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Thanks to Google we may just be seeing the end of the space bar as we know it on our computer keyboards. The company has patented a new extended trackpad for use on its netbook computers, the website Quartz has reported.
Can anyone actually imagine a keyboard without a space bar on it? How will we add spaces between characters when typing?
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The so called Millennial generation grew up without type writers and does not even know what an audio cassette looks like. But no space bar?
How exactly will this work and why does Google think that people would be better off without one?
According to Quartz, Google’s new patent has a line or ridge separating the upper part of the trackpad. This will be the space bar. It explained that, “A set of sensors that sit under the trackpad would determine whether the user wants a space bar or a mouse: A single tap when the user has been typing will create a space, but a tap while the using the trackpad as a mouse will result in a mouse click.”
O.K., but why? Well this would save space and allow for even smaller computers. But a Google rep told Quartz that just because the company got a patent for the new trackpad does not mean that it will definitely use one.
He said that, “prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents.”
But why stop there? The reason for the way in which letters are organized on keyboards is because on typewriters it was necessary to put the most used letters on the outside. This was to prevent the keys from bumping into one another. But this reason does not apply with computers.
So maybe it is time to arrange keyboards in alphabetical order, making it easier for people to learn how to type. Or how about a program which will let people make up their own orders for the keys? There could be personal settings so that different people can use the same computer with different keyboard arrangements. Isn’t it about time for something like that and it really should not be so difficult?
