At 10:09 AM 8/31/99 , william l brandt wrote:
>well hold onto them! I think most people forget when keyboards were built
>like typewriter keyboards. I think with the end of the PS/2 the last of the
>real good keyboards left. Of course we're not paying the equivalent of
>$12-$15,000 for a terminal either ;-)

With the cost of typical PC systems falling into insignificance (note the
instances where perfectly useful multimedia PC systems are now "free" with
subscription to some ISPs) and with the performance and capacity of most
systems being overkill for most people's neeatds (other than the latest
game and some engineering and multi-user applications) the details of just
how fast, how big and how cheap they were today (almost surely different
than yesterday), I have decided that the most important detail remaining to
differentiate PC systems is how convenient they are (for example, a laptop
or handheld suits needs that no amount of desktop power can replace) and
how ergonomic they are.  Thus, what CPU and how much memory and what
harddrive is inconsequential (assuming anything likely to have been
marketed recently) compared to the feel of the keyboard, the size and
clarity of the video and audio output.  The only other important
differentiator is reliability and that one can be quite difficult to
predict or control, though it should still be considered.

I recently had reason to replace a couple of PC keyboards and discovered
that a company called Unicomp which apparently now owns the keyboard
technology Lexmark acquired when spun off from IBM.  They hold the patent
on "pointing stick" technology used on some laptops and a few desktop
keyboards (e.g., the TrackPoint on IBM ThinkPads).  I bought two of their
"closeout specials" a couple of months back and couldn't be happier with
them; great feel, quiet, and solid.  These happen to say "Lexmark" in the
corner.  Plus, now my desktop keyboard has the same pointing device as my
laptop.  Unicomp is online at:

         http://www.pckeyboard.com
--
Jeff Woods
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