Technology: It's like typing in the dark
Take away a kid's training wheels, and he will learn to ride his bike. But can this tough-love approach to learning be expanded to other things, like learning how to type with your eyes on the screen and not safely on the keyboard?
The answer, according to Das Keyboard ($80 at www.Daskeyboard.com), is an unabashed yes. The sinister-looking Das Keyboard, made by Austin-based Metadot Corp., is clad all in black and contains no markings on any of the keys, thereby eliminating the point of looking at the board even though the urge still exists.
I should have realized I was out of my league when, as I opened the box, a piece of paper emblazoned with the words Ubergeeks Only came fluttering out. Although I spend a fair amount of time in front of a computer, I am just barely beyond the hunt-and-peck stage of typing. While I would probably fit right in with the guys on Beauty and the Geek, I don't think I'm the kind of user Das Keyboard's marketers had in mind.
Daniel Guermeur, the computer programmer cum keyboard minimalizer, said he came up with the design two years ago so he could learn how to type faster. "A piano has no markings; that's why you know it or you don't," he said. "I wanted to type."
Although the keyboard, which is both PC and Mac compatible, is meant to increase efficiency for people who spend most of their time typing, Guermeur said he discovered that using it became a symbol of prestige. "People told me, 'You must be really good if you use that,'" he said. Hence the "Ubergeeks-only" tagline.
The keyboard also aims to be more ergonomic by requiring different pressure to press down different keys, meaning that your pinkie won't have to hit the q key as hard as your index finger slams the b.
While the keyboard might not be of much use to casual typists like me, Guermeur's theory works. Eventually, your mind realizes the futility of looking at blank keys and switches to watching the screen. Mine did, and although certain letters—especially ones toward the middle of the keyboard—refused to cooperate, I found myself being forced with the choice between typing better and keeping my hands where they are supposed to be or letting Das Keyboard have the last laugh as I futilely glanced at its blank face.
And though nobody came in my office while I was using Das Keyboard to tell me how awesome a typist I must be, I felt cool with it on my desk—even if that did mean hiding my cheat-sheet regular keyboard on the floor.