I'm looking down at my new wireless keyboard and I think that somebody, somewhere on the design team should get a good talking to. It's the second wireless keyboard/mouse combo that I've owned. The previous keyboard had very sticky keys, which if you're a person who types like a mad dog for a living, can be highly irritating, introducing unnecessary typos and reducing speed. I've been trying to justify buying a new set for a while and when my mouse started malfunctioning a couple of weeks back, I had my excuse. (OK, I might have dropped it a couple of times. On concrete. From the roof of the house.)
I admit there are things I like about the new keyboard. First and foremost, it has a lovely touch, letting my fingers fly. It's Bluetooth enabled, so I don't have to contend with the little wireless transmitter taking up space on my desk and adding more cables. The problem is that someone on the design team suffered from attention deficit disorder, or maybe OS envy, leading them to add a number of completely unnecessary features to both keyboard and mouse while leaving out things that could be genuinely useful.
The keyboard sports a one-inch by three-inch LCD display. Why a keyboard needs more than a few status lights, I'm not clear, given that its role is to enable computer and monitor. Nonetheless, it has one. ("I know, let's add a display. More functionality!") The primary purpose appears to be to show the time -- just in case I want to interrupt my work and look down from my computer screen, which already displays the time in the corner. It also tells me how many new emails I have in my Inbox -- which, go figure, my email application does as well (the keyboard also chirps when a new message arrives, in annoying counterpoint to the tone the mail application itself makes). The keyboard additionally sports a "calculator" button, in case I don't want to use my OS calculator, my smartphone calculator, my spreadsheet, or my cheapo standalone solar model. Or pencil and paper or my fingers -- it can only perform arithmetic.
The mouse features a deep dip where the thumb goes, which makes it awkward to hold. In the center of the dip lies a toggle switch that when pushed converts the computer display into a three-dimensional side view of all of the windows that you have open. You can use the toggle to cycle through them, with the rearward window drifting off into blackness like the crawl at the start of "Star Wars." I admit, it looks very cool, but the text isn't all that easy to read except on the first screen and I already get the same functionality through my OS. ("I know, let's add graphic file sorting capabilities. More, um, well, it'll look really neat.") More importantly, with the deep depression for the thumb, I continually find myself accidentally putting the display into "Star Wars" mode. The shape of the old mouse was more comfortable and the batteries lasted for six months at a crack versus a week.
"The previous keyboard had very sticky keys, which if you're a person who types like a mad dog for a living, can be highly irritating, introducing unnecessary typos and reducing speed."
It sounds like you may want to look into investing in a mechanical switch keyboard -- they generally run about $100. This guide has about as much information as you could ever need on the subject. I code on an old buckling spring IBM Model M and I could never go back to a rubber dome. I don't know if you could find a wireless model though, as many of them are marketed as "gaming" keyboards.
A really good designer/engineer makes things more simple, not more complicated.
Apple Computer's first mouse offering was as simple as could be - just one button to click. This didn't really meet the needs or desires of users; mice today have at least two, plus a scroll wheel.
Apple is very good at breaking ground with simple and elegant products, but to my view they always seem a bit too simple; the most popular products in the class have just a few more features. I-Phones pave the way, but popular phones have a few more basic navigation buttons.
OMG and WTF another acronym. WHAT IS A SOFTWARE SILO?
I was employed at a local tech company a few years ago. They install a new phone system. One day they scheduled an hour for us (the engineers) to learn how to use the new phones. How ironic - a room full of engineers (electrical and software) that had to be trained how to use the telephone because the thing had been made so complex that you couldn't just pick up the receiver and dial the damned thing.
Thanks Ockham!! When I was in undergrad systems engineering wasn't even offered as a degree. Now more and more colleges are offering it. Might I add that Johns Hopkins University in MD has an excellent MS Systems program. I may be a little bias since that's where I attended. lol
This issue is rampant – not just in electronics but in every area of our lives. I remember when I was soon to become a mom and we were making our purchases for our baby. Do we buy the play pen that converts to a sleeper that also plays classical music if the baby moves and has storage for diapers and necessities? Do we buy the stroller that converts to a baby chair? We'll need a camera to record all of these special events. This SLR camera can also take videos. What I have noticed is that the more combined functionality a product has, the less it tends to do any one function well.
As a test engineer, we had very specific requirements as to what the test set must do and we were usually under time pressure. We always hoped for time to do what we called "bells and whistles," but functionality was always the primary goal. If we did get to the "bell and whistle" stage, we also weighed the value that was added. Was it truly enhancing our product or was it fluff, and if it was an enhancement – could we do it well? We didn't want to squelch creativity that could improve a product but we didn't want to sacrifice solid functionality to it either.
BTW – I am SO WITH YOU about that mouse. I can't stand it when my mouse or touchpad takes me to the twilight zone just because I inadvertently brushed it a certain way. The mouse's functionality should be number one since that is a critical interface to all of our computer tasks. Just sayin...
Naperlou, as somewhat ex-circuit designers I agree as a designer we were just suppose to implement the design according to requirements. But believe it or not some places don't believe in generating requirements because they say it is a waste of time or money. I'm not talking about small companies I'm taking big defense contractor companies. It amazes me that they don't care or realize that poor or no requirements often results in poor designs. So pay me now or pay me later when it will cost you more.
Requirements should be generated by a systems engineer however a lot of places don't seem to understand systems engineering or the responsibilities. Often times when people find out I do systems engineering work they think I do IT, nothing could be further from the truth. I must admit I didn't completely understand what a systems engineer was until I got my master's in systems engineering. I had one company say I see you have a masters in systems engineering but what kind of engineering...like electrical, mechanical, etc.? I couldn't make them understand that "system engineering" was the discipline like electrical, mechanical, etc.
So as I see it, one of the main problems with requirements generation, analysis and the like is companies will stick anyone as a systems engineering and expect him/her to produce the technical documents like requirements with having a clue as to how to write requirements. Writing requirements is very difficult and important element to product/system/circuit development and shouldn't be taken as lightly as some of my clients and other companies do.
I will stop typing now, as systems engineering is one area that's frustrating to get companies/people to realize the importance of doing it and doing it correctly. Cheers,
I agree. Engineers are typically not the problem. It is the non-engineers or the engineer-wannabes that seem to create the majority of the problems - not intentionally, but through their ignorance. No silos (HW, SW, or HF) help! Silos are examples of regressive engineering management (unless you happen to be on a farm).
My approach is what I describe in the Medical Electronics Design article "Medical Device Mechatronics Maturity". Clients that engage in integrated engineering management (breaking down the silos) and resisting marketing's "gee whiz, I really need somemore cool stuff to talk about" seem to achieve faster and lower cost design cycles that actually meet stakeholder needs.
Actually this is a function of product management and market management, not engineering. Someone has to be in charge, and at most companies that is a separate function. In this case, the button on the mouse just invokes the windows button function on the keyboard (just an alternate button, really). A good product management effort would have tried this out prior to specifying it. The engineers really just respond to the requirements set for them by the product managers or systems engineers (on larger projects).
Kristin, that reminds me of the dotcom days. I was actually charged with developing an Internet enabled coffee maker, among other Internet enabled appliances that somebody was sure the world needed. Toothbrush, refrigerator, alarm clock, toaster? Yes, it all happened at one point in time. It's sort of like the patent medicine devices from Victorian Era; we really haven't evolved much, we just have different fads. I blame Marketing and Senior Management for most of the hype, and Engineers should do their best to lobby them for a more practical design. It becomes sort of a "me too" product requirement. If one wireless keyboard has an LCD display then Marketing is certain that the company will be up for auction if our company doesn't have one too.
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