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Review: New Blank Keyboard for Geeks Only (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1029304&page=1)

Product Review: New Blank Das Keyboard for Uber-Users Only; Comfortable, but Takes Getting Used To

By MATT SLAGLE

The Associated Press

DALLAS Aug 11, 2005 — Typing on a Das Keyboard is a lot like typing on any other computer keyboard except the keys are blank. Most people, especially those who rely on the slow but steady hunt-and-peck technique, might consider that a problem.

Not Daniel Guermeur, chief executive of Austin-based Metadot Corp. The self-proclaimed "uber geek" says he first came up with the idea for a blank keyboard while attending Stanford University in 1989. It was there that the French native noticed others typing much faster than he was.

"I was an OK typist but I was slowing down when I looked at the special characters," said Guermeur, 41. "One day I said, `If I could just improve my typing I could be much more efficient.'"

Two years ago, he built a prototype to test his hypothesis that a blank keyboard would force him to become a better typist. After many people asked him where he bought it, he decided to start making them commercially.

And recently, Guermeur began selling the keyboards for $80 with a new marketing spin: "Das Keyboard. Uber Geeks only."

For those needing a foreign language primer, "das" means "the" in German, and the name has to do with the fact that it's intended for "uber" (roughly translated to "super" in German) computer pros.

"People willing to buy this are total geeks," says Guermeur, a former tech manager for oil field services company Schlumberger Ltd. "The creme of the geeks."

The black, enhanced USB keyboard has 104 keys all of them blank in a wedge-shaped design reminiscent of the fabled IBM Model M, a keyboard with spring-loaded, clicking keys considered by some to be the greatest keyboard ever built.

As a reporter, my fingers are pretty much glued to the keyboard anyway, so I figured using Das Keyboard for a week would be a minor adjustment.

It is indeed comfortable to use, with five different key weights designed to keep the fingers nimble. The space bar, for example, requires slightly more effort to press than a quick tap of the "c" key.

I've found I don't look down at the keys as much as I thought I would. Yet I still keep a normal keyboard nearby. (Apparently I need more practice before I reach uber status. Certain keys still give me occasional problems, among them the apostrophe, the colon and the squiggly bracket.

My office colleagues remain largely unconvinced.

The conversation usually goes something like this: I say, "Hey fellow worker, look at this new keyboard I'm testing out."

They look down and the expanse of empty black squares, shrivel their nose and ask incredulously, "Why?"

I tell them by using it, I'm showing how cool and smart I am. Then they walk away, shaking their heads (whether it's in humor, befuddlement or jealousy, I can't really tell).

I left Das Keyboard connected to an office PC shared with others. (It's compatible with Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems.)

Sure enough, the next day Das Keyboard had been unplugged in favor of a standard keyboard.

A popular observation: Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a normal keyboard and either strip off the markings or give it a quick coat of spray paint?

"You could do it," Guermeur concedes, "but it's a pain in the butt to do that, a major pain. Also the paint would wear off eventually."

It might seem a gimmick, but Guermeur maintains Das Keyboard is an invention rooted in logic.

"If you look at a piano, it doesn't have notes on the keys, it's blank," he says. "Writing letters seems like a good help but actually it's not. It's counterintuitive, actually."

On the Net:

http://www.daskeyboard.com

Can't you just pry the Windows key off or something?

Since when does something being geeky mean pointlessly annoying and tedious?

And I mean besides Star Trek.

Linux.

Am I the only one who pronounces that word with a 'D'?

Doo-shay.

What is it with the Windows key hate? My Windows use would slow to a crawl without Windows-D and Windows-E. Perhaps even the occasional Windows-R.

It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't still 3D games that complain violently (i.e. they crash or lockup) if you try and switch out of them (e.g. using Alt-Tab or the Windows key).

I was thinking about something like this, because looking at the keyboard is a crutch I just can't seem to get over. I know where the keys are. I just can't stop looking. The key weight stuff seems useless.

I can type with my feet.

Lets not forget how much the ear plays a part in the whole "music" thing. "C" on a piano is a distinct noise. "C" on a computer keyboard...Not so much.

Umm, when you play a "C" on the piano, you hear a "C".  When you type a "C" on the keyboard, you see a "C" onscreen.  How is this different?  It isn't.  I think this keyboard is more comparable to a guitar neck though.  Sure, there are a few markers on the guiatar neck, but they don't tell you much, other than the number position.  When I am practicing learning the notes of the guitar neck, I purposefully look away or close my eyes so I cannot have a visiual reference, and it helps.  This keyboard does the same damn thing.

But you just posted again Stray.  Ahhh I get it, mental warfare.   :hello_kitty:

The blank one.  The other one is kind of cool because it has a DonKey but it's too thin for me.  I accidentally break thin things a lot.

That and it's not ergonomic.  My dream keyboard would be an ergonomic MS Natural style keyboard, but with the old IBM style clickity keys.

I doubt such a thing will ever come to pass, though.

Came out in 1995. I've seen a couple.

Lexmark Select-ease (1428401) / IBM Options (13H6689) Model M15 split ergonomic keyboard. (Pictures). This is the best keyboard ever made. No other ergonomic keyboard approaches it in feel or quality. Despite overwhelming praise from owners and reviewers, the M15 keyboard was discontinued in about 1998. If you have one, it should be folded down the middle at a 90-degree angle or smaller, elevating the center, so that the palms of your hands rotate toward each other with thumbs up. Rotating the hands unnaturally with thumbs down to type on a flat keyboard leads to repetitive stress problems. The M15 is ultra-reliable. I have one that has been in regular use since 1995, and it still is in perfect condition. A possible source for a used M15 is Clicky Keyboards. I bought a second M15 from them in July 2005 for $450. They also sell a PS/2 to USB converter for IBM/Lexmark M keyboards for $15. Key Ovation's Goldtouch Ergonomic Keyboard looks like the M15 but uses the same, inferior, rubber dome keyswitches found on cheap keyboards instead of the M15's superior, buckling spring switches.

I had no idea that people cared about keyboards so much.

I started out as a hunt and peck typist, and just eventually reached the point where I rarely had to look at the keyboard (while typing at around 60-80 WPM).  But I still type with just my index and middle fingers (ring finger of my left hand for the 'a' key and shift, ring finger of the right for enter and backspace).  Big hands, especially on this laptop keyboard trying to touch-type properly would be an excercise in frustration, I can't keep all the fingers over the "home" keys without them being so jammed together so tight I can't move them independantly.

--Dave (typed this post while deliberately not looking, just to make sure I could)

Yes, please. (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1851654,00.asp)

The first thing we ever did with this keyboard was type on it. And at that very instant, we liked it much better than our standard keyboard we use every day. The most noticeable difference is the keys. They are soft, quiet, and have the feel of a high-end keyboard. Have you ever heard of anything more annoying than someone typing away on a keyboard so loud that it may as well be a typewriter? Well, compared with the Wolf Claw, our old keyboards sound like typewriters.

Some people do prefer more audible keys over soft and quiet keys, however. For those hacker types out there where the rhythm of their keystrokes are music to their ears, simply hit the keys harder and sing some backing vocals.

I'm getting the other companies keyboard, I'll let you know if it's any good. (https://www.keyovation.com/buyonline/purchase/pc-36-1-gtu0077-goldtouch-ergonomic-keyboard-black-usb.aspx <-- too stoopid to know how to make a clicky)

I hate the shape of most of the Saitek stuff. It's good hardware, but what's with those corners? There's nothing clean about the lines on it. It's trying to be all industrial looking and fails.

$80 for that keyboard isn't too bad. I like the backlit keys. I'll have to check it out at Best Buy or somethin' and see if it's be worthwhile or not. I really just need a dedicated PANIC button for EVE when I need to get away from a pirate in a hurry.

System Requirements
• PC with Pentium® processor or compatible
• Windows® XP
• 256 MB RAM
• 20 MB of available hard disk space
• CD-ROM drive
• USB port
• Logitech® GamePanel™ LCD requires software that supports GamePanel technology. > Learn More