Apple invents a laptop concept that reimagines the keyboard
Apple’s thinnest laptop yet, the MacBook, has a new keyboard with a mechanism in which its keys have nearly no depth, meaning that the device can be thinner than ever.
But if news coming out of the Apple factory are any indication, then they are considering killing off the laptop’s keyboard entirely.
The movement will then be towards a completely flat touch surface, according to a patent the company filed last fall and was published recently.
The invention, a ‘configurable, force-sensitive input structure for an electronic device,’ describes a way to interact with an electronic device. The patent's pictures show a laptop like a MacBook.
Essentially, what it means is that Apple is experimenting with ‘zero-travel’ input. A touchscreen, for instance, is a zero-travel input — when you press on it, there is no physical mechanism that moves.
But the recent invention is more like the ‘Force Touch’ trackpads that Apple has included on recent MacBooks that rely on haptic technology. Instead of clicking, a layer senses the force that the user's fingers impart to the surface and when pressed down, instead of the trackpad actually moving, a small motor provides a sensation as if you're actually clicking.
So instead of keys, a future MacBook could have a flat surface that you can type on.
This patent takes that idea to the next level, and seems to indicate that this kind of haptic technology can be configured for a laptop keyboard, a number pad, or a track pad, all with the same general input structure. Furthermore, the positioning of these haptic keypads can be configurable — so your laptop might have a number pad for Excel sessions, and switch to a gamepad for playing games.
Apple even says that ‘micro-perforations’ in the casing may be able to light up to give the user the guidelines of a keyboard, for instance, without the battery drain of a full touchscreen.
Courtesy: businessinsider.com
Shuib, They entice you ...........
WT has got it right .........................
I guess it's more social pressure. My neighbor has it, oh, I've gotta have it, too. An economy that flourishes requires idiots!
What is media advt pressure?
Shuib, I agree but they bring items & people just buy even though they need it or not because of the media advt. pressure ................
MM - If Apple inc. was after public's money as you say, they would've made machines that cost less and increase their sales volume which is not the case.
Where companies like Acer fail, Apple flourishes. There is no comparison between them.
They are after public's money ............................
Your right this is nothing new. back in 2010/11 Acer launched the Iconia 6120 with a touch screen instead of a keyboard....it flopped
This is nothing new.. People have experimented with Virtual and solid keyboards before..
It is just something new to get used to
It's easier to unplug the machine. That really shows your superiority. Just shut it off.
Getting used to this new concept for people who like to crunch the keys on their keyboards make take some time. I fail to understand this need of many people to crunch the keys and hit the space bar or return key so hard. One of my co workers told me that this way one displays his dominance over the machine which is totally lame.
Let's see how they adapt to this new concept.