From today's Investors Business Daily,
Keyboards Go Wireless And More
Ergonomic
Date: 8/20/98
Author: Michael Lyster
If you're like most people, your computer keyboard is
an afterthought. Chances are it came with your computer
and is pretty generic in layout and features.
To be sure, keyboards aren't the sexiest of computer
products. They don't change much from year to year.
Even the computer mouse, the keyboard's close relative,
seems to lead a more exciting life, taking on new
buttons and a tracking wheel.
''Only a small percentage of the keyboards people use
today are much different than they were three or four
years ago,'' said Carl Holec, an analyst with ARS Inc.,
a market research firm in Irving, Texas.
But keyboards are changing. You've probably seen
keyboards specially designed to be easier on your
hands and wrists. Keyboard makers are adding other
features to their products.
''They're trying to give people a reason to buy a (new)
keyboard,'' Holec said.
If you don't do a lot of typing, analysts say, the keyboard
that came with your computer should work fine. But if
you have a few bucks to spend, you can consider a
variety of keyboards.
Each year, about 2 million keyboards are sold
independently of computers in the U.S., says Jon Miller,
a product marketing manager with Fremont,
Calif.-based Logitech Inc., part of Switzerland's
Logitech International SA.
The latest trend is to make keyboards wireless.
Logitech and other companies offer keyboards that use
radio frequencies to send signals to your computer, so
you don't need that coiled cord hooked to the back of
your PC. Wireless keyboards sell for about $100.
Most wireless keyboards work by installing a receiver
into the port where you'd plug in a keyboard. Usually
the receiver has to be placed 6 inches away from any
other electronic device to avoid interference.
You can use a wireless keyboard within 6 feet to 8 feet
from the receiver. Some wireless keyboards come with
a cordless mouse. The advantage to a wireless
keyboard is flexibility. If you're tight on desktop space,
a wireless keyboard could go on your lap or elsewhere.
''If you've got a keyboard drawer below the desk, you
don't have to worry about the cord being caught,''
Logitech's Miller said.
Keyboard makers like Culver City, Calif.-based
Adesso Inc. have taken a cue from portable computers
and added touch pads to their keyboards. Touch pads
are small squares that let you control the cursor and
other mouse functions by the touch of your finger.
''Instead of removing your hand from the keyboard and
going over to the mouse, you can do it in one motion,''
said Holec of ARS.
Ergonomic design continues to be a driving trend in
keyboards. Software kingpin Microsoft Corp. has
played a big role in this area. The company's Natural
2.0 Keyboard has a built-in wrist rest and angled keys
to accommodate your hands better. It sells for about
$40.
Other companies such as San Francisco-based Darwin
Keyboards Ltd. , Bothell, Wash.-based Kinesis Corp.
and Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Corp. offer
ergonomic keyboards priced from $40 to $240.
''From personal experience, switching to (an ergonomic
keyboard) can really reduce the tension you feel,''
Holec said.
Microsoft has put its mark on keyboard development in
another way. Many computer makers include Windows
95 keyboards with their machines. These look like
standard keyboards, except they include extra keys that
run certain Windows commands.
One button has the Windows logo on it and is used with
other keys. In Windows 95 or Windows 98, pressing
the Windows key and the ''e'' key will start Windows
Explorer, for instance. Next to the Windows key is the
menu key, which you can use as a shortcut to open
Windows' pull-down menus.
Similarly, Hewlett-Packard Co. offers a keyboard for
about $100 that offers one-key access to the Internet.
Other companies, such as Logitech, offer keyboards that
let you program specific keys using software that comes
with the keyboard.
If space is at a premium on your desk, you might
consider a keyboard with built-in speakers. NMB
Technologies Inc. of Chatsworth, Calif., and Maxi
Switch Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., offer such a product for
about $100, including speakers.
Trade publications give the speaker-keyboard
combinations good marks for functionality. But they
aren't as good as most stand-alone speakers for
computers.
Other keyboard add-ons haven't fared so well, like one
from Fremont, Calif.-based Visioneer Inc. that featured
a scanner for turning paper documents into computer
files. Holec says the product wasn't cheap enough,
compared with the fast-falling prices of better,
full-scale scanners.
The growth of scanners and speech-recognition
software that enters dictated words into a computer has
prompted questions about the future of keyboards.
Logitech's Miller says he isn't worried. Keyboards
always will be an option, he says, because they are
practical. Scanners are far from perfect, and an office
full of workers dictating to their computers would be
bothersome, he says.
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