Re: design prototype: the ultimate unicode keyboard?

From: Donald Z. Osborn (dzo@bisharat.net)
Date: Sun Jul 17 2005 - 02:56:23 CDT

  • Next message: Johannes Bergerhausen: "Re: design prototype: the ultimate unicode keyboard?"

    Another possibility that came to mind was Ethiopic.

    In any event the potential to readily view - on the keys themselves -
    alternative layouts, extended and non-Latin characters, and to have it respond
    to input in cases like you describe could be a great equalizer in perceptions
    of scripts and their value/utility. Of course it's a practical thing, first and
    foremost, with specific advantages to many users, but it's also a matter of
    psychology (visual information being so critical in our perceptions). And it's
    in the latter that the impact could be revolutionary. (Of course it's also
    possible that other technologies will overtake it in terms of reshaping how we
    input text in various scripts, but I won't take that tangent...)

    Anyway, this is the last I'll post on this topic until we hear more from the
    keyboard designers or someone who has a chance to evaluate the prototype.

    Don

    Quoting suzume@mx82.tiki.ne.jp:

    > > The changing visual key sequences idea that Jean-Christophe asked
    > > about is
    > > another interesting dimension.
    > >
    > > Don
    >
    > I was specifically thinking about Japanese input. And I am curious how
    > that would be implemented.
    > Of course, it is not so much the sillabic part of the input that is a
    > problem (there are Japanese kb layouts that assign one syllable to one
    > key, even most Japanese users type with combinations of qwerty
    > letters.)
    > It is rather the fact that the qwerty input part is converted 2 times:
    > first time when the second letter is associated to the first to produce
    > a Japanese kana, second when the kana (on its own or associated with
    > other kanas) is converted to a kanji.
    >
    > JC Helary
    >
    >
    >



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