It goes almost without saying that the generality of such a device lends itself to insane re-configuration by each user, with dramatic, if potentially humorous results. Quite frankly, I'm sure that there is at least one improvement over the traditional keyboard that is simply waiting to be discovered, but the actual discovery may be a long way away. I believe that T.9 and even the odd input matrix tool I added to my Visor (I forget the name, right now) are a form of progress, but the actual solution may be totally different still. Consider that there are twelve function keys on the conventional keyboard and Plan 9 uses none of them. Nevermind the new keyboards with the full Jumbo Jet console on them. ++L
