Old USB Apple keyboard support
Salmon Egg
spite of its many good features, the one that drives me crazy is the
large keys and consequent small space between them. The keys are also
fairly flat. Because I am touch typist, this leads to many typos. It is
just too easy to have fingers drift to adjacent keys to double up. That
is, especially with stretches to reach key, I often catch a Nearby key.
For example, I often get an extra Y or G when reaching for a T. This
would not happen with old typewriters--they had their own problems.
To get around this problem I connected up an old Apple USB "Pro
Keyboard." I am using that now. Although the keys are tapered, the space
between is close to that of the aluminum keyboard. I find the greater
stroke required to be annoying. I would love an aluminum keyboard with
keys with about half the AREA they have now. Having them significantly
more concave than they are now would provide great tactile feedback.
All that said, the Keyboard Viewer does not reflect the actual key
layout accurately. The keys for decreasing, increasing, and muting are
now above the numeric pad as is the eject key. These do not get shown in
Keyboard Viewer. Nevertheless, they all work except for the volume
increase key.
My questions are:
1. Is there a driver that can support such older keyboards?
2. Is a keyboard available to overcome my objections to the aluminum
keyboard.
Bill
--
An old man would be better off never having been born.
Király
> layout accurately. The keys for decreasing, increasing, and muting are
> now above the numeric pad as is the eject key. These do not get shown in
> Keyboard Viewer.
They will, but you need to power off your wireless aluminum keyboard
first. Or move it out of range. Or turn off Bluetooth.
--
K.
Lang may your lum reek.
Wes Groleau
> stroke required to be annoying. I would love an aluminum keyboard with
> keys with about half the AREA they have now. Having them significantly
> more concave than they are now would provide great tactile feedback.
http://www.datamancer.net/keyboards/aviator/aviator.htm
--
Wes Groleau
An example of research on the efficacy of EGT
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1007
Salmon Egg
m...@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) wrote:
My aluminum keyboard is wired with a USB cable. FWIW, "aluminum" is
merely a false descriptor. The metal is magnetic so it cannot be
aluminum unless it is really some kind of a high aluminum content alloy.
Salmon Egg
Michael Vilain <vil...@NOspamcop.net> wrote:
> I use the Matias Tactile Pro 3. It has tactile feedback on the keys
> similar to the Apple Extended and Extended II keyboards. At $149.95, it
> ain't cheap. The question is if you're pissed off enough to switch?
>
> http://www.matias.ca/tactilepro3/
Thanks for the info. While the price is steep, I can handle it, But I
would be very pissed if I ended up not liking it. Thus, I will buy it
only from a vendor who has one to try out.
I was just running my fingers along some of the keys' top surfaces.
Whenever, I could feel the edge of a key, my finger was already far
enough off-center to make a stroke catch an adjacent key,
Salmon Egg
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> On 12-01-2010 06:23, Salmon Egg wrote:
> > stroke required to be annoying. I would love an aluminum keyboard with
> > keys with about half the AREA they have now. Having them significantly
> > more concave than they are now would provide great tactile feedback.
>
> http://www.datamancer.net/keyboards/aviator/aviator.htm
I appreciate your post. The link has some interesting looking keyboards
that look like just what I am looking for, But again, the high prices
require making sure that I would like one before permanently committing
to it.
Király
> My aluminum keyboard is wired with a USB cable.
Unplug it, then. Your old Apple Pro keyboard's layout should then show
up correctly in Keyboard Viewer. It does for me, anyway.
Wes Groleau
> Wes Groleau<Grolea...@FreeShell.org> cited:
>> http://www.datamancer.net/keyboards/aviator/aviator.htm
>
> I appreciate your post. The link has some interesting looking keyboards
> that look like just what I am looking for, But again, the high prices
> require making sure that I would like one before permanently committing
So find an old non-electric Underwood and feel the keys. :-)
Or find the original that inspired the "Aviator"
It was built by a fellow named von Slatt, who has detailed instructions
for building your own on his website. If you follow them exactly, it
will still be expensive, but you can still make it look good without
custom-machined end caps.
Then again, I didn't post it as a serious suggestion for your
requirements, but as an illustration of something interesting
that coincidentally resembles your requirements. :-)
--
Wes Groleau
Why the blind dog leading?
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/BlindDog?itemid=3569
Salmon Egg
m...@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) wrote:
> In comp.sys.mac.system Salmon Egg <Salm...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > My aluminum keyboard is wired with a USB cable.
>
> Unplug it, then. Your old Apple Pro keyboard's layout should then show
> up correctly in Keyboard Viewer. It does for me, anyway.
That is exactly what I did. Although I have a USB PCI card installed,
those connectors are in back. I used the same front USB connector when
comparing keyboards.
I repeat, all keys except for the volume up worked properly.