On Sun, 10 Nov 2002, Markus Kuhn wrote:
> > I'd rather have a smaller space bar and a couple of keys under the left
> > thumb for Return and Backspace...
>
> The current huge space bar is clearly a waste of both keyboard space and
> of the distinction of our second thumb. Having a space key somewhere in
> the center of the keyboard and the bottom row dedicated entirely to a
> number of shift and functional keys...
I think that's pushing it a bit far; adoption of such a thing will be far
more likely if space (which *is* the single most common character in most
forms of text) remains under the right thumb. But it doesn't need to be
particularly wide -- examine most well-used keyboards and you'll find a
relatively narrow shiny spot on the space bar.
(In fact, my keyboard -- which is an extra-narrow type less than 30cm wide
in total -- has a space bar that goes only from mid-C to mid-M. Even
that's much bigger than it needs to be; the shiny spot is centered under N
and is at most a double-width key worth.)
To my mind, the hot things for the bottom row are not shift or function
keys, but Return, Backspace, and a little trackball.
Henry Spencer
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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