[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Hand Cramp Keyboard
January 26th, 2009 by Benj Edwards
You might accidentally crush it. (click to see full scan)
Discussion topic of the week: Have you ever had trouble using an electronic device because its buttons are too small or your hands are too big? Tell us about it.
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January 26th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I think the ASUS Eee PC’s keyboard is too small. I have to hunt and peck, not because I can’t type, but because just one of my hands is almost as big as the keyboard itself. You can’t fit both your hands over it to type properly.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Such a tiny keyboard may be sufficient for someone, who types with one finger. Maybe two. But not for „pro†typers. I’m using laptop for 15 year and I still haven’t fully used to it’s keyboard. I miss my old, ordinary, cheap full keyboard.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Wow. Keyboard fail? But yea, I agree with Jurgi, this might have been okay for one finger typists!
January 26th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I had an Asus Eee PC and I took it back for that very reason. My hands would cramp from the strain. I used to have an AT&T Tilt phone with slide out keyboard. I didn’t care for it either. I always had to backspace to fix typos. If technology stays on this trend we may evolve into large creatures with itty bitty hands.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Using a TI-99/4A keyboard for years, I had no real issues with the EEE pc keyboard. I prefer the Acer Aspire one’s though.
I kind of like that keyboard. It’s different.
January 27th, 2009 at 6:47 am
My keyboard weighs 7 lbs and sounds like a typewriter. Anything less would be uncivilized.
Then again I’ve got hands like a clown’s balloon version of another clown and can’t seem to work these new smaller gadgets.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I actually sometimes have the opposite problem… I have small hands and some things are too big. I had a really hard time trying to play SSX on the PS2 — I couldn’t comfortably hold the controller and access all four shoulder buttons at once.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I’ve always had at least some trouble with most laptop mouse-substitutes, due to them being so tiny.. and don’t get me started with the eraser-head type trackpoints. I always have to hook up an external mouse (and, in most cases, a keyboard) to get any real use out of laptops.. that, or using text-based operating systems.
February 7th, 2009 at 1:28 am
I have yet to find a keyboard which fits my hands perfectly, but the Apple Pro keyboard (from 2000) I’m using right now works as well as anything I’ve ever used. After nearly ten years’ use I’m able to touch-type on it with a fair degree of accuracy. Before that I’d say Apple’s old Keyboard II (of which I still have two working specimens).
The worst keyboard I ever used…that’s a tossup between the iPod touch/iPhone keyboard (which is WAY too tiny for my fat fingers) and the MacBook’s. Seriously, that thing is awful. There’s almost no travel and so I always hit the keys way too hard. After about ten minutes my fingertips are black and blue.
February 25th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Worst keyboard ever, ZX81/Sinclair1000. I got the ZX81 as a kit for Christmas in 3rd grade. 1K of memory and it came with a one of those keyboard bubble pads that was 3×5 inches. Each key had 2 overshifts and some special ascii graphic on it.