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USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

usbtypewriter.com

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Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#31
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dragging this offtopic a bit, but is there any reason why YouTube couldn't add an upload flag of 'audio optional' so that in situations like this, it just muted the audio stream in the specified regions? Then, if someone owns the copyright to the soundtrack, they file a complaint against only that, and the video remains up. Or, they can file against the whole thing, and have it completely blocked (assuming sufficient…

Since the audio and video streams are muxed into a single file, and the copyright "check" is done based on location this would mean YouTube encoding every video twice (and for each resolution), effectively doubling YouTube's storage requirements.... most people will then re-upload their video in a non-infringing manor anyway, so it would be quite wasteful.

They could just mute it in Flash. Yeah, you can still extract it, but that's illegal anyway.

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#32
post #27

If I ever miss typewriters I just pull out my Model M keyboard, play on it a bit and then put it away.

I just threw mine away, after basement flooding from Hurricane Irene. But it was time anyway. To hook it up I needed too many adapters:

big keyboard connector --> small keyboard connector --> USB

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#33
post #14

I'd like to get a device the other way around - a daisy-wheel printer with simple parts and a serial or USB interface.

It should be easy to adapt any modern (must put spaces between these two words) typewriter. After all, they are all nothing more than very small computers with a daisy-wheel printer built in.

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#34
post #18
post #8

I still use a typewriter. It's quicker to just bang out an address on an envelope than it is to load the sticky labels into the printer, open the word processor, type the address, then print it. but this does seem expensive.

Why can't you just write it on the envelope? It's simpler and cheaper.

Perhaps his penmanship is not the best? I've known several people that have had crippling arthritis, making them unable to hand-write legibly.

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy USB keyboards with just the numeric keypad. That sounds like what you want. (I assume that some models also include the ()-=+ keys for completeness)

Does the iPhone have an host USB port? I don't think it does. There are bluetooth numberpads, though, those should work. Something like this: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H0321VC/A (just found it, never used)

From what I gather, the iPhone does have a host USB port (assuming you have the Camera Connection Kit to provide the connector), but it is not enabled in iOS.

iOS on the iPad is said to have USB keyboard support. I don't have the necessary hardware to back that up though.

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#37
post #9

This is a cool hack, but what I really want is a hardware calculator keypad that interfaces with the iphone. There are some great calculator apps but it's just not usable at speed without physical keys. You could do a nice case with the keypad on the inside and the phone in landscape.

Is that something you would pay for? Physical interfaces and keys are something of an obsession of mine (I don't use any keyboards that don't have Cherry MX switches, for example).

[deleted]

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#38
post #9

This is a cool hack, but what I really want is a hardware calculator keypad that interfaces with the iphone. There are some great calculator apps but it's just not usable at speed without physical keys. You could do a nice case with the keypad on the inside and the phone in landscape.

Is that something you would pay for? Physical interfaces and keys are something of an obsession of mine (I don't use any keyboards that don't have Cherry MX switches, for example).

Yep - I'd definitely pay for a stylish hardware icalc keypad over a whole calculator. Im studying mech engineering. So it needs to be more than just a numeric keyboard - a scientific calc layout with brackets, exponents, logs and trig functions at a minimum. I guess the ultimate would be e-ink keys that you could relabel, but it wouldn't be too bad to use the screen for rarely used functions and just have a sensible set nicely laid out in hardware.

Re: USBTypewriter - new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.

#40
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that something you would pay for? Physical interfaces and keys are something of an obsession of mine (I don't use any keyboards that don't have Cherry MX switches, for example).

Yep - I'd definitely pay for a stylish hardware icalc keypad over a whole calculator. Im studying mech engineering. So it needs to be more than just a numeric keyboard - a scientific calc layout with brackets, exponents, logs and trig functions at a minimum. I guess the ultimate would be e-ink keys that you could relabel, but it wouldn't be too bad to use the screen for rarely used functions and just have a sensible…

It sounds like someone needs to introduce you to computer algebra systems. I recommend Mathematica, Maple, or Matlib.
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