Pretty But Bad

A properly designed tool feels natural in your hand. It becomes an extension of the body. If you have ever swung a baseball bat, or used a pair of pliers, or driven a car; then you likely know what it feels like to have a tool feel like it has become a part of your body. Microsoft has been saying for years that the future of input will be software driven. It will be natural language controls and complicated display and input systems. Unfortunately while what they are talking about is undeniably cool, it isn't all that practical. Compare the amount of time it takes to say something like, “Backspace”, or, “Delete” with the act of striking a key on the keyboard.

While voice recognition certainly has its place, basically anywhere you want to replace a living person with a machine, it isn't how humans prefer to do personal actions. Humans are social animals and there is no doubt that the future will bring us wonderful AI robots and virtual pets. It won't, if people wake up, mean that you talk to your computer in order to write your novel. And it certainly doesn't mean you'll say, “Next song, please.” to your stereo.

No, the future of I/O is already here. It is in multi-touch monitors and in proper hardware-based Interaction Design.

Understanding the Past of the keyboard

While I could devote an entire article to the history of the keyboard and why it is both the most significant advancement and constraint on modern computing. I will only gloss over the high points. The keyboard we use today is a compromise between established text input methods and a need for additional controls with a limited set of keys.

The first keyboards were typewriters, and this is where we get the standard QWERTY configuration. This arrangement was designed to compensate for the mechanical device's imperfections. You see, if you typed too fast, it would lock up. The keys are laid out so it is difficult to type quickly.

The first computers adopted this configuration because most people were already used to it. And while some people are really upset about this, I am not. There is nothing wrong with presenting a user with something they are already used to. However, the computer required a collection of modifier keys to access all of the wonderful functions that the computer has to offer. Keyboard shortcuts are a wonderful, if not easy to learn, way to speed up functions that once required long commands of text, and later on long movements of the mouse through menus.

Why has the Evolution Stopped?

Microsoft and Apple believe that the future of input will be software based, and as such have invested no energy in trying to update the keyboard and mouse. In the last 15 years the big enhancements to these devices can be named in once sentence. The mouse wheel, then scroll ball, and the Windows Key and Hot Item Nubs. Hot Item Nubs are things on windows keyboards that do somewhat silly things like opening the calculator or web browser, or the useful addition of being able to control a media player.

So they have ignored the primary problem with the keyboard: Hot Keys. The problem with Hot Keys is that they require the user to remember a lot of abstract combinations of keys to use software quickly, and sometimes to use it at all. While Hot Keys aren't in and of themselves evil, their hidden nature makes them a barrier that users need to cross to become productive with most software products. Luckily there is a very easy fix. One I will get to shortly.

The New Keyboard

My Home Computer will have a keyboard that looks like this:

30 function keys? I must be crazy! Isn't it no different to force the user to remember an arbitrary F key than it is to force them to remember any other Hot Key? True, however the picture leaves out one wonderful detail. Each key contains a small back-lit LCD screen. Perhaps 32 by 32 pixels or even more. This technology already exists, and while it is a little pricey, large scale production can reduce that, and we aren't talking about an option here. These keyboards are part of the standard package. So the user will simply see the price-tag for the whole computer and not the abnormally expensive keyboard. The value added by these full-color LCD screens is immeasurable.

The top row of function keys will show icons that mirror the top bar of the OS itself. These keys allow the user to switch between programs at the tap of a finger. Unused keys will show the items on the secondary menu of the top bar section you are currently working in.

The bottom row of function keys will show program-specific icons for special tasks. These icons can change depending on the mode the software is in and what is focused. Many of these icons will mirror items on the toolbar of the software itself. They are, in fact, Hot Keys, only they can perform additional functions.

Shift is the only modification key. It is discoverable since everyone uses it for typing already. When you press shift, or toggle on Caps Lock, all the icons will change to their alternates. Lowercase letters will become their uppercase versions and the Undo key will become a Redo key. Undo and Redo are infinite, tap Undo 10 times and you'll undo the last 10 actions.

Example 1: Toggle - The user taps a key and it inverses colors to show that it is toggled on. This is also how Caps Lock, Number Lock, and Insert will work.

Example 2: No Text - Clearly some programs or modes won't require that the user be able to enter text, why waste the keys. Since all the keys use LCD screens, the software can simply replace the letters with whatever is needed.

Example 3: Fonts Ahoy - It has always annoyed me how hard it is to use fonts that don't use standard glyphs. Imagine that when you change typefaces to WingDings, you actually see those pictures on the keyboard. Switch to bold, and the text becomes bold on the keyboard.

Oh, and the keyboard connects via USB and bluetooth. When plugged in you get a faster response time, and the battery is recharged. Same goes for the mouse. A MOUSE!

Eek Eeeek!

The mouse also connects via USB to recharge and to gain a faster response time. It is mainly just like a regular old mouse. It has a scroll ball and is optical. It has 2 buttons, like a windows mouse.

The Screen

I've already talked a lot about the screen. It connects to the computer by wire to charge and doing so puts it in docked mode, freeing resources from the touch screen to be used by the keyboard and mouse. Take it off the dock and it turns on the software keyboard controls and activates the touchscreen. The screen will likely need to dim when off the dock as well, to conserve power.

The screen connects via either bluetooth, or better, wifi, to the computer itself. It acts like a terminal.

The multi-touch nature of the screen is what makes it very useful as a lap-tool. Actions like IM, music control, watching movies, drawing, and manipulating 3D objects, are all more natural like this.

It is important to note that all software is usable in either configuration, if sometimes less natural.

Other I/O Devices

While not expressly I/O there are other devices that could ship with the computer or be purchasable as an additional item, or activated on other devices.

These could be Web Cams, or iPods or other items. But this also includes something I call Distributed Networking and Synchronization .

Think of DNaS as really two abilities. Synchronizing data between any paired device and the computer from anywhere, and sharing extra computer resources whenever possible and safe. All of these devices are wifi capable and they all connect to a series of servers owned by whoever makes the system. When you first get a new one of these computers, you go through a registration process. You get to list the address the computer is located at and the name of the user using it.

When any storage device like an iPod or thumb drive is connected to the computer, it syncs the data between them for just that user in an interruptible way and entirely in the background. Not only that, but the computer will connect automatically to any other computer with broadband Internet located at the same address. It will also talk to any and all computers located within wifi-shot of itself and will take processing cycles from those machines if they are idle and it needs it. This will increase the speed of the computers the more there are near-by. Additionally, if an address doesn't have Internet, it will download updates through any other computer it can connect to. It won't use any additional bandwidth, it will simply pull a copy off the network after that computer has upgraded.

Not only that, but by tagging your music as shared, any computer within range of any computer at that address will have the shared music appear in their library. However, they will not be able to pass the music on to a 3rd separate computer.

When a user first sets up their computer, they can opt in to letting other people use any Internet connection they are connected to. In this way, you can share your Internet with all your neighbors. What's more, the computer will automatically re-route additional traffic to less-used Internet connections.

These sharing networks are infinite. If someone has broadband and lets others share when they aren't using it, and a second computer is sharing that connection and is also set to share, a third computer can share the connection from the second computer, even when out of range of the first one. The same goes for distributed computing.

All of this is done in the background, and the big plus to all of this is that all these computers will eventually all link up through a giant wi-fi cloud. New versions of the hardware will increase the performance of the computers connected to it. Thusly, a first generation computer will get FASTER over time. It will download faster and process faster.

Ideally, hard-drive space could also be shared. However, network speeds will have to increase dramatically for this to really be viable. Perhaps for small plain-text documents and small photos, this could work.

There is a very real question of security in all this. However, remember that the ONLY software that can be run is that which comes with the machine or is downloaded in an upgrade. And since updates are completely automated, the only computers that won't quickly get fixed are ones that aren't connected to the system that is a threat in the first place.

While much of this system isn't really I/O, some of it sort of is, such as the shared music, and being able to sync all your data anywhere, perpetually.