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Patent For Configurable Input System Emerges

oh, HELL no. Please don't tell me you're serious. Can you actually imagine someone carrying around a portfolio of these plates to lay on their computer? That's worse than an 8" floppy!!!

Unbelievable.

I pray this never sees the light of day.

-Clive
 
...Just a couple comments.

> This is a great idea, although it isn't an entirely new idea and it's been discussed and proposed by other vendors -- especially peripheral vendors for various systems over the years. It's a total no-brainer -- IBM used to offer a similar solution to this on some of their old portable systems that preceeded today's notebook computers. Where they allowed end users to choose their keyboard style and/or swap out the numeric keypad for other items. i think all they had available was a trackball with two buttons, the number pad and one other device that I can't recall. I want to say it was a compact tape system or a 720K 3.5" floppy drive. They weren't hot-swappable by any means and you needed a screwdriver and a little bit of luck to swap out the parts, but it was somewhat of a nod in this general direction. If Apple is successfully granted a patent for this, I'll be shocked. And that's my negative comment...

> I'll be curious to see if they can offer this and still keep the ~1" overall thickness of the current notebook systems.

> Anyway, I hope Apple does this. I can think of a few different inserts I would buy - starting with the two-button trackpad and an A/V editing deck.

...So instead of praising Apple on this one, I will have to say, "it's about damn time!".
 
This technology would be well utilized on a standard mac keyboard too.

I would love to see this, as it could make FCP editing a breeze with specialty shortcuts, scroll wheels, and volume bars.
 
BlueRevolution said:
Not gonna happen. For starters, how do you type in names for your audio tracks when you've got your keyboard swapped for a mixer?
Click to expand...

The laptop would have wireless in it. Why not make simple wireless connectivity to have a constant connection with the keyboard when detached?
 
Of course this would be pretty cool... but I'm thinking in practical application it will turn out to just be different colored faceplates for the iPhone. :p
 
applecrag said:
this sounds pretty cool. is it possible to do this and keep a sturdy product? correct me if im wrong but i thought they moved away from the moving wheel (1G ipod) to the touch wheel because it was less moving parts. very cool and innovative. i hope this is something that gets used and knowing apple they will use it well!
Click to expand...
Clive At Five said:
oh, HELL no. Please don't tell me you're serious. Can you actually imagine someone carrying around a portfolio of these plates to lay on their computer? That's worse than an 8" floppy!!!

Unbelievable.

I pray this never sees the light of day.

-Clive
Click to expand...
If the bottom half of the device is a touchscreen, you don't have to use physical overlays. You could expand on the concept of the Nintendo DS.
 
MacinDoc said:
If the bottom half of the device is a touchscreen, you don't have to use physical overlays. You could expand on the concept of the Nintendo DS.
Click to expand...

There's also the upcoming keyboards that we'll see from a few different manufacturers this next year. They have printed OLED displays on each key which can show images of letters or other icons representing shortcuts/functions that change depending on your active application. ...Here's one of them.
 
thats not an Ipod

that looks like a laptop, and indeed this seems to be better suited for a laptop not an Ipod

for those who call me a constant naysayer,
I LOVE THIS IDEA. its sure more elegant than this
midikey.thumbnail.jpg
 
I like the idea about changing the layout of the bottom of the laptops. However, interchangable plates!I would never buy mac if it was like that.
The multi touch poatent ages ago could be used in conjunction to make the touch pad and surrounding area into an interface, you coukld then design or make any interface you want and export them to apple online like widgets!
 
For the iPod I can see this work. But for a laptop? The main advantage of this to an external solution is that they are probably a bit small and thus easier to carry around. But unless you have a very specific use for your laptop, you would always need to take the standard keyboard layout with you and always insert it when you are not running the one program you special keyboard module was designed for. So I guess for most people it is more convenient to have this module as an external solution which can be used in parallel to the normal keyboard.
 
AppliedVisual said:
...snip... They have printed OLED displays on each key which can show images of letters or other icons representing shortcuts/functions that change depending on your active application. ...Here's one of them.
Click to expand...
Nice idea, obviously very customisable, but for repetitive stuff in the hands of an experienced operator...don't you just become a touch typist?
 
Conceptually, this is much cooler than it appears to be. What Apple has done is much more than listed a few new(?) input devices, because:

1) They have actually identified the lowest common denominator for most super-popular gizmos today – a base unit for computers, cell phones, iPods, remote controls, game controllers, PSP:s etc. , and

2) They have shown that they can produce such base units (of different sizes and shapes), and leave the rest as cheap and customizable add-ons.

This is taking a mathematical mode of procedure and applying it to product development, and it's brilliant. Maybe there won't be any direct gizmo-spawning out of this, but surely there will be lots of indirect advancements in current product lines.

:cool:
 
eh

sorry if someone has said this, but...

seriously... whats the difference b/w this and just connecting something through firewire or usb.... why would i want to elimanate my qwerty keyboard to have a piano keyboard when i could have both? this would actually be limiting the design of the macbook than expanding it.
but props on the concept
thats my 2 cents...:)
 
Reverend Wally said:
Have a fixed row of preset and a few reprogrammable keys to call up the interactive functionality of each seperate module so by switching the module to do each task you could record your info with one module switch the module while the file is open push the correct preset key and name the file then go on to the next either related or new task at hand.
Click to expand...

Take a look at this:

http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php

a killer interface, easy to program, it works, and is shipping since about a year. The tech is here, so I would expect Apple to be able to implement it in their products.:D
 
bordenkecher said:
sorry if someone has said this, but...

seriously... whats the difference b/w this and just connecting something through firewire or usb.... why would i want to elimanate my qwerty keyboard to have a piano keyboard when i could have both? this would actually be limiting the design of the macbook than expanding it.
but props on the concept
thats my 2 cents...:)
Click to expand...

musicians who travel a lot (like me) would appreciate having this functionality for sure.
 
People seem stuck on the idea that you would physically have to swap plates of input boards....

C'monnnnn...

It's Aaaaaapppplllleee!

It'll be touch-screen for sure. Ideally, I'd like a physical keyboard that perhaps you could flip over for a touchscreen, because I can't imagine typing on a QWERTY touchscreen... That being said, it might be better for me ol' joints than a physical one...

Anyway, touchscreen faders - yes please.

Wacom tablet functionality - yes please.

Minority Report-like video editing... !
 
Similar to the old Handspring PDAs with Springboard port

I believe this type of design is much like what Handspring did when they launched their Plam OS based PDAs with a springboard port some years ago, in that period of time instead of buying a Palm Pilot it was much better to buy a Handspring PDA, why? Because you had a way to expand your PDA with the right accesories, do you remember the GPS, the phone, even a vehicle scan tool, camera, etc... Very neat feature that soon evolved to what we currenlty know as Smartphones (the Treos and so on...).
Anyway, this is a nice topic for discussion, because like everything in life, when you are anlyzing to take a decision, you balance what you want vs what the market offer, and based on that some features will be there, and some will not or they'll too costly, but you have to make a choice!!!
Right now some smartphones allow you to do almost everything from just talk with it (it's a phone) even to watch live TV shows and connect to the web, emails, high quality video/photo recording, playback and even some edit...but...yes, but there is always something sacrifized, even it is money, type of service, with wi-fi/no wifi, bluetooth/no bluetooth, with QWERTY/no keyboard, touchscreen/plain screen, pull or push email service, palm os/windows BLABLA, etc...etc...

So this make me wonder, is Apple finnaly going to do it, once and for all, I have been waiting many many years for a nice Apple's PDA have it all type of device.

Have you ever wonder why the Newton was so great when it was launched, and why it died some time after? Well, sad but true it's all about money, so the add what you need/want feature of any device in this fast evolving tech market is a nice and competitive way to go.

Will Appple do it, or will just research it, or will just keep it as an strategic move? Who knows..probably only Mr. Jobs...

Well, I hope they make it, at least as a prototype that they we'll show in one of those Apple media shows, to at least crank all the other tech providers/accesories developers to start to offer alterantives with nice new solutions for people like us.

I like the idea, but remember there is always something to be sacrifized....you'll have to carry on all the gadgets you need to have a fully operational piece of hardware...or could you live with some standard features and carry on with what you don't have in your have it all portable device.....

Enjoy, have fun!!!

Dreaming is and always will be FREE!!!!
But to live your Dreams you'll have to pay a FEE!!!


SIDE QUESTION:
DUDE COULD YOU DETAIL WHICH VIDEO GAME SYSTEM WAS THIS ONE:
CTYankee said:
I had a video game sysem back in the 80s that did this...each game cartridge had its own interface and programming. It basicually used a the same touch pad to interpret the location of the finger pressing and the programing to tell it what to do with the input.
Click to expand...
________
herbal vaporizers
 
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