Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard Re-Invents Backspace

Microsoft found that 90% of people hit the space bar with their right thumb (guilty as charged). Backspace also happens to be the third most-pressed key on the keyboard, the first two being Space and the “E” key.

That said, Backspace was never a feature on the original QWERTY keyboard. It was tacked on much later, and rarely used on mechanical typewriters since it required using manual correction tape.

Now that computers have made corrections effortless, touch typists’ right pinky fingers are being unnecessarily stressed, and typing in general has been slowed down due to this inefficiency.

 Microsoft’s Brilliant Keyboard for Windows 8 Tablets at least that’s the theory. ,It never felt that burdened by needing to use my right pinky to delete my typing mistakes (and I make a lot).

But I was still excited to try out Microsoft’s Sculpt for both the new key configuration and the curved ergonomic design.

The Feel
Both take getting some getting used to. The Sculpt feels a little curvier than, say, Logitech’s K350, which is one of the  favorite designs.

The keys have just slightly more resistance than you expect as well. There’s a removable wrist guard, which is annoying, They keyboard has nice rubberized “feet” so it stays in place firmly, but you would have preferred some risers in back.

But the extra Backspace key is where the action is. As a touch typist, you quickly that getting used to typing a different key position for anything let alone something as fundamental as Backspace  is terribly difficult.

If you’re going to be serious about using the Sculpt as your full-time keyboard, you’ll need to practice, practice, practice to train your left thumb to hit the new key.

We discovered that, while you don’t use left thumb to hit the space bar when your typing with two hands, for those times when your going one-handed (typically with half a sandwich in your right hand), ol’ lefty is all you’ve got.

That leads to some accidental deletions  and irritation,On the plus side, your happy to find that not only did the Sculpt work flawlessly with your  Mac, but so did its extra Backspace key.

That’s pretty cool for a Microsoft product that hasn’t even been released yet, though it probably speaks more to the built-in compatibility in Apple OS X than Microsoft’s engineering. But  Mac users shouldn’t fear the Sculpt.

Is There a Market?
People with multiple machines should, though, and there’s the rub. The Sculpt’s Backspace detour is actually a great idea, but it’s coming at the wrong time.

In an era where most people have both home and work computers, probably an older personal machine, and a couple of keyboard accessories, repositioning the Backspace key is a daunting mission. It needs to be an all-or nothing affair, or it’s simply not worth the hassle.

Still, the Sculpt Comfort is a fine wireless keyboard even without its signature trick. And for a small sect of touch typists, it’ll surely create a passionate following. Can it re-invent typing in the long term? That’s no small task (just ask the guys who designed Google’s Chromebooks), but all revolutions need to start somewhere.

Source:Mashable