Is The Keyboard Going The Way Of The Horse And Buggy?

[Jingthing]

OK, I admit it, I am over 50 and I do NOT like this trend. I like keyboards. When I was growing up, we had typewriters. The coolest thing when I was a teen were IBM Selectrics. I can't imagine computing completely without a keyboard of some kind. Sure, for CONSUMING devices such as for only reading media, you don't need one, but otherwise, I don't want to believe this prediction is for real.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/speci...-keyboards.html

Thus, with a flick of the finger, the era of the mouse and the keyboard will soon be over.

Also, without a keyboard, how are people supposed to post to Thaivisa? No keyboards, bah humbug.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Jingthing

[H2oDunc]

Simply stick to using a keyboard! Which part of this process do you find hard to comprehend ? I met a guy the other day who was still using Windows 95. he said it did everything he wanted so saw no need to upgrade. Don't make an issue out of something which isn't Just let the world pass you by

[Jingthing]

Simply stick to using a keyboard! Which part of this process do you find hard to comprehend ? I met a guy the other day who was still using Windows 95. he said it did everything he wanted so saw no need to upgrade. Don't make an issue out of something which isn't Just let the world pass you by

Did you just post that without a keyboard?

So that's the future of the net then? People only consuming off of it like brainless SPONGES, rather than creating content for it and interacting with it?

Edited May 9, 2010 by Jingthing

[astral]

Until computers can understand and type text from the spoken word, then the keyboard will still be needed..........

We are still some way off from that idea, even though it was in StarTrek, some 44 years ago.

[Jingthing]

Until computers can understand and type text from the spoken word, then the keyboard will still be needed..........

We are still some way off from that idea, even though it was in StarTrek, some 44 years ago.

Even if it could do that well, editing would be a nightmare! Keyboard entry, it ain't broken, why fix it?

[Crushdepth]

Keyboards aren't going to disappear anytime soon - at least not until near-perfect speech recognition is available. If you can touch type then virtual keyboards aren't very attractive. The mouse might - although there are certain applications where you need more precision than you can get from a fat finger. But those could probably be solved with a stylus.

What I'd love to have for page layout is a huge touch screen lying on my desktop propped up on a 30 degree angle, with a stylus for precise pointing and selection. Being able to work with 2 hands on a mungo-huge touchscreen and to flip stuff around would be awesome.

[Jingthing]

The Washington Post link article I posted is a sham. They don't even address the issue of entering data. Only navigation. Dump keyboards and replace with what? Mind readers? Very dishonest. I guess the hack writer paid their rent this week with that tripe; I know the feeling. I bet the house that hack wrote the article WITH a KEYBOARD.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Jingthing

[Phil Conners]

Keyboards aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Just look at the SMS rage among teens. Although phones where originally designed for voice they much prefer "messaging" each other.

[Pakaty]

I miss my ergonomic (natural) keyboard! I never see them for sale in Thailand.

[quiksilva]

Until computers can understand and type text from the spoken word, then the keyboard will still be needed..........

We are still some way off from that idea, even though it was in StarTrek, some 44 years ago.

Its not that far off, there is even ..**ehem** an app for that..

http://www.gadgetsdna.com/download-twitoc-...id-phones/2920/

Twitoc is a new Twitter ‘widget’ based mobile application for Android 2.1 or above that allows you to speak your tweets into your phone’s microphone and Google’s voice recognition service convert it into text that can be used later to update your Twitter status

[Jingthing]

No doubt for tripe writing as for Tweets, no problem. Again, how do you EDIT it?

[quiksilva]

oh I completely agree, you need a keyboard for editing and I just cant see the keyboard ever going away, but voice recognition is improving (although still far from perfect) so for stuff like social networking I can see voice recognition playing a more important role, especially on mobile devices where real estate is limited.

[Trickcyclist]

Doonesbury: Excuse me sir, but do you have a user friendly sales rep.

PC Store manager: You mean a consumer compatible livewear. No. He's off today!

[Spoonman]

Windows 7 has voice recognition already built in, anyone here tried to get it working ??

www.windows7news.com

[Crushdepth]

Still very frustrating. Works better if you put on an american acent!

[Carmine6]

Even with perfect and fast speech recognition, it'll take a while before the keyboard goes away. Have you ever been editing something with another person and tried telling them what you wanted them to do while they were working on the computer? It's not easy. Many of the things you do with your fingers take a lot of work to explain. Arrow keys, home and end keys, ctrl plus another key, etc.

Touchscreens help, but I think the reason they have not caught on is how people use computers. On a mobile phone sure because it's already in your hand, but on a tablet sized device I don't want something that lays flat on the table. And I don't want to reach for the screen to do something. Drink a coffee and hold up a tablet and swipe around to navigate? No thanks.

Plus, do people really want to talk a lot while working with their computer? How'd that work at a coffee shop or internet cafe? Do you really want to be saying the internet addresses out loud or the content of your emails?

Saying the keyboard should go away because it's old is kinda dumb. How long long have people been using buttons or zippers on their clothes? Or shoelaces? Should we go to velcro on everything because it's newer?