> This keyboard has been out for ages, unless I am missing something here?
Not everyone works in finance and/or is familiar with Bloomberg terminals (like me). I think this is pretty interesting since Bloomberg, unlike most application developers, has taken their UX to the point where they're building application-specific hardware (though I understand a lot of that is basically legacy inertia).
Also, programmers seem to be far more interested in keyboards as a subject that most people.
I also thought the B-unit is interesting, it's different than any other authentication device I've used.
Being interesting is fine. But being misleading with a title is not. I can't imagine the backlash a title like "Brand new programming language from Google" would get if it was talking about Go.
Oh, I'm not criticizing that interest. It has a legitimate and practical basis given the amount of time programmers spend using keyboards and how integral they are to the performance of their job.
I'm surprised, like many other commenters on this thread, that there isn't a more ergonomic version of this, and that there doesn't appear to be an option for better keyswitches, like Cherry MXes. The world of Bloomberg terminals is totally foreign to me, and that makes them interesting.
These keyboards are ergonomically awful: an undifferentiated mass of completely flat buttons, with crappy keyswitches. Makes them slow and error prone. You can tell no one involved in the design process spent any time thinking about human hand anatomy. On the upside, production costs should be pretty cheap.
People making devices for “professionals” should take inspiration from keyboards produced in the 1970s–80s, which are generally much nicer than anything on the market today.
> keyboards produced in the 1970s–80s, which are generally much nicer than anything on the market today.
If you haven't picked up on it there has been a resurgence in engineering/design around mechanical keyboards. From switch design to keycaps and board layouts.
* Boards like the KBC Pok3r, the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional2 are readily available on Amazon. And novel designs like the Ergodox or The White Fox are available through group buys on massdrop or desk authority.
* Keycaps of many makes and profiles are being designed from a couple companies, designed by enthusiasts for group buys and made Signature Plastics and Tai-Hao.
* Mechanical Switches are being made by the Cherry which has been around forever, as well as new entrants Gateron and Kailh
Check out r/MechanicalKeyboards there is a lot of interesting stuff going on.
Yes, I have been an active member of geekhack and deskthority for a few years and have way more ebay keyboard purchases than I need cluttering up my closet, have tried pretty much every ergonomic keyboard ever mass produced, have designed keycap legends for Massdrop and proofed various Signature Plastics designs, have prototyped a couple dozen novel ergonomic keyboards, am friends with the keyboard.io and input.club people, suggested some ideas to Matias about their ErgoPro before it shipped, etc.
The point remains though, the keyswitches and keycaps common in the 1970s are much nicer than Cherry MX or its clones, or anything easily available today. All the currently available keycap profiles are noticeably worse than e.g. the profile IBM used on Selectric typewriters or beam spring keyboards in the 1970s.
My own preferred fix to the Ergodox concept is something along the lines of http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg (ignore the legends; my keymap is unrelated)
btw, these WEY keyboards are still using typewriter's layout, which is really bad. Few choices are also here: truly ergonomic keyboard, typematrix and again, kinesis.
I believe the reason for those fantastic keyboards of the 70s and 80s is their lineage from technological marvels like the IBM Selectric typewriter. Back in those days people had jobs like"typist", and for a brief period innovation meant helping people type faster and more accurately.
Yes, that’s right. And those typewriters cost several thousand dollars in 1970. The nicer keyboards from the 70s–80s would be $400+, adjusted for inflation, whereas the keyboard part of these Bloomberg keyboards probably have a marginal cost of <$10 (obviously they have some up front costs for injection molding tooling, etc).
It’s just kind of sad how they call these “professional” products when the core typing/keyboarding experience sucks, and they try to differentiate their product based on gimmicks instead.
These keyboards are so unpleasant. At one point I wished I could get keycaps printed for a different keyboard, but now it doesn't matter as I've memorized the keys anyway.
Any insider information which came with a Bloomberg terminal would be practically worthless. Every trader would have it.
You're probably confusing the sharing of insider information via the IM feature, which definitely does happen. But blaming Bloomberg for that makes about as much sense as blaming Apple for terrorists using iPhones.
The accusation is that Bloomberg uses data from the people using the terminals to inform their own trades. It popped up a little while back but I can't find the original articles.
> The Guardian also understands that JP Morgan also has concerns about how Bloomberg used information from its terminals while pursuing stories about Bruno Iksil, the trader known as the London Whale, who was blamed for massive losses at the bank last year. Bloomberg said it had blocked journalists' access to client data within 24 hours of receiving a complaint from Goldman.
Everyone is misunderstanding you. You're accusing Bloomberg of using data mined from the usage of the Bloomberg keyboard in order to make more informed trades.
What you pay for is not a mere data aggregater, it's practically everything you'll ever need in a single system. It wouldn't cost that much if it was just 'S,' it's something much more valuable.
I always suspected the cost was a function of the profits of the firms using them.
I think it is a smart move to force bundle the hardware and form the users' keystroke habits over a career. I imagine the switching costs are extreme.
I'm not a trader. I'm actually a programmer and just curious about a lot of things. One day, I contacted Thomson Reuters and asked to try their competing system, I think it was Elektron. It is a pure software system that I got bored with after a few days of exploring.
Probably Eikon? Elektron is Reuters' real-time data play, Eikon has much more of the news/data/analysis functionality of BB. It's terrible marketing, even from their pages it's pretty hard to differentiate [1] [2]
Regarding the amount he makes from the terminals and service, I don't doubt that's the major haul of any given year, year after year.
Not coincidentally, that's why I take his pontificating about finance and economics with a grain of salt - he was a tech savvy info delivery man who lucked into trapping people into a dog-shit ugly, expensive, and industry ubiquitous device.
It's along the lines of "I'll view Google as more than just an extremely successful ad agency when they make money on their other projects" which might not seem fair, but cuts through a lot of the enigma-like perspectives regarding tech firms.
So, you mean like the concept of a "loss leader" like when Best Buy sells new release under cost (ex. $9.99) then wants to sell the same customer a brand new $3,000 4K HDTV?
In that case, you'd really enjoy Charlie Munger's parable about the Shoebutton Prince.
The story goes that one of Charlie's distant relatives had cornered some part of the 1920's shoebutton market. Back then, shoebuttons were smallish ornaments you put on your shoes.
The success entitled the prince to pontificate on any and all things in unlimited fashion--especially those outside the realm of shoebuttons.
I do believe I would enjoy that parable because I think it happens a lot in the US culture. You know like listening to, ahem, certain anti-vaccine people simply because they were in a nudie magazine and on the TV for a while.
I don't agree with a lot of his political views but I'll trust him on the finance and economics front over a majority of politicians given that he worked for Salomon Brothers and arguably was an extremely well-accomplished mayor. Bloomberg is arguably a technology company delivering a product for the finance sector but he absolutely had the prerequisite domain knowledge to launch the company and propel it into what it is today.
Oh I agree regarding the business savvy and intelligence to put out a successful product and maintain a market share. The guy did an absolutely fabulous job of it, and I'm not sure it could be replicated.
Although, having worked in municipal finance on the Street for a couple years (somewhat back office, somewhat deal support) I can honestly say that a lot of the systems and information in certain sectors is pretty dated. As in, not very good by modern standards. The MSRB is trying with EMMA - but because there's no fiscal / competitive reward like in Bloomberg's info providing case, rather it's for regulatory and market stability - but a lot of stuff was still pretty old school.
I've designed an "Information as a Service" program targeting some of the most lucrative sectors in public finance (construction, transportation, education, etc) but still haven't mastered the design / handshakes with needed sources (ex. Thompson Reuters) to really call it ready to debut. Another issue is finding the right price point - Bloomberg's got a racket going, I'd just want to hit a good spot where most businesses could afford access, or put it at a value premium where having the information before others (arranged/conditioned by the system) would be worth larger expense. Eh, good times!
It may get a lot of negative comments but I think it's interesting something like this still exists, a custom piece of terminal hardware, that hasn't just been eaten by some iPad app or web app.
IMHO the reason it hasn't been turned into an app is to justify its price. Psychologically, people will pay more for hardware than software even if it does the exact same thing.
It has been turned into an app, they don't even sell terminals anymore. The keyboard, monitor, and biometric unit are just accessories that you plug into your existing computer, which aren't even necessary to use the software. This makes the shittyness of the keyboard even worse IMO, because they are trying to push these expensive, unnecessary things as a superior experience to the keyboard you already own. It's blatant marketing bullshit.
It's not a custom piece of terminal hardware. It's just like Excel or other software that you run on your computer. There's also a version that runs from a browser plugin, which is what I use when I'm running Linux.
It's the data that is difficult or impossible to get. I'd love to see what people did with access to the data, but there is no reason for Bloomberg to give away their huge advantage.
A lot of data you get through Bloomberg is repackaged from other sources. As far as I know, I don't use any Bloomberg proprietary data but there is a lot of data that while is not proprietary, it is essentially locked into Bloomberg due to the messaging platform. Pricing data for fixed income securities is a good example.
I've often found it very peculiar that while many industries have specialized input hardware, it is still the norm for developers to type awkward key combinations* for common programming symbols such as (,),{,},[,],=,<,> etc. which are be used in mass quantities all day, every day.
I understand how we got where we are, but it's nevertheless surprising that something like a modernized space-cadet keyboard isn't standard for developers. Or at least a programmable keyboard with a thumb-activated modifier key plus a home row key for the most commonly used symbols.
* SHIFT+<anything other than letters> is awkward if you have to do it enough. Especially laptops, which enjoy deviating from ANSI or ISO layouts. I've also heard it told that some international layouts make "[" and "]" especially unhandy.
Yes, we're actually in the midst of a new golden age of keyboard hardware (and hobbyist electronics in general). I've constructed a Planck from Ortholinear Keyboards and keep trying to find time to get it set up for my One True Programmer's Layout!
There is already specialized input hardware for development. It's already either attached to, bolted onto, or (poorly) emulated on every single computer you use.
I actually use a gaming keyboard for that very reason. It's got a set of thumb-activated macro keys that I've programmed for common things. There's even a part of me that wants to pick up a piece of Midi->HID software so I can use a DJ controller as a debugger tool for stepping through code, etc.
You just gave me a mental image of scratching a record to scroll through a stack trace, now there is absolutely no way I can end my day without a smile on my face.
Instead of a DJ controller, there are USB controllers for scrubbing through timelines in movie editors. Those are already HID devices, so probably much easier to integrate with your favourite IDE/editor/debugger.
Programming languages have evolved around the keys present on the QWERTY keyboard. It would be interesting to develop a programmers keyboard geared at providing more useful symbols for programming, and then write languages around the new keyboard.
When not programming, many of the symbols on the QWERTY keyboard are useless, and it's missing a lot of typographic symbols that I end up having to use shortcuts, character maps, or unicode for. It doesn't even have a real apostrophe or left and right quotes, let alone en and em dashes, bullets, or various space widths.
If you are savvy and feel its worth the cost, there are keyboards available that are fully programmable, depending on how much customization you need. A Poker 3 would be probably be the best option for something off the shelf, featuring 3 separate fully programmable layers. If you go diy, you can do literally anything.
Take control of your keyboard. At least Windows and Linux let you remap pretty freely. You probably have more than enough keys to do everything you want already, start remapping! A common path in is to remap Caps Lock to do something useful. (I favor Backspace, one of the keys that never shows up on the list of keystrokes if you just analyze text, but YMMV.)
However, it is still the case that even programmers will likely have the symbols off the beaten path a bit. Programmers still do a lot of not-programming, so it's hard for a symbol to displace even unpopular letters from the most convenient spaces. Your local written language will still end up dominating the keyspace.
Some mechanical keyboards let you configure this with DIP switches on the keyboard itself. My keyboard even came with an extra set of keycaps for swapping the caps lock and left control keys.
There has been some effort to make a keyboard layout better for programming, namely Programmer Dvorak. It's certainly not amazing by any means, as the reordering of the numerical keys really stinks, which is why I stick with the traditional dvorak layout (which actually has some disadvantages in curly-brace languages since the {} keys are right next to backspace and require moving my entire right hand off the home row to reach comfortably, whereas the traditional QWERTY locations can easily be hit by my little finger).
As much as neat devices like the data hand and other input devices make waves on HN every now and then, I feel most programmers are just like the rest of the world, they just use QWERTY because that's what they learned and never saw anything wrong with it.
It certainly takes time. I never learned how to touch-type on QWERTY (I got really fast at pecking at keys) - so taking the dive from ~30WPM to ~15WPM for the first two weeks wasn't too big of an issue, now if most of the online typing tests can be considered "good enough" I now type roughly between 80-95WPM on average using Dvorak - which is mostly excessive when it comes to my day job of programming since I spend more time thinking about what I'm trying to write than I do typing it, but it comes in handy when replying to comments on Hacker News and Reddit or when I have to type up documentation.
Honestly, symbols such as (, {, [, =, <, etc... are no harder to type than CaPiTaL LeTtErS. However, I have bound countless mathematical symbols, arrows, diacritics and the entire Greek alphabet to AltGr combinations. Heck, I have even made a AutoHotKey script to let me input Unicode codes when I hold down the fn button. I'm probably not the best person to judge difficult key combinations, and I don't even use vi!
The best part of using the mentioned symbols is that they are found on virtually every keyboard, you don't need a specialised input device.
You mention laptops being awkward to type on and yes the travel is bad, and the layout is often cramped, but it really depends on the laptop in question. I'm not a 3d modeller, accountant, or anyone who actually uses a num pad, so I am glad to not have one. With that said, my current laptop (Lenovo U430p) has my favourite keyboard layout yet - I miss it on my desktop.
It's not flawless. However, if I was to make changes I would basically change the fn modifier layout, and the labels. Reason why is that AutoHotKey is awkard compared to a custom keyboard layout. Maybe I should make a custom mechanical keyboard for my desktop.
These problems can be used in hardware, but also in software, e.g. with another keyboard layout for your specific topic or a good text editor.
While I don't believe that hardware is as hard/expensive to develop as software, I certainly know that it is harder to change. Changing software according to your needs is a one man weekend project. Especially if you are a software developer.
I used a bloomberg terminal at work. Yes it is a bit annoying if you dont use it everyday, but it is really nice when you get used to it. It has nice chicklets which have more action than a mac one.
Bloomberg terminals are super powerful and basically the defacto standard for traders. There is a great tutorial video on YouTube[1] that shows how to use the terminal and its functions. It is a really interesting watch.
- I can't re-map caps lock to be escape, what trash!
- This is so old!
- Too expensive!
- Dell makes cheaper monitors!
- Fingerprint authentication can be hacked.
But what everybody is not considering is:
1. You have to have a Bloomberg keyboard to work in finance. It's not even a question. It's a COGS for anybody who wants to work in finance or trading.
2. Bloomberg chat is Facebook messenger for finance people.
3. If your trading desk is bringing in $10M in profits/year, four Bloomberg terminals are a rounding error.
People who berate Bloomberg and it's tech need to have more empathy and ask why things are the way they are.
And the "terminal" is just software running on your existing PC. The same effect could be achieved by putting stickers on the keycaps of literally any keyboard.
Bloomberg software is certainly important because of the large ecosystem they created over the years. The keyboard and hardware around is not so. It's just Bloomberg way to advertise themselves using physical presence in every trading desk. It is a disrespect to customers, because if I had to pay I would require that a proper keyboard and hardware be used.
By the way, I have used Bloomberg terminals before with a traditional keyboard, and know that there is nothing special in that keyboard that cannot be done by similar hardware.
Yeah but learning short-cut keys might push out some of the super-duper-lingo-terms that get made up to obfuscate what's going on in high finance, so, the Bloomberg keyboard it shall be! /s
I agree with the sentiment in this post personally but I'd be willing to be good money that for the majority of terminal subscribers, adapting to a traditional keyboard would be a complete non-starter. They're kinda trapped but their own success and cannot do any immediate major changes that affect widespread use unfortunately.
They made one thing annoying: without a bloomberg keyboard you have to bring your B-Unit in front of your screen for 2fa instead of plugging it in the keyboard. Except for that, I fully agree with you. I find the bloomberg keyboard to be very heavy and frustrating to use. I returned it when it was delivered to my desk.
... and there are those of us who work (or have worked) on building it, are long-time HNers, and are always happy to answer questions and clear up FUD. It's a lot easier to have empathy when talking to a person instead of about a company :)
I have been a subscriber to the Bloomberg terminal for a full 17 years, the keyboard has been changed literally 4 times in that period, and I have yet to see one that is not a regression from the one that went before. Today you get a plasticky, flexy, Asia-made, chicklets device with capacitor touches whereas the original was a monstrous, metallic, mechanical beast, IBM-style. It would have made the massdrop community swoon, with its retro vibe and indestructible build.
For the past 10 years I have not used a bb keyboard. They provide a separate finger sensor if desired (as they should - it costs 1800 dollars a month for subscription), and you can always use your b-unit.
The bloomberg keyboard is a dinosaur that dates back from the UI of Bloomberg's 1980s ethos -> the mainframe. It even has the command line in the top of the screen, old System/360 style. The colour coded keys are almost an embarrassment, reflecting the embarrassingly bad UI. Bloomberg is 10 000 different pieces of functionality of which the average user uses 1%. It's a catastrophically badly done taxonomy of (what is, underlying, awesome) functionality. That's why they have so many Bloomberg "reps" who come over constantly to show you new stuff. These poor guys are compensating for the fact that all the good stuff is extremely difficult to find.
Thanks Bloomberg for the new 80 dollar toy. That'll be about 5% of my monthly subscription price then. Doesn't hide the fact that your entire UI is prehistoric.
The original was nice, but this one is definitely a big step up from the one that came before, which (while still heavy and monstrous) was one of the worst keyboards I've ever used, with complete lack of feedback. This one is actually quite decent, better than most desktop keyboards.
Why not a OLED or similar keyboard that displays the special keys? They are after a small space on the desk being able to remap the keys would be a huge bonus. Back in 2013 people demoed these, I would think that now they would be something that would fit in Bloombergs price range
I think entering orders manually is a use case that is getting obsolete very quickly. There are plenty of use caes outside of trading. How about calling a chart for a ticker, e.g. Equity AAPL GO
On a related note does anyone have recommendations for free/open CLI tools or APIs for accessing public financial data? Ideally also executing trades.
And no, I don't think I could build my own little hedge fund, or beat the market, but it would be interesting to know what one could build on top of if one wanted to try that. Or build custom info dashboards.
"hardware is more expensive to produce than software"
This was posted as a joke here, right? People here actually know tech (and therefore don't believe stuff like the quote) and many people may never have heard of a brand for Wallstreet guys (so no impact from the "big" name, at least from all people I showed this to and laughed about it together).
111 comments
[ 198 ms ] story [ 2705 ms ] threadOn a side note, hated my B-unit, always took 5+ lengthy swipes to register.
Not everyone works in finance and/or is familiar with Bloomberg terminals (like me). I think this is pretty interesting since Bloomberg, unlike most application developers, has taken their UX to the point where they're building application-specific hardware (though I understand a lot of that is basically legacy inertia).
Also, programmers seem to be far more interested in keyboards as a subject that most people.
I also thought the B-unit is interesting, it's different than any other authentication device I've used.
http://www.bbhub.io/professional/sites/4/2015/03/b-unit_3_us...
They worry about keyboards because it's one of the professions where RSI is common.
http://www.looknohands.me
http://markmcb.com/2014/10/13/severe-hand-rsi-pain-and-recov...
http://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/wrist.php - Stanford professor and creator of TCL
Here are plenty of other stories: https://github.com/melling/ErgonomicNotes
I'm surprised, like many other commenters on this thread, that there isn't a more ergonomic version of this, and that there doesn't appear to be an option for better keyswitches, like Cherry MXes. The world of Bloomberg terminals is totally foreign to me, and that makes them interesting.
People making devices for “professionals” should take inspiration from keyboards produced in the 1970s–80s, which are generally much nicer than anything on the market today.
In the same general market, WEY makes much nicer keyboards than Bloomberg, e.g. http://www.weytec.com/en/products/wey-keyboards/mk06-keyboar...
You'd think they could splurge a little on keyswitches given that it costs $20k a year to use one (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomberg_Terminal).
Though it was kinda funny watching the guy in the video hunting-and-pecking on a 80s chiclet keyboard that could've come from a TRS-80.
If you haven't picked up on it there has been a resurgence in engineering/design around mechanical keyboards. From switch design to keycaps and board layouts.
* Boards like the KBC Pok3r, the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional2 are readily available on Amazon. And novel designs like the Ergodox or The White Fox are available through group buys on massdrop or desk authority.
* Keycaps of many makes and profiles are being designed from a couple companies, designed by enthusiasts for group buys and made Signature Plastics and Tai-Hao.
* Mechanical Switches are being made by the Cherry which has been around forever, as well as new entrants Gateron and Kailh
Check out r/MechanicalKeyboards there is a lot of interesting stuff going on.
The point remains though, the keyswitches and keycaps common in the 1970s are much nicer than Cherry MX or its clones, or anything easily available today. All the currently available keycap profiles are noticeably worse than e.g. the profile IBM used on Selectric typewriters or beam spring keyboards in the 1970s.
As far as keycaps are concerned, you might enjoy these little props I made last year: http://i.imgur.com/kFxqOm8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M3tQybL.jpg
My own preferred fix to the Ergodox concept is something along the lines of http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg (ignore the legends; my keymap is unrelated)
It’s just kind of sad how they call these “professional” products when the core typing/keyboarding experience sucks, and they try to differentiate their product based on gimmicks instead.
Edit: corrected for year
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...
You're probably confusing the sharing of insider information via the IM feature, which definitely does happen. But blaming Bloomberg for that makes about as much sense as blaming Apple for terrorists using iPhones.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/may/10/bloomberg-goldm...
> The Guardian also understands that JP Morgan also has concerns about how Bloomberg used information from its terminals while pursuing stories about Bruno Iksil, the trader known as the London Whale, who was blamed for massive losses at the bank last year. Bloomberg said it had blocked journalists' access to client data within 24 hours of receiving a complaint from Goldman.
Interestingly, Goldman Sachs recently launched its own "Bloomberg Terminal killer", Symphony: http://qz.com/501783/the-goldman-sachs-backed-bloomberg-term...
Funny quote from the QZ article:
> At a cost of more than $20,000 per year per terminal, Bloomberg is an extremely expensive system for users mostly interested in its chat features.
I think it is a smart move to force bundle the hardware and form the users' keystroke habits over a career. I imagine the switching costs are extreme.
I'm not a trader. I'm actually a programmer and just curious about a lot of things. One day, I contacted Thomson Reuters and asked to try their competing system, I think it was Elektron. It is a pure software system that I got bored with after a few days of exploring.
[1] http://financial.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/data-analyti... [2] http://financial.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/tools-applic...
Not coincidentally, that's why I take his pontificating about finance and economics with a grain of salt - he was a tech savvy info delivery man who lucked into trapping people into a dog-shit ugly, expensive, and industry ubiquitous device.
It's along the lines of "I'll view Google as more than just an extremely successful ad agency when they make money on their other projects" which might not seem fair, but cuts through a lot of the enigma-like perspectives regarding tech firms.
For example: * Magazines provide content in their subject area. * Yahoo: provides content apps and content.
The story goes that one of Charlie's distant relatives had cornered some part of the 1920's shoebutton market. Back then, shoebuttons were smallish ornaments you put on your shoes.
The success entitled the prince to pontificate on any and all things in unlimited fashion--especially those outside the realm of shoebuttons.
Although, having worked in municipal finance on the Street for a couple years (somewhat back office, somewhat deal support) I can honestly say that a lot of the systems and information in certain sectors is pretty dated. As in, not very good by modern standards. The MSRB is trying with EMMA - but because there's no fiscal / competitive reward like in Bloomberg's info providing case, rather it's for regulatory and market stability - but a lot of stuff was still pretty old school.
I've designed an "Information as a Service" program targeting some of the most lucrative sectors in public finance (construction, transportation, education, etc) but still haven't mastered the design / handshakes with needed sources (ex. Thompson Reuters) to really call it ready to debut. Another issue is finding the right price point - Bloomberg's got a racket going, I'd just want to hit a good spot where most businesses could afford access, or put it at a value premium where having the information before others (arranged/conditioned by the system) would be worth larger expense. Eh, good times!
I understand how we got where we are, but it's nevertheless surprising that something like a modernized space-cadet keyboard isn't standard for developers. Or at least a programmable keyboard with a thumb-activated modifier key plus a home row key for the most commonly used symbols.
* SHIFT+<anything other than letters> is awkward if you have to do it enough. Especially laptops, which enjoy deviating from ANSI or ISO layouts. I've also heard it told that some international layouts make "[" and "]" especially unhandy.
A programmer's qwerty would be pretty handy, too.
Edit: and there's plenty of programmable keyboards, like ergodox (https://ergodox-ez.com/, though I'm not sure if that's the canonical url).
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/298670-REG/Contour_SPR...
When not programming, many of the symbols on the QWERTY keyboard are useless, and it's missing a lot of typographic symbols that I end up having to use shortcuts, character maps, or unicode for. It doesn't even have a real apostrophe or left and right quotes, let alone en and em dashes, bullets, or various space widths.
However, it is still the case that even programmers will likely have the symbols off the beaten path a bit. Programmers still do a lot of not-programming, so it's hard for a symbol to displace even unpopular letters from the most convenient spaces. Your local written language will still end up dominating the keyspace.
I've made my own keyboard layout using Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator which unfortunately doesn't support rebinding the modifiers.
It sort of works, but you're much better off doing it in the registry: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MovingTheCtrlKey#toc18
As much as neat devices like the data hand and other input devices make waves on HN every now and then, I feel most programmers are just like the rest of the world, they just use QWERTY because that's what they learned and never saw anything wrong with it.
The best part of using the mentioned symbols is that they are found on virtually every keyboard, you don't need a specialised input device.
You mention laptops being awkward to type on and yes the travel is bad, and the layout is often cramped, but it really depends on the laptop in question. I'm not a 3d modeller, accountant, or anyone who actually uses a num pad, so I am glad to not have one. With that said, my current laptop (Lenovo U430p) has my favourite keyboard layout yet - I miss it on my desktop.
It's not flawless. However, if I was to make changes I would basically change the fn modifier layout, and the labels. Reason why is that AutoHotKey is awkard compared to a custom keyboard layout. Maybe I should make a custom mechanical keyboard for my desktop.
While I don't believe that hardware is as hard/expensive to develop as software, I certainly know that it is harder to change. Changing software according to your needs is a one man weekend project. Especially if you are a software developer.
[1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LE8HiHZcgEE
- Ergonomics sucks!
- I can't re-map caps lock to be escape, what trash!
- This is so old!
- Too expensive!
- Dell makes cheaper monitors!
- Fingerprint authentication can be hacked.
But what everybody is not considering is:
1. You have to have a Bloomberg keyboard to work in finance. It's not even a question. It's a COGS for anybody who wants to work in finance or trading.
2. Bloomberg chat is Facebook messenger for finance people.
3. If your trading desk is bringing in $10M in profits/year, four Bloomberg terminals are a rounding error.
People who berate Bloomberg and it's tech need to have more empathy and ask why things are the way they are.
Edit: It's just a regular USB keyboard for windows apps. Remap away!
By the way, I have used Bloomberg terminals before with a traditional keyboard, and know that there is nothing special in that keyboard that cannot be done by similar hardware.
http://nypost.com/2016/01/14/bank-of-america-set-to-cash-on-...
I have been a subscriber to the Bloomberg terminal for a full 17 years, the keyboard has been changed literally 4 times in that period, and I have yet to see one that is not a regression from the one that went before. Today you get a plasticky, flexy, Asia-made, chicklets device with capacitor touches whereas the original was a monstrous, metallic, mechanical beast, IBM-style. It would have made the massdrop community swoon, with its retro vibe and indestructible build.
For the past 10 years I have not used a bb keyboard. They provide a separate finger sensor if desired (as they should - it costs 1800 dollars a month for subscription), and you can always use your b-unit.
The bloomberg keyboard is a dinosaur that dates back from the UI of Bloomberg's 1980s ethos -> the mainframe. It even has the command line in the top of the screen, old System/360 style. The colour coded keys are almost an embarrassment, reflecting the embarrassingly bad UI. Bloomberg is 10 000 different pieces of functionality of which the average user uses 1%. It's a catastrophically badly done taxonomy of (what is, underlying, awesome) functionality. That's why they have so many Bloomberg "reps" who come over constantly to show you new stuff. These poor guys are compensating for the fact that all the good stuff is extremely difficult to find.
Thanks Bloomberg for the new 80 dollar toy. That'll be about 5% of my monthly subscription price then. Doesn't hide the fact that your entire UI is prehistoric.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24/elan_flan_enterprise...
This in that the UI reminds me of one of the tile based ones found on *nix.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05/16/gummi_bears_defeat_f...
http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-and-threats/apple...?
1) Voice controls, e.g. Amazon Echo
2) Pluggable custom key extension sideboard decoupled for the main keyboard so that extension board can be easily customized.
And no, I don't think I could build my own little hedge fund, or beat the market, but it would be interesting to know what one could build on top of if one wanted to try that. Or build custom info dashboards.
This was posted as a joke here, right? People here actually know tech (and therefore don't believe stuff like the quote) and many people may never have heard of a brand for Wallstreet guys (so no impact from the "big" name, at least from all people I showed this to and laughed about it together).
Does that mean that anyone with a picture of my finger can access my account?