A Keyboardless Future

real keyboards will always be faster. You can't out-tech your way around ergonomics.

 

Saying keyboards and mice are stopping us from enjoying the full experience of a computer is a bit over the top, but maybe you are saying that for effect and to get this topic off and rolling.

Replacing a key board with a touch screen keyboard, is still a keyboard, just different technology.

As for voice input, my wife will be thrilled when I am on the computer at 2am and I need to speak to it.

While I am sure there will be and is currently a place for most of what you said, I can not see the ole keyboard/mouse going away completely.

Your post reminds of the old car books I used to read from the 60's and they had pics of cars from the future and they all flew.

 

I can see something like this working great for someone who is disabled, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let everybody within hearing distance know what I'm dictating to someone in an email, etc. Just look at how texting has caught on. This is a much less efficient way of communication in many ways to the old fashioned way of picking up the phone and calling someone. One reason it has caught on, is that people can say something to someone without being heard. There are many instances where this is ideal.

This reminds me of the movies in the 80's that depicted everyone in the future calling each other over video conferencing every time they placed a call. We definitely have the technology, and it is used quite a bit, but it still has not become the main way of communicating via phone. Who the hell wants to worry about combing their hair and throwing on something presentable every time the phone rings?

 

I think that you have a few valid points, but at the same time there are several flaws. Things will definitely be different in 2020, though at this point I'm not exactly sure in what way(s).

What happens to the eye tracking if someone has glasses? What if the room is dark? What happens to the voice recognition with people who can't speak and/or have raspy voices? Those are just a few examples... not to say that current tech. doesn't have it's problems either.

I think the thing you're missing is HOW we will get there. It's easy to say "Voice recognition will be far more accurate" but much harder to actually make it happen. You could say the same about cars - "In the future, cars will get 234323 X 10^3 miles per gallon!" But have no idea how it will happen.

Just a few thoughts, not necessarily saying that you're wrong.

 

Minority Report gives us a good glimpse at what the future of keyboards and/or computers might look like. If you haven't seen the film, watch it and you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

Until computers become thought controlled, keyboards aren't going away. It's the same reason we like qwertys on our phones vs digiboards. Real buttons are just easier to use.

 

Ridiculous to pronounce keyboards / mice extinct. No way that'll happen in the next 10-20 years.

 

They'll get my buckling-spring keyboard when they pry it away from my cold, dead hands.



Ever notice the only people who seem to always predict the death of keyboards are people who can't type 110+wpm on a good keyboard? Or at least, people who've never known the joy of typing on a real buckling-spring keyboard, and have never known anything besides the misery of a mushy abomination from Dell, HP, or (worst, and most inexcusably of all considering their prices) Apple?

Seriously. If you've never used one, and don't want to spend $100 for a brand new one with Trackpoint and USB from Unicomp(*), spend $5 on a 25 year old PS/2 keyboard at a flea market, clean it up, and connect it through a ps/2 to usb adapter. Your fingers will thank you, and your typing speed will probably double within a month.

IBM's classic keyboards didn't go away because newer keyboards are better... they went away because manufacturers couldn't justify shipping $100 keyboards with $299 computers. They literally represent the high point of keyboard design, before value-engineering became the dominant motive. They have just enough resistance to rest your hands on the keys, but not so much that they're hard to press. The little snap they give lets you confidently type at full speed, without having to watch the screen to make sure the letter you meant to type actually got typed once, instead of twice or not at all.

(*)For anyone who's wondering, Unicomp (pckeyboard.com) was started by former Lexmark employees who bought the rights, inventory, and equipment from Lexmark after IBM decided to use cheaper keyboards going forward. They've tweaked the design over the years, adding Windows-keys & USB, but the keys themselves are pretty much straight from the original design. Oh, and for $10, Mac owners can get replacement keycaps with "Command" and "Options" to use instead of the Windows keys. I believe they also sell "Tux" keycaps. ;-)

 

Softkeyboards have a long way to go, they have gotten a lot better but not ready to completely eliminate a regular keyboard. Now I think, something more like a tablet pc then laptops being the standard. There's my $0.02

 

isnt 2010 the future? arent we suppose to have flying cars now? and hovering skateboards?

 

I rather type with my entire hand (even on my small netbook) than my thumbs (mytouch, ipod touch).

Now, if they combine a touchscreen on a netbook with no trackpad, now that'll be a change. I can imagine just touching what I want on my screen, then use the keyboard to type.

I need my screen to be infront of me, and the keyboard perpendicular to it.

 

Yeah but mice are just easier to use, I have myself, and two of my freinds have a touchscreen monitor, and the mouse is just way easier to use. Especially for quick reactions, like in gaming, or on photoshop where precision is needed. Touch screens are nice, but not ergonomic in many cases. also you constantly need to clean the screen

 

why argue? remember, 2012 is the end of the world! wooohoo we are all going to die.