Eric Rucker wrote:
On Feb 6, 7:46 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:warren wrote:Rare Polytel Keyport 717 for auction on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270338726827&ssPag...An interesting input device. Makes one think about the optimum number of keys to use as a human interface: - Too few and lots of keystrokes are required to specify an operation. - Too many and too much time is spent looking for the correct key to press. ;-) -michael ******** Note new website URL ******** NadaNet and AppleCrate II for Apple II parallel computing! Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/ "The wastebasket is our most important design tool--and it's seriously underused."That thing doesn't look comfortable to type on, either.
A single large panel is certainly less friendly than several smaller keyboards--and membrane keyboards are definitely the low-end choice. ;-) But the simple Koala Pad-like nature of this keyboard is a natural for membrane "keys". In the 1960s, there was considerable interest in "function" keypads, particularly as adjuncts to interactive graphics. Even IBM offered a function keyboard with their 2250 vector display. Knobs were also popular for "analog" inputs. As displays progressed to hi-res raster displays, function keys went out of fashion, being replaced by GUI widgets. -michael ******** Note new website URL ******** NadaNet and AppleCrate II for Apple II parallel computing! Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/ "The wastebasket is our most important design tool--and it's seriously underused."