This has been on my mind for a long while now, happening every time I touch my computer. Why isn’t there a computer with a full touch/haptic keyboard? Why can’t I open my computer and have a completely flat, no key interface and when my computer turns on, have a second screen? This is why I think computer manufacturers should jump on the haptic keyboard:
By-Program Keyboard
The only keyboard even close to this is the Optimus keyboards. These keyboards change function depending on the program you are using. This has got to be the best keyboard innovation since the original came out. In Microsoft Word, you have a keyboard with some extra buttons like copy/paste/format/etc. However, you have a full drawing interface in program with Photoshop and Flash. Imagine opening up your laptop and then opening up any program and seeing your keyboard change functions immediately? It’d make all your work easier and faster.
DS-Games
Okay, think about this: You’re on a flash game website and you want to play Rocketship. Click inside the flash game with your mouse, and your keyboard changes to the flash game. So instead of WASD for move and jump, you have keys that say Left, Right, Duck, and Jump with extra functions. That itself is worth it alone. If you play LineRider (a game where you draw a path for a biker that you control), you could draw the whole landscape with your pointer and then click OK. After you click okay, the keyboard changes to allow you to control the biker. That’d make it worth it alone.
Instant Launch
Beside your keyboard, a list of your favorite applications is in boxes. Just push one to open it. That’s easier than any on-screen launch available, even Mac’s dock. Another thing that the keyboard could show is alerts. Right at the top of your keyboard, a little alert window would pop up with an alert like “New message from Lucas Tyre - “Lunch Today”" (button to reply, button to delete alert).
Media Browsing
Let’s say you own a lot of TV shows on iTunes and you watch them a lot (of course the keyboard will change while watching to buttons like pause, play, etc). In the middle of watching Rob and Big, and you feel like watching the new Family Guy, you could click TV Shows, which creates a list (on your keyboard of course) where you could scroll to Family Guy. Click it to play. Not for one second were you not watching some sort of media on your screen. That is what I call effective laziness.
Chances of a Keyboard Like This
You could of course put down the big bucks for an Optimus right now (which does most of what I’ve described, but not all), but it is expensive and not cordless and pretty big (good for a desktop user). I can’t see any chance of this keyboard equipped on our laptops for a long while, but you never know…