On Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:24:51 -0700, Gary Kline wrote: > i dont have a clue what a chording keybd is;
This kind of keyboard uses key combination of its FEWER keys to generate characters (or even syllables or words). The name "chorded" is used synonymously with instruments like the guitar where you use one hand to hold down certain strings in a defined manner, and then it plays a chord like A major or D minor. There's an initial article about it on WP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard This kind of keyboard is typically used by court recorders in the US. They are trained to record whole conversations in real time directly onto paper. By bressing three, four or more keys at a time, a specific output is generated by the device. It's often called stenotype, because it's like "typing in stenography", emphasizing that's a phonetic code in the foreground. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenotype http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Stenkeys.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Steno-example.gif Also typewriters for blind persons use this approach. The model "Erika Picht Portable" (paper format DIN A5 I think) is still well known to me. There's also a regular (DIN A4) model, produced by Schreibmaschinenwerke Dresden (type- writer works Dresden), part of the combinate "robotron". Those machines are _stiill_ produced in Dresden. http://www.aph.org/museum/images/braillewriters/30.jpg http://petitmuseedubraille.free.fr/_machines-braille/images/_m15a.jpg http://www.gfai-sachsen.de/images/Erika-Picht_MultiTech-E511_800.jpg Input devices with comparable key layouts are also available for the PC, but instead of stenotype, they generate regular characters. > i v much like this vivaldi 7" tablet, just as-is. i wonder > if a future 7inch model could have more memory Along with a > "slide-in" kybd. slide out and work: edit, use ffox, > konsole or xterms, then slide back in place. this tablet > could replace the ipad, nook, asus. Interesting thought. Maybe it wouldn't target "home commodity users" in the first place, but a sliding keyboard could be a benefit for professional users who want to do more than just watching movies on such a thing. It would also help to bring the concept of separating input and output to the device in a "physical manner" (because it might be useful in certain conditions when your fingers aren't located at places where you are supposed to read something), and STILL keeping the regular touch interface (no real separation) available, intact and unbroken. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
