On Jan 15, 2008, at 10:00 PM, Nasir Barday wrote:

> I'd hypothesize that for intensive typing on a QWERTY keyboard, your  
> fingers need to know where they are, and that they've successfully  
> typed each letter. So it is a challenge to replace the hardware  
> QWERTY keyboard for this type of application.

Back when I was in school at Cornell, we did some research on the soft  
keyboards, which at the time were projected. The key reason they  
failed? In their homes, most people use their laptops on their laps  
either in bed or on a couch. So, projecting a keyboard on a non-flat  
surface doesn't work that well.

For soft keyboards for notebooks, we'd still probably have a similar  
problem at home. In the office, you're typically at a desk or table of  
some sort. The angle your hands are at keep them above the keyboard.  
At home, however, when sitting that little notebook on your lap  
(laptop), your hands are nearly flat on the keyboard, fingers raised,  
which makes a soft keyboard a bit awkward.

But keep in mind, we humans do adapt over time. After all, how many us  
still write our papers and books on typewriters today?


Cheers!

Todd Zaki Warfel
President, Design Researcher
Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
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