I spilt a little bit of water on my keyboard last night, just a tiny bit, like 2 tablespoons. This morning many of my keys no longer worked. Having had this problem before I knew that the water had shorted out some connections. I wonder why there cannot be a thin plastic membrance between the outside world and the electronics of a keyboard... it'd be so simply and prevent spill damage, but whatever...
So I went to Comp USA to get a new one, which is where I usually go. They didn't have any simple ergonomic keyboards. 85% of their inventory were keyboard/mouse combos, wireless, multimedia, a whole bunch of functions you'll never use but that will require that you to install drivers and controlling software on your PC (yay bloatware!).
The remaining 15% was made up of plain square keyboards, and singular multimedia ones. They only had one ergonomic keyboard, this "Microsoft 4000" behemoth that was full of multimedia functions I Did not want. Plus it was a different style. Rather than a more gradual slope towards the center it sorta peaked more steeply.
IT used to be nearly every keyboard was ergonomic... but whatever.
Now, what is the point with these multimedia keyboards? Multimedia buttons on everything from your monitor to your toaster were all the rage in the 90's, specifically on compaqs, until people realized that they sucked (or dell showed people that you didn't need them and you could save money by not paying for them). The problem with them is that they required software controls to work and that this software would always be running on your system sucking up system resources, and buttons are didn't always work well. Plus, who really needs a "web homepage" button at the top of your keyboard?
Really, I only see the extremely computer illiterate get any comfort out of multimedia keyboards. You know like old people who have an easier time understanding pushing a physical button rather than clicking a link.
Now does anyone here think that society as a whole is growing less computer literate? I don't, I think its obvious that as time passes computer literacy increases. So why have keyboards morphed into these multimedia behemoths?
Plus these of course have to use USB. I for one do not find USB ports nearly as reliable as PS2 ports. It probably has something to do with it being hotswappable. But I get irregularities with all my USB peripherals.
So. I went to comp USA, RadioShack, BestBuy, OfficeMax, Staples, Meijer (Grocery store with electronics section) Target, and Walmart. None of them had a plain ergonomic keyboard. Most didn't carry a single ergonomic keyboard, and if they did it was that MS one I mentioned.
I eventually found what I needed with the help of froogle
http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cl...le&scoring=mrd
Until it arrives I guess I'll use some old square one I have somewhere.
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