Think about how many keyboard shortcuts you’ve memorised. Now think about how much better your life would be if you knew a hundred, or a thousand, more. Why force ourselves to memorise shortcuts anyway, when we now have the technology to build infinitely customisable screens?
Why, indeed? With its new keyboard concept, Sonder is offering us a tantalising glimpse of a future where keyboards are no longer just a bunch of buttons with letters and numbers, but a set of miniature E-ink screens that can be programmed to display anything we want them to. Need to learn Chinese in a jiffy? Brush up on Photoshop and Illustrator? Maybe your computer is basically a Half-Life 2 machine, and while you couldn’t care less about QWERTY, you’d sure feel safer with a Gravity Gun button at your fingertips.
The possibilities of a keyboard equipped to show you anything are basically limitless. But we should try to temper our excitement for now — this product is still just a concept, we haven’t seen the software that will run it yet, and, while Sonder says it will be launching a Kickstarter later this year, crowdfunding campaigns that haven’t yet started come with an extra big grain of salt. Still, if you’d like to give Sonder your vote of confidence, you can pre-order one of these lovelies today for $US199. If and when memorising keyboard shortcuts goes the way of memorising phone numbers, you’ll be one of the first to enjoy the glorious new world.
