BeeRaider keyboard

Giles Orr <[email protected]> Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:59:25 -0400
Newsgroups	gmane.comp.hardware.altkeyboards
Message-ID	<CAEnxSC5RiA403fmovCdB7BrZX6yrZpyqyyvOtfK+mKaH2m6ybw@mail.gmail.com>
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New keyboard layout:

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/28334-irish-companya-s-radial-ke

Why it's going to fail (in my only semi-humble opinion):
- qwerty is easy to use because we all know where the keys are - no
relearning necessary
- qwerty is essentially rectangular - making efficient use of the
space available on a tablet/phone screen
- BeeRaider makes very poor use of space
- BeeRaider assumes you're using a single finger and working out from
the centre - so they've put less-used letters farther apart at the
outer edge ... and I don't think it's a good layout even for their
assumption
- it's faster to type with two thumbs (or fingers) - and that's what
most people want to do - and by that logic the most used keys should
be small and at the outer edge of the keyboard
- all of which means their layout is even less suited to a physical
keyboard than a phone/tablet virtual keyboard

I've been wrong before, but I've watched a lot of better designed
keyboards (including my beloved Kinesis Advantage) struggle
desperately for traction and fail, or merely carve out a niche market.
 It remains interesting to watch.

-- 
Giles
http://www.gilesorr.com/
[email protected]

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      <p>New keyboard layout:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/28334-irish-companya-s-radial-ke">http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/28334-irish-companya-s-radial-ke</a><br>
<br>
Why it's going to fail (in my only semi-humble opinion):<br>
- qwerty is easy to use because we all know where the keys are - no<br>
relearning necessary<br>
- qwerty is essentially rectangular - making efficient use of the<br>
space available on a tablet/phone screen<br>
- BeeRaider makes very poor use of space<br>
- BeeRaider assumes you're using a single finger and working out from<br>
the centre - so they've put less-used letters farther apart at the<br>
outer edge ... and I don't think it's a good layout even for their<br>
assumption<br>
- it's faster to type with two thumbs (or fingers) - and that's what<br>
most people want to do - and by that logic the most used keys should<br>
be small and at the outer edge of the keyboard<br>
- all of which means their layout is even less suited to a physical<br>
keyboard than a phone/tablet virtual keyboard<br>
<br>
I've been wrong before, but I've watched a lot of better designed<br>
keyboards (including my beloved Kinesis Advantage) struggle<br>
desperately for traction and fail, or merely carve out a niche market.<br>
 It remains interesting to watch.<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Giles<br>
<a href="http://www.gilesorr.com/">http://www.gilesorr.com/</a><br>
<a href="mailto:gilesorr%40gmail.com">[email protected]</a><br>
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