New Standard Keyboard
© 2006 New Standard Keyboards
If you were asked to redesign the computer keyboard from the ground up, chances are you'd end up with something very different than the keyboard currently on your desk. That's because the QWERTY key layout — the current standard — was developed for the first typewriter, over 130 years ago, so the keys wouldn't jam. The New Standard Keyboard ($70, www.newstandardkeyboards.com) is an attempt to bring some logic to text entry by minimizing finger travel distance and reducing the overall number of keys from over 100 to just 53. The inventor, John Parkinson, was motivated because "things that make no sense have always bugged me." With a background in both engineering and psychology, Parkinson's keyboard looks and feels quite different than the QWERTY keyboard. The letters are in alphabetical order — a plus for preschoolers — and there's no spacebar. Instead, each thumb has its own unique space key, and the arrow keys sit prominently in the center of the keyboard. A color-coded version is available to assist experienced keyboarders as they convert from QWERTY. When plugged into a Windows computer, the USB keyboard was auto-recognized with no special software. But after hunt-and-pecking a few words, it becomes obvious that this keyboard requires something that few of us have: the motivation to relearn how to type.
$69.95, Windows XP, Windows 98
Teaches: a computer peripheral