Engelbart's Chorded Keyboard
Learning and science
typing tutor
SHOW HN2011
43points
29comments
#286of 1,097 in 2011
Top 27%of 2011 by points
How HN took it
RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical
1 positive, 5 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 8 critical, out of 14 comments about the project. Thread score -0.40.
Design: 1 for, 3 againstExecution: 0 for, 3 againstIdea: 0 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Interesting and fun to play with
From 2 comments
This was really interesting to play with. I kept getting caught up cognitively on the fact that the thumb corresponded to the 5th box in all of the chord diagrams. I feel like…
kadavy on HNI'm a pianist; it was easy as cake, actually would be even easier with finger numbers, or represented as notes :)
wazoox on HN
Objections
Chord assignments are not optimised; common letters like E and T are hard to type
From 2 comments
It's funny how it's not optimized at all. "E" and "T" are both incredibly hard to type; this would give you RSI problems in no time.
pkamb on HNInteresting idea, but it's rather odd that the keystroke for P is pressing <SPACE>, but the keystroke for <SPACE> is a four character combination when <SPACE> should be its own…
biot on HN
Some chords fail due to keyboard ghosting or timing window
From 3 comments
I can't type G for the life of me. Maybe it has to do with the number of simultaneous keypresses on my keyboard?
makmanalp on HNIt's a problem with keyboard ghosting. That's the problem with chording keys like this, once you're hitting >= 3 keys, you'll find some just won't work.
agscala on HNAfter 5 minutes: I can not get G either!!! Paul, can you change time intervals to to catch less accurate chors?
yurylifshits on HN
Left-hand chords are hard, especially with a weak pinky
From 1 comment
I found it very hard to do this with my left hand. Especially since the first bit is so widely used and my pinky on that side is pretty weak. I guess you can tell that I'm not an…
mbreese on HN
Diagram lacks visual differentiation of the thumb key
From 2 comments
This was really interesting to play with. I kept getting caught up cognitively on the fact that the thumb corresponded to the 5th box in all of the chord diagrams. I feel like…
kadavy on HN^^this I also had the same issue, oddly enough it got worse as i got more accustomed to the program. I think mainly because I was visually counting the boxes from the right to…
rogercosseboom on HN
Requests
Dvorak-style or frequency-based chord mapping
From 3 comments
Yeah, exactly. He just enumerated the binary representation. A=1, B=2, C=3... Maybe I should build a Dvorak-ish version of this...
ptarjan on HNYeah, totally agree. The key mappings need some work. I just wanted to emulate his original one. I'll do a Dvorak one, might be easier.
ptarjan on HNInteresting idea, but it's rather odd that the keystroke for P is pressing <SPACE>, but the keystroke for <SPACE> is a four character combination when <SPACE> should be its own…
biot on HN
Configurable chord timing window
From 1 comment
After 5 minutes: I can not get G either!!! Paul, can you change time intervals to to catch less accurate chors?
yurylifshits on HN
Finger numbers or note labels on diagrams
From 2 comments
I'm a pianist; it was easy as cake, actually would be even easier with finger numbers, or represented as notes :)
wazoox on HN^^this I also had the same issue, oddly enough it got worse as i got more accustomed to the program. I think mainly because I was visually counting the boxes from the right to…
rogercosseboom on HN
Retry on wrong chords and teach in small batches
From 1 comment
Cute. But I'd need a lot more than this for programming, which uses many special symbols. Even regular English requires being able to type quotes, question marks, exclamation…
gnosis on HN
Questions
Is there a standard chord mapping for chorded keyboards?
From 1 comment
is there a standard mapping for chorded keyboards? i feel like X has a much easier combo than E. would be interesting to use data on people's error rate for different key combos…
pz on HN
Alternatives named
BAT one-handed chorded keyboard
From 1 comment
If you're looking for a one-handed chorded keyboard on which to type, the BAT has been around for many years: http://www.infogrip.com/product_view.asp?RecordNumber=12
js2 on HN
Twiddler
From 1 comment
I remember reading about Steve Roberts building chording keyboards into his "handlebars" on his Winnebiko years ago. Since he had well more than 2^5 bits using both hands[1], he…
reeses on HN
MicroWriter / CyKey
From 2 comments
I spent a happy year with a MicroWriter chorded keyboard in the early 90s. My right hand still knows the letters, so there must be something in it.
dmcg on HNI believe they are the same as the descendent https://sites.google.com/site/cykeybellaire/cykey-codecard
jodrellblank on HN
Stenotype machines
From 1 comment
The only standards I'm aware of are standards for stenotype machines (chorded keyboards that stenographers) use: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Stenotype And…
gnosis on HN
Vim chord plugin
From 1 comment
Cute. But I'd need a lot more than this for programming, which uses many special symbols. Even regular English requires being able to type quotes, question marks, exclamation…
gnosis on HN