TidBITS#723/29-Mar-04
=====================
Tired of your squishy Apple Pro Keyboard? Adam reviews the Matias
Tactile Pro Keyboard, the first keyboard he's found that matches
the feel and response of Apple's late, great Extended Keyboard.
Adam also looks at iChat AV's confusing states, offering a few
suggestions to help prevent unwanted chat intrusions. Elsewhere
in this issue, we note the releases of iChat AV 2.1, iPhoto 4.0.1,
Timbuktu Pro 7.0.1, and the discontinuation of FrameMaker for
the Macintosh.
Topics:
MailBITS/29-Mar-04
iChat Status Report
The Majestic Alps and the King of Keyboards
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/29-Mar-04
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-723.html>
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MailBITS/29-Mar-04
------------------
**iChat AV 2.1 Adds Videoconferencing with Windows** -- If you've
been wanting to participate in video or audio chats with Windows-
using friends, last week's release is what you've been waiting
for. iChat AV 2.1 enables videoconferencing between you and a
friend using AOL Instant Messenger 5.5 for Windows. Apple lists no
other changes in the free update, which requires Mac OS X 10.3 or
later running a Mac with at least a 600 MHz PowerPC G3 processor.
(Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar users remain locked at iChat AV 2.0, which
costs $30.) The update is a 4.3 MB download and is available via
Software Update or as a separate download. [ACE]
<http://www.apple.com/ichat/>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ichatav.html>
**Adobe Discontinues FrameMaker for Macintosh** -- In an
unsurprising announcement, Adobe Systems said that it would
discontinue the Macintosh version of the high-end publishing
program FrameMaker as of 21-Apr-04. Support for FrameMaker 7.1
for the Mac will continue through 21-Apr-05. Adobe never brought
FrameMaker to Mac OS X, forcing long-time users to run it in
Mac OS X's Classic environment. The move leaves Macintosh
FrameMaker users with several unpalatable options: switch to
Windows (or Solaris), where Adobe plans to continue developing
FrameMaker, or move to InDesign CS, which lacks some of
FrameMaker's features for handling long documents and XML
imports and exports. [ACE]
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/03/23/framemaker/>
<http://www.adobe.com/products/framemaker/main.html>
**iPhoto 4.0.1 Fixes Bugs** -- Apple has released iPhoto 4.0.1,
an important bug fix update to the company's photo management
program. Although Apple's release notes are, as usual, short
on specifics, iPhoto 4.0.1 features improved performance, better
thumbnail rendering, and numerous bug fixes that Apple claims
improve stability. I've been able to confirm that the Trash album
now reports its size, the Sepia command in the image editing
window's contextual menu is no longer disabled, Originals folders
are now burned to disc properly, and modifying film rolls no
longer changes your overall sort order. Other bugs remain, such
as the one that forgets to add "copy" to the name of edited
photos you duplicate. The only new feature I found while checking
the final draft of my iPhoto 4 Visual QuickStart Guide is that
slideshows now play on the monitor containing the iPhoto window,
assuming you have multiple monitors.
<http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/iphoto_readme.html>
The improved thumbnail rendering requires that iPhoto upgrade your
thumbnails; it's a slow process that took an hour for my 6,100
photos. Short of that, iPhoto 4.0.1 has been more stable in my
testing, although some users on Apple's discussion boards have
reported problems with launching the application and with losing
transitions in slideshows. The problems appear to be related to
permissions within the iPhoto application bundle; the usual
troubleshooting steps may help (repair permissions using Disk
Utility, delete the com.apple.iphoto.plist file from your
~/Library/Preferences folder, reinstall iPhoto, and run
DiskWarrior to fix directory problems). If those fail, try
the user-posted fix at the first URL below. iPhoto 4.0.1 is
a 4 MB download via Software Update; it's also available for
independent download. [ACE]
<http://discussions.info.apple.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]@.6890942e/39>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/iphoto.html>
**Timbuktu Pro 7.0.1 Fixes Tab Problem** -- Netopia last week
released Timbuktu Pro 7.0.1, which includes a short list of minor
fixes and one big one. If a user of version 7.0 hit the Tab key
while in a remote control session that wasn't sized to full
screen, the buttons along the side of the Timbuktu menu would
become selected. Restoring the capability to type required
switching in and out of full-screen mode.
<http://www.netopia.com/en-us/support/technotes/software/tb2mac/latestnews.html#7.0.1>
The problem with the Tab key wasn't precisely Netopia's. The
accessibility and customization controls in Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
include one tucked away in the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane;
the Turn On Full Keyboard Access option, in the Keyboard Shortcuts
tab, was the culprit. The 7.0.1 update resolves the conflict by
ignoring this setting within the program. Timbuktu Pro 7.0.1 is a
free 4.6 MB download (a version 7.0 serial number and activation
code is required to download the installer). [GF]
<http://www.netopia.com/support/technotes/software/tb2mac/
tb2macupgrade7_01.html>
**DealBITS Drawing: SmileOnMyMac Winners** -- Congratulations to
Caleb Clauset of 2cdesign.org, Maarten Festen of csi.com, and Nick
Avery of sympatico.ca, whose entries were chosen randomly in last
week's DealBITS drawing and who will be receiving a copy of
SmileOnMyMac's PDFpen 1.2. Don't despair if we didn't pick your
entry, since SmileOnMyMac is offering a special $5 discount on
PDFpen only for TidBITS readers, bringing the price from $29.95
down to $24.95. The discount is good through 09-Apr-04 via the
second link below. Thanks to the 885 people who entered, and
keep an eye out for future DealBITS drawings. [ACE]
<http://www.smileonmymac.com/pdfpen/>
<http://www.smileonmymac.com/pdfpen/dealbits.html>
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/smileonmymac.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07593>
iChat Status Report
-------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Apple's inclusion of iChat in Mac OS X managed to convince me
of the utility of instant messaging, something no other instant
messaging program had managed to do. The difference was simple
ubiquity; suddenly most of the people I wanted to communicate with
also had iChat installed. Thanks to iChat, the TidBITS production
process, which involves trading various drafts of the issue among
Jeff Carlson, Geoff Duncan, and myself, didn't require nearly as
many phone calls on Monday. It hasn't eliminated them entirely,
and in fact, we often use iChat as a way of checking to see if
it's a good time to talk on the phone. Many chats also evolve into
phone conversations as one of us gets tired of typing; we usually
announce such an event by dialing the other person's number and
typing "ring" into iChat. (It was funny the first time or two; now
it's become habit, so much so that when someone else started an
iChat with Jeff Carlson by typing "ring" recently, Jeff assumed
it was me.)
As an aside, you might ask why we don't use iChat AV's voice or
video chat capabilities. The simple reason is that the iSight
camera Apple sent me for review stopped working reliably at some
point, and I became tired of troubleshooting it every time I
wanted to use it. The issues I raised with Apple PR fell through
the cracks at some point, and I never found the time to bring
them back up. One of these days...
Despite its undeniable utility, I retain a love-hate relationship
with iChat, and after much consideration, I've realized that it
has almost nothing to do with actually using the program, but with
the limited ways that the program lets me manage my availability
with different groups of people.
**Status Quo** -- To refresh your memory, iChat has four states
inherited from AOL Instant Messenger (the network iChat uses):
Offline, Away, Available, and Idle. When you're Offline, no one
can see you or start a chat, and more annoyingly, you can't see
anyone else or start any chats either. In contrast, when you're
Away, Available, or Idle, others can see your status and originate
chats. With one exception, the difference between Away and
Available is purely cosmetic (a red square versus a green ball,
or red and green colored spheres if you don't want to see the
shapes). However, that exception is significant: when you're
Available but haven't touched your keyboard or mouse in 5 or 10
minutes, iChat can optionally change your state to Idle (if you
don't allow people to see that you're idle, iChat instead switches
to Away state after some period of time). In both Away and
Available states, you can customize the message people see;
in the Idle state, iChat reports only how long you've been idle.
The custom messages are important, since they let you refine the
basic states... but only for other iChat users, since users of
other instant messaging programs may not see them. Nonetheless,
for those who do see your messages, there's a big difference
between "Don't Bug Me!" in Away state and "Reading email" in
Available state. Of course, using programs like iChatStatus, you
can have a variety of automatic messages appear instead, but as
amusing as they are, they don't help manage your availability
states.
<http://ittpoi.com/>
These four states are augmented by a number of privacy features.
You can allow anyone, anyone in your Buddy List, or specific
people to see when you're online (which also lets them initiate
chats). You can also block everyone or only specific people.
Unfortunately, these privacy options don't extend to the groups
you can create in iChat, which would be highly welcome. If you
don't want others to see that you're slacking, or if you're
concerned about advertising that your Mac is unattended (and thus
vulnerable to theft), you can set an option that blocks others
from seeing when you're in the Idle state.
**Understanding Status** -- I can't speak to whether or not this
approach to advertising one's status works for teenagers and those
using chat for social purposes. I can say with some assurance,
though, that it drives me absolutely batty, because it in no way
matches the way I wish to make my availability known.
At this point in my life, I don't use my Mac idly. Even assuming
I didn't always have something to write or edit (which I do; darn
those weekly TidBITS deadlines!), my Eudora In box constantly
mocks me with its ever-expanding girth (closing in on 1,200
messages at the moment). So if I'm at the computer, I'm working,
and I'd like to be able to set my availability based on the level
to which I mind being interrupted, and by whom. If I'm just
reading email for the day, an iChat interruption with a friend
isn't much of a bother, and I can often maintain the chat while
going through email. If I'm writing or editing, though,
interruptions aren't at all welcome, unless they're from someone
who's working with me on the same project. For instance, on
Mondays, I spend most of the day editing and writing up last-
minute articles, and interruptions are welcome only from TidBITS
staffers and any external authors whose articles we're editing.
I'm sure others have different modes of working, and a number of
people shared them on TidBITS Talk in a pair of threads I started
to see what others thought. But the fact that's become clear from
those discussions and from talking to some of the people I do chat
with regularly is that the current Offline/Available/Away/Idle
states are rather confused.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2112+2195>
For starters, Offline reflects both the state of iChat
(if it's not running for whatever reason, you're Offline)
and a working state in which you can brook no interruptions
at all. Unfortunately, if you switch into the Offline state
manually, you also lose the capability to see the state of
people in your Buddy List. That's annoying, since, for instance,
I'll often check someone's state in iChat before calling them,
but I can't do that without going online. Since iChat can alert
others to changes in your status, just connecting can result
in an unwelcome chat.
Available and Away are even more problematic. First off, Away
doesn't actually mean that you're away from your Mac, and it
doesn't block messages or return a pre-defined message to the
person attempting to initiate a chat (as an answering machine
does when you're away from your phone). And the one way of knowing
that someone really is away from her Mac - the Idle state - won't
appear if you're in the Away state. So Available ends up meaning
that you're available to chat, unless you're actually away from
your Mac and in Idle state. And Away means that you might be away
from your Mac, but you might also be available to chat. Pfeh!
**Altered States** -- With some modification, iChat's states could
make significantly more sense and more closely match the way many
people use instant messaging. Consider the following:
* Offline. An offline state is necessary, but it should reflect
only iChat's state. If iChat (or some appropriate listener daemon)
isn't active, you're Offline. Obviously, if your Mac is sleeping,
or turned off, or not connected to the Internet, you'd also be in
Offline mode. In an ideal world, you'd be able to set a message
that would be displayed with your name in the Buddy Lists of
others so you could relay appropriate information, such as "Flying
to Chicago on US Air #763." If iChat can cache a buddy's icon and
display that when he's Offline, it should be able to cache and
display a custom message. Since this caching happens only on the
client side, the message might not be accurate if both copies of
iChat weren't online at the same time.
* Away. In contrast to how things are now, Away should be a true
Away, responding automatically to incoming messages with a canned
response you set rather than allowing someone to send you messages
without knowing if you're really away. You would either set Away
manually or it would kick in automatically after the computer was
idle for some period (assuming you don't want to advertise when
you're Idle). A useful option would be to display the time since
the Away state was set to tell others how long you'd been away.
* Idle. Like Offline, Idle reflects the state of the Mac and isn't
something you should be able to set, at least beyond the number
of minutes before activation. Although I don't feel strongly about
it, I can see an argument that Idle should optionally switch to
Away after a specified amount of time or perhaps during certain
hours of the day. After all, if you're in Available state when
you leave your work Mac for the day, advertising your state as
Away is more accurate than Idle, and the automatic response is
more helpful than displaying the fact that you've been idle for
13 hours.
* Available/Busy. The problem with iChat's Available state is that
it doesn't let you set the privacy options at the same time;
they're available only in the Preferences window, aren't easily
changed, and aren't sufficiently specific. When you're available
to chat, you're really saying, "I'm available to chat with the
following people." That might be all people, anyone in your Buddy
List, anyone in a specific group in your Buddy List, a single
person, or absolutely no one. So, when you choose Available, you
should also be able to choose, either via hierarchical menus or
a second pop-up menu, the set of people for whom you're actually
available. Those people would see your state as Available;
everyone else would see it as Busy (think of the telephone
metaphor again; it's a busy signal) and would receive an automated
response if they tried to initiate a chat. It's still important
that Available/Busy change (if the user wishes) to Idle after
a user-specified time, since otherwise people can end up having
one-sided chats, not realizing you stepped away from your desk.
This approach to Available/Busy is key, I think, since it lets
you represent your willingness to chat in any way. It lets you be
available to anyone if you're happy to chat with anyone who knows
your screen name. If you're open to chatting but want to avoid
messages from random unknown people, limiting it to your Buddy
List makes sense. If you're working hard on a project with a group
or an individual, you can ensure that no one else can interrupt
you. And if you're concentrating hard and will be rude to anyone
who interrupts, you can eliminate all disruptions while still
being able to contact others.
The automatic response capability is also important, since it lets
you explain why you're not accepting incoming messages, either
because you're too busy or because you're actually away from the
computer.
**Automatic State Changes** -- Another aspect of the difficulty of
managing states is that it's hard to remember to update iChat
whenever your willingness to chat changes. I often get snarky
comments from people asking if I'm still eating lunch, for
instance, if I forget to change my custom message.
Programs like iChatStatus can change your message to match things
like the song iTunes is playing and the outside temperature, but
apart from the scripts iChatStatus provides to report on your
active application and interoperate with Salling Clicker and a
Bluetooth phone to determine your proximity to the computer, most
of them don't help you identify your true availability to others.
I'd be interested to see software that would attempt to predict
(perhaps with a training mode) how busy you were and create custom
messages based on your activity level and type.
Other software, such as Parliant's PhoneValet, can tell when
you're on the phone and switch your Away state to On the Phone;
that's extremely helpful. I've also heard from people who dislike
carrying on more than one chat at once; iChat could provide an
option to block everyone but the person with whom you're chatting.
iChat already does this when you're involved in an audio/video
chat, where only one is possible at a time, so it doesn't seem
like much of a stretch to extend the concept to text chats.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07428>
**Technical Feasibility** -- What I don't know, unfortunately, is
how feasible these changes are. Some, such as a custom Offline
message, a timer for Away, and the automatic response capability
would seem relatively easy to add since only iChat is involved.
(For instance, other instant messaging clients already offer the
automatic response option.) It's possible, however, that Apple
might not be able to offer a true Away or an Available state that
toggles to Busy for those who aren't in the allowed group, given
that iChat operates on the AIM network, which Apple doesn't
control. My hope is, however, that whatever extensions Apple was
able to make to allow custom messages in the current Available
and Away modes could enable at least iChat participants to use
these states with one another. It's possible things would break
down when communicating with people using other AIM clients,
although the automatic response feature might ameliorate any
confusion.
Whatever the feasibility, I hope Apple will at least consider
these suggestions as providing a useful refinement of iChat's
current states without overly complicating the issue. In the
meantime, the best we can do is set appropriate custom messages
and attempt to honor the availability wishes of others.
The Majestic Alps and the King of Keyboards
-------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Back in the days when ADB ruled the land, Apple made one of
the best keyboards in the known universe - the Apple Extended
Keyboard. It was a large, solid keyboard with a great tactile feel
provided by mechanical switches under each key. But good keyboards
cost money, and over time Apple traded the desire to provide the
best keyboard with the Mac for the desire to spend less money per
Mac by skimping on the keyboard. Thanks to moving away from Alps
mechanical keyswitches, Apple's keyboards became mushy, and those
of us who appreciate a good keyboard muttered darkly and clung to
our old keyboards.
But if things were looking bad then, they were to get worse
(and I promise not to dwell on the abomination that is the
location of the Fn key on PowerBook and iBook keyboards). When
Apple introduced the iMac, it included a cute little keyboard
with a non-standard layout and a truly awful tactile feel,
accompanied by a round mouse that was even worse. Almost everyone
hated this keyboard (I'm being kind here, since in fact, I don't
know anyone who liked it, but it's a big world out there and Apple
sold a lot of iMacs, so I'm sure someone must have liked it).
Worse, since the iMac dropped ADB in favor of USB, it became
difficult to use an old ADB keyboard, since USB-to-ADB adapters
tended to be a bit flaky with keyboards, which need to work
in unusual situations such as when the Mac is powered down,
sleeping, or crashed.
Having fallen to previously unexplored depths, Apple pulled itself
out of the fetid mire with the Apple Pro Keyboard, a full-size
keyboard with a standard layout and a decent tactile feel. The
Apple Pro Keyboard was so much better than the original iMac
keyboard that everyone breathed a sigh of relief and with a few
exceptions, forgot that even the Apple Pro Keyboard couldn't hold
a candle to the Apple Extended Keyboard.
**On a Mission** -- I, and the other members of the TidBITS staff,
do a lot of typing. Our keyboards are in constant use all day
long, as we write and edit articles, create and reply to email,
and who knows what else. In fact, the main serious use for
keyboards that we don't have is gaming, where fast and accurate
response are essential.
Over the last few years, we've tried a number of keyboards.
Note that we don't want anything fancy, like split keyboards, or
keyboards with lots of extra specialty keys. All we want is a real
Macintosh keyboard (with Command and Option keys, rather than
Windows and Alt keys) that's basically the same as the Apple
Extended Keyboard.
None of the keyboards we've tried, including some from Macally,
Kensington, and MicroConnectors, have garnered entirely positive
comments, and more problematic, a number of them have failed in
some important way (who needs an N key anyway!).
**Enter the Tactile Pro** -- We're inundated by press releases
every day, and it's uncommon for one to generate comment on our
internal staff mailing list. However, when we received the initial
press release for Matias's Tactile Pro keyboard, which led with
"Matias recreates 'the best keyboard Apple ever made'" and went on
to promise that the Tactile Pro Keyboard used the same mechanical
switch technology as the original Apple Extended Keyboard, there
was very nearly an online battle over who would get to try a
review unit first. Ever the voice of calm and reason, I settled
the question by announcing that I would take first crack at it.
To quote Tom Petty, it's good to be king.
<http://tactilepro.com/>
On the face of it, the Tactile Pro Keyboard looks very much like
the Apple Pro Keyboard (at least the one that came with my Power
Mac G4), with a clear plastic shell backed by white plastic and
solid white keys. It's slightly less wide (from Caps Lock to the
edge of the numeric keypad) than the Apple Pro Keyboard, but
deeper (from the spacebar to the top of the keyboard above the
function keys). Like the Apple Pro Keyboard, it sports a hard-
wired cable and a pair of USB ports on either side of the top. A
pair of feet flip out from the bottom if you prefer your keyboard
angled up (so your fingers are higher than your wrists, a position
I usually recommend against because of the unnatural hand position
it enforces).
The keyboard layout is standard (no Fn or other boutique keys
anywhere in sight!) and for the most part very similar to the
Apple Pro Keyboard. There are a few differences, though. The top
row of keys (Escape, the function keys, and the volume and Eject
keys) are somewhat more separated from the rest of the keyboard
than on the Apple Pro Keyboard, which is fine, since you don't
want to press them accidentally. The Tactile Pro Keyboard also
has a power key above the function keys, a welcome addition if
you can't easily reach one of the power keys on your Mac or if
you don't have Apple monitors (which can power the machine on).
Through no fault of Matias's, the power key can only power on
older Macs with the necessary hardware support; Apple's current
Macs no longer support power on signals via USB (but the power
key still brings up the Restart/Sleep/Shut Down dialog when the
Mac is turned on).
At a quick glance, the keycaps on the Tactile Pro Keyboard look
slightly unusual. When you look more closely, you realize that
Matias has done something that would seem obvious except for the
fact that no one has done it before: they printed the Option- and
Shift-Option-characters on every keycap. It's a brilliant move;
no longer do you need a software utility to look up the degree
character when you can just glance at the keyboard and see that
it's Shift-Option-8. And before this I could never keep the
keystrokes straight for single and double curly quotes (hold
Option- or Shift-Option and press the bracket keys).
<http://tactilepro.com/viewer/tp_mainpic.html>
On the downside, the Tactile Pro Keyboard's Option keys are
slightly smaller than on the Apple Pro Keyboard, making them
harder to hit accurately. The Apple Pro Keyboard's Caps Lock key
has an unusual keycap that separates it slightly from the A key;
the Tactile Pro Keyboard lacks that special keycap, so I find
myself accidentally turning Caps Lock on more frequently than
before. Speaking of special keys, the volume and Eject keys
require a special driver that Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar users must
install; a CD-ROM contains the necessary installer.
Where the Tactile Pro Keyboard really shines, though, is in its
feel. The keys are decidedly "clickier" and more mechanical, and
they have a slightly longer key travel when you push them. The end
result is a much less mushy feel than on the Apple Pro Keyboard,
but accompanied by much louder typing noises. When I'm typing
fast, the Tactile Pro Keyboard almost clatters, and I can say
with assurance that I don't mind one bit. The new feel took a
little getting used to, but within a day, it felt quite wonderful.
It's entirely possible that some people may not appreciate the
extra noise; there's no question that the Tactile Pro Keyboard is
much louder than the Apple Pro Keyboard and other keyboards that
use rubber membrane switches. I could imagine situations where
a quiet keyboard would be important, but for most people, the
important aspect of a keyboard is how it feels when you type.
I had to switch back to the Apple Pro Keyboard briefly because the
first Tactile Pro Keyboard Matias sent me developed a spotty A key
after a few weeks of use; Edgar Matias told me that although the
Alps keyswitches generally last for many years, if one is going
to fail, it will fail almost immediately (which is why Matias
offers a 5-year "few questions asked" warranty).
The return to the Apple Pro Keyboard was revealing. My typing
accuracy dropped immediately, and my hands ached after a long day.
Although I probably would have re-acclimated to it after another
week or two, switching back to the replacement Tactile Pro
Keyboard when it arrived was a huge relief.
I can't speak for anyone else, but if you consider yourself a
keyboard aficionado, or if you've been bothered by the slide in
quality for Apple's keyboards, you owe it to yourself to give the
Tactile Pro Keyboard a try. It costs $100 plus $20 shipping if you
buy direct from Matias; it probably makes more sense to buy from
a reseller like TidBITS sponsor Small Dog Electronics, where the
price is $80 before shipping.
**Protecting the Alps** -- There's an interesting little side
story that played itself out while I was reviewing the keyboard
and communicating back and forth with Edgar Matias. The Tactile
Pro Keyboard had been out for only a short while when Alps, the
makers of the mechanical keyswitches, announced that they were
going to stop making these particular keyswitches altogether.
Most vendors have moved to a lower-cost clone of the keyswitch,
but when Edgar tried a sample keyboard they sent him, he thought
it felt awful, with a touch so light it was tricky to avoid typing
a character if he so much as touched a keycap. Although a light
touch might seem like a good thing, it's common to rest your
fingers gently on the keycaps when you're not typing, and if the
switch doesn't provide a certain amount of resistance, you end up
entering characters accidentally. Most users respond to a too-
light keyboard by holding their fingers just above the keyboard,
but that subconscious action can make you even more tired by the
end of the day. Despite this light touch, the sample keyboard was
even louder than the Tactile Pro Keyboard. Needless to say, he was
shocked that this could happen, both because he feared for the
Tactile Pro Keyboard's future and because he didn't want see the
famed Alps keyswitch disappear for good. Since Alps would have
mothballed the tooling used to build this particular keyswitch,
it might never have been produced again, particularly if the
tooling deteriorated in the warehouse from lack of use and
maintenance.
Luckily, Edgar was able to convince the Alps factory in Taiwan
to keep the tooling active for him by committing to buy a million
keyswitches. There are 110 keys (and thus presumably keyswitches)
on a Tactile Pro Keyboard, so Matias needs to sell just over
9,000 keyboards to use up the promised million keyswitches.
That's confidence, but after trying the Tactile Pro Keyboard,
I think it's justified. It costs only a bit more than an Apple
Pro Keyboard; it includes all the Option- and Shift-Option
characters on the keycaps; and at least to my mind, it feels
so much better that I type faster, more accurately, and more
comfortably. Everyone's hands are different, but if you live
and die by your keyboard as I do, Matias's Tactile Pro Keyboard
is absolutely worth a try.
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/29-Mar-04
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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$$
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