For the past four years, I have been using, in my view, the best keyboard ever made—especially for Windows development. The maker might surprise you. It is the Apple keyboard (ultra slim). It sells for $49 and that is luckily within reach for most of us. If you have a PC with a USB port, it just works. If you have not used a Mac recently, it has a control, alt (option), and command key. The command key becomes the Windows key. There are a lot of people that run Windows on Apple hardware so it needs to work.
I have tried what seems like a reach of different keyboard types including split, natural, heavy tactile and gaming keyboards. In 1997, I even tried the Dvorak keyboard layout instead of QWERTY for three months in hopes of typing a little faster.
Tools become an extension of our bodies. Typing becomes an extension of us just as using a mouse, or Natural User Interface (NUI) of tablets, phones, and gaming consoles. The idea that Your Computer is a Part of You is the result in a recent study done by cognitive scientists at Franklin & Marshall College. The results seem to indicate that people do fuse with their tools—cognitively at least.
Currently, Apple makes the best keyboard, in my view.
7 Reasons
1. Easy to type
Smooth hurdling (awkward stroke requiring a single finger to jump directly from one row to another row). The keyboard gets out of the way to a large degree.
2. Low profile
The keyboard is so slim that there is no hand rest needed; it feels good; just slide your hands forward naturally on it.
3. Short key travel
Helps me type faster and smoother. Has a nice short crisp tactile feedback.
4. Easy to clean
Let's face it, keyboards make excellent homes for nasty bacteria.
When keys are pressed, they are at the level as the aluminum making it easy to clean since you can clean the base and keys at the same time with a swipe of a paper towel.
5. Beautiful
Heavy for its size; made of aluminum with flat rounded rectangular white keys.
6. Simple
Not a ton of extra keys, but all the ones you really need.
7. Easy key combos (such as Shift+Ctrl+B)
Just press between the two keys until you feel aluminum; this is one reason that I like it for development; it requires a lot of odd key combinations and symbols.
I first got an Apple keyboard for home. It was fun to type again. Typing became simple, not over-manipulated. Now, I try to bring one with me anytime that I will be riding a workstation for a while. It is slim even in the box.
In my view, the Apple slim keyboard is great design. It is simple, lasting, and like other great interfaces, it gets out of the way. Granted, you might not like it as much as I do, but definitely a keyboard to consider.
I realize that this post will probably land me in your Geek circle on Google+, but I feel compelled to share my design and quest for my own command center and lab. No, it is not in my Mom's basement. They do not even have basements in Texas—just saying.
It has been my goal for a long time. It is quite attainable. I think it makes a lot of sense for families. Most families do not have the right space for work, homework, and play. A space for new ideas and collaboration.
Besides, the single workstation office is often a contemptuous place where family members try to elbow each other out of the way. Traditional architectures just do not have the right spaces to accommodate this lifestyle—especially as a software developer. Even my wife now needs a dual-panel for Facebook and email. This has to be a point of contention for a lot of other couples as well.
Here are the DIY (Do It Yourself) Command Center initial steps:
1. Design with Visio: has a template to help you get the design down to the inch
2. Take inventory and make a budget: trying for less than 3K
3. Get it approved by the finance committee (the hard part)
4. Build it
My design was inspired by time that I spent in a lab at the Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) last year except they have labs with four and six workstations per lab. The labs at the MTC also have a whiteboard in the center instead of the flat panel. It is, also, inspired by actual network operation centers that I have visited.
Here is the Command Center floor plan. I used Visio with Office Layout Template:
Here is the text that was cut off to the left about the Plexiglas whiteboard: Design and Homework Wall 6'x 4' Colored or clear Plexiglas board with rounded corners Mounting: 4" metal stand offs or swivel center mount If swivel mount, use LED attached to mounting facing wall for indirect lighting
It will be a great place to work and play. A place to collaborate with friends. Also, a workplace for my daughter for homework and games. Hopefully, trig and calculus will be more fun on a clear Plexiglas board.
My plan is to have no books or paper in the lab instead just workstations and iPads (that can contain an entire library of e-books).
I have ideas for a tight cabling system that I have already used successfully on another workstation. Just power and CAT 5 are needed to each workstation, then all other cabling is brought underneath the table.
It would be great to design the actual furniture and replace flooring, but that will blow out the budget. I plan to use cheap Ikea furniture until it can be replaced. The design challenge is to build a great comfortable workplace with a tight budget constraint. I use indirect LED colored lighting as well.
Maybe this effort will inspire someone else to enter the Geek circle and build his or her own command center.
I will post some more about this—hopefully about step #4. It will be a while until I reach step #3, but I promise I will get there.
