I guess MS is late by 19 years.
PFU Limited reinvented the keyboard in 1996 :-P
Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
21–30 of 251 posts
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#22Coincidentally saw this on Kickstarter today about a guy with a cool idea to reinvent typing altogether: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forrestmaready/crosstap...
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#23It's neat, but Microsoft has not reinvented the keyboard. There's much prior art: https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=off&client=safari&hl=en... I wonder how much MS paid Time.com for that article?
Seriously, you're more than correct. To say this is a straight up advertisement disguised as a puff piece would be kind.
That said, I do regard the Microsoft Natural keyboard one of the greatest keyboard designs I've used, but even that was only a slight variation on prior art. My only gripe is that I've never found one with mechanical switches (so I'm pretty sure they never existed).
PS - here is a plug for another "reinvented" bluetooth keyboard - its not foldable though :)
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#24Reinvented is pretty strong language here, this idea is far from new. I think this new keyboard looks convenient enough for those needing extreme portability, but also probably a pretty mediocre typing experience. In any case, this time.com post is just blogspam. Here’s Microsoft’s page that all the content comes from: http://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2015/03/02/get-more-done... And here’s another third party page…
The TextBlade looks fascinating. There were only demos of it running on iOS and Android devices, but I hope it can be compatible with OSX, Windows, and Linux too.
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#25It's a keyboard that fits in a purse. C'mon, that's awesome! I used something similar though back a decade and a half ago with my Palm V, although it wasn't quite as sexy.
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#26For me, the quality of a keyboard mostly comes from it's ergonomics. That mostly means tall, mechanical keys that give me tactile feedback about 2/3 press with some space to go. I can't imagine how you'd cram that kind of ergonomic into this flat form factor. It really looks like a torture instrument for the fingers. Did I miss some important point here?
No. It will be like typing on a laptop keyboard, I imagine. I imagine the main requirement is just that it be a lot better than typing on your phone, which fortunately is a pretty low bar, allowing them to focus on saving space even if it's at the expense of a bit of key feel.
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#27Microsoft once made an awesome trackball and then discontinued it, leaving the remaining supply to be auctioned at high prices on eBay. If you're lucky, you can now find one of these extinct $50 MSRP rarities for the low price of $550 on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-D68-00007-Trackball-Explorer... Why they won't bring this trackball back to the market is a mystery.
I don't understand why the trackball died. I can move a mouse pointer much faster with it than with a trackpad.
Google's G1 had also a trackball. I think this was the only smartphone with a trackball.
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#28Microsoft once made an awesome trackball and then discontinued it, leaving the remaining supply to be auctioned at high prices on eBay. If you're lucky, you can now find one of these extinct $50 MSRP rarities for the low price of $550 on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-D68-00007-Trackball-Explorer... Why they won't bring this trackball back to the market is a mystery.
Because it's a sure way of getting a RSI? I've used of the thumb type and it was awful, couldn't stand a week.
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#29Microsoft once made an awesome trackball and then discontinued it, leaving the remaining supply to be auctioned at high prices on eBay. If you're lucky, you can now find one of these extinct $50 MSRP rarities for the low price of $550 on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-D68-00007-Trackball-Explorer... Why they won't bring this trackball back to the market is a mystery.
I don't understand why the trackball died. I can move a mouse pointer much faster with it than with a trackpad. Google's G1 had also a trackball. I think this was the only smartphone with a trackball.
HTC Hero and original Desire had one too, not sure when HTC stopped or if anyone else used them though.
Re: Microsoft's new foldable keyboard
#30Reinvented is pretty strong language here, this idea is far from new. I think this new keyboard looks convenient enough for those needing extreme portability, but also probably a pretty mediocre typing experience. In any case, this time.com post is just blogspam. Here’s Microsoft’s page that all the content comes from: http://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2015/03/02/get-more-done... And here’s another third party page…
Ok, we changed the url from http://time.com/3728441/microsoft-keyboard-folding/ to the Microsoft page.