The device
(www.halfkeyboard.com, $99 for Mac, PC or Palm) is about the size
of a dollar bill with full-sized keys reproducing just the left-half
of a standard keyboard layout: 15 letters and six function keys.
"But
Andy," I hear you saying. "Many of my favorite works of literature
use more than two vowels."
Tut,
tut. The Half Keyboard covers as much ground as a full-sized one by
having keys do double (and triple and quadruple) duty. Tap a key once
for the "S," hold down the spacebar and tap for an "L," hit the "shift"
key twice and tap for an "[," and, um, hitting the "shift" key twice
and holding down the space bar while tapping produces a "~," evidently.
It's
a lot easier than I make it sound. After about 15 minutes of practice,
I was typing as fast as I can on a full keyboard with just my left
hand . . . and moving your hand around a full keyboard makes it impossible
to touch-type. Matias advertises no-look speeds of up to 60 wpm.
But it
still leaves the question, "Why?" The Big New Concept here is that
you can type with one hand and simultaneously mouse or write with
the other. Unfortunately, I'm neither Leonardo da Vinci nor Mr. Spock,
so I can't test that idea out.
Still,
the Half Keyboard is tiny and relatively cheap, and you can lock it
into functioning as a straight numeric or function pad. If you travel
with a notebook, you'll find it useful as a compact keypad. And y'know,
if you use it as a compact keypad, you just might eventually find
yourself using it instead of a keyboard. Sometimes.
Andy
Ihnatko andyi@world.std.com
Chicago
Sun-Times, Thursday, March 8, 2001
