Key
Features:
Numeric Keypad Free
Inadequate Palm Rest
Hard-to-reach Enhanced Multimedia Keys
New "Mammoth Technology" Space
Bar
3 USB Ports hidden in strategic locations. (To find them,
you must answer a series of riddles.)
"Designed for your Discomfort"
Your hands might be ready for a challenge and you don't even know
it. Why not put them to the test? Introducing a completely new style
of keyboard: the Microsoft Unnatural Keyboard Pro. With a new inverted
twist on the split keyboard design, you'll find the Unnatural Keyboard
Pro remarkably hard to type on -- in fact, you'll wonder how it
ever made it out of Microsoft R&D.
The Microsoft Unnatural Keyboard Pro design encourages a difficult
hand, wrist, and forearm position. Body circulation shuts down in
minutes, followed in the short-term by a tingling sensation in the
lower arms; and in the long-term by serious injury, and the development
of carpal tunnel syndrome. Its features include 15 hot keys that
provide one-touch access to the Internet, your e-mail, and to a
selection of highly underused multimedia controls which are accessible
with the mouse in one click anyway. The Microsoft Unnatural Keyboard
Pro comes with a three-hour manufacturer's warranty.
The keyboard comes with a USB connection and 3 additional USB connectors,
which have been hidden in three unique locations across the keyboard.
Once you've plugged it in, all you need to do is install the included
software, accept the usage agreement (which relieves Microsoft of
all responsibility for your health), and begin programming all those
too close together hot keys that run the length of the keyboard's
top. We found the volume control and general multimedia functions
to be the most useful, but there were also Internet and e-mail hot
keys such as Back, Forward, Stop, Refresh, Home, Favorites, and
Mail that made online activities a breeze. Due to their small size,
it is not uncommon to desire pressing Back on your browser and find
the window has closed itself for you. With such mysterious and unexpected
behaviour, the keyboard certainly has personality.
Pros:
Won't kill you
Cons:
May injure you
Uncomfortable to use
Keyboard action is difficult to get used to
After years of typing on a standard keyboard, we found getting
used to the new layout was quite difficult. After an hour or so,
we were typing less productively than we ever had before, and were
in extreme pain around the wrists and lower arms. Fingers have a
hard time finding the correct key because of the unnatural layout.
We found that Microsoft's placement of the cursor keys immediately
above the enourmous space bar made them almost impossible to use
without accidentally pressing space. We found using this keyboard
with games is a true test of your dexterity and stamina.
If the thought of being in utter, excrutiating agony doesn't bother
you and the inverted split layout appeals to you, the Microsoft
Unnatural Keyboard Pro has your name written all over it.
Live within your income, even if you must borrow to do it.
