[HECnet] New Face

[Mark Benson]

On 15 Jun 2012, at 14:50, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:

On 06/15/2012 09:20 AM, Mark Wickens wrote:
Who you calling odd, eh?
Well, I guess from the general public's point of view, maybe.
For anyone with knowledge of the joys of vintage computing, definitely not.

:-)

People have, in fact, been beaten with an LK201 for less ;)

My opinions on keyboards for example have recently been ratified when
attempting to use the on-screen keyboard of an ipad.
And that's the future...

Well, one part of the future.   Keyboards aren't going away.   I suppose
we'll see, but I'm willing to place a hefty bet on it.

The familiar layouts, perhaps not, but as a physical device with
switched real keys I think they will in the next 10 years (legacy
systems notwithstanding)

Companies are already working on prototype screens that provide
tactile feedback when you tap the keys on them. I anticipate glass
keyboards will begin to replace physical ones before long as they are
easier to produce than physical ones (no physical change required for
languages etc.). Eventually forcefields (you think I'm kidding,
right?) will replace the glass and they'll be nothing but a projection
in mid-air.

They'll still be QWERTY in 2050 though ;)

-- 

Mark Benson