Mouse + keyboard = Combimouse 5 Oct 2006

The demo video makes operation look fairly smooth (well it would now wouldn't it?), but we're not sold. It feels a little unfair to be critical of something we haven't personally tried yet (please bear this disclaimer in mind as you read the rest of this post) but the design does seem a little problematic.

Perhaps the main selling point of this device is that you don't have to take your hands off the keyboard to grab the mouse. (The constant transitioning between keyboard and mouse is something that frustrates many an experienced computer user). But while making the mouse part of the keyboard goes some way towards addressing this problem, it introduces a new issue:

One of the most important qualities in a mouse is ease-of-movement - you want to be able to move your mouse around fluidly so that drag-and-drop and other gestural movements can be completed quickly and without interruption. By contrast, one of the most important qualities in a keyboard is steadfastness - the exact opposite of ease-of-movement. You don't want your keyboard to move at all. You don't want to be chasing it around when your trying to type that important memo. And you especially don't want the right-hand side moving away from the left (unless you're determined to look like Jean Michel Jarre).That's why manufacturers put little rubber feet on them. This, it seems, makes mouse and keyboard uncomfortable bedfellows.

The mouse-keyboard combo also seems a little too big to be pushed around fluidly. The marketing spiel assures us that it isn't heavy, but even so, it's shape and dimensions make it look unwieldy and difficult to use. One of the main complaints associated with usage of a standard mouse is its propensity to induce RSI. The way it needs to be held, moved and manipulated can over time cause arm, wrist and finger pain. Combimouse does nothing to address these issues.

It's also worth noting that the mouse is designed to be used with a cupped hand - an essential ingredient that contributes to its ease-of-movement. The keyboard, however, is designed to be used with palms flat on its surface, fingers slightly bent. These are two different hand configurations, so the Combimouse must force a trade-off making either mouse usage inefficient or keyboard usage inefficient at different times.

One on the main advantages of a standard mouse is that you can place it to either the right or left of your keyboard. (This is even easier with a wireless mouse, as you do't need to worry about tangling its cord). With the Combimouse, however, you're screwed if you're left-handed! (Yes, they could make a left-handed version of the design, but that wouldn't solve the problem for those that must share a computer with us rightees).

Having a set of keys underneath your right palm is asking for problems. As you operate the mouse, you're bound to slip and fat-finger (or fat-palm) any number of keys accidentally. Murphy's law says that this will always include backspace and delete! (OK, so it sounds like there's a switch that disables the keys when in "mouse mode", but there's bound to be some fat-fingering immediately before and after you press it - especially since you need to press a bunch of keys to produce a mouse click!).

Despite all of the above, the biggest usability problem lies in their having modified the standard QWERTY layout to accomodate the mouse. Look closely at the right-hand section of the keyboard and you'll see that keys like "?", delete and backspace have been moved from their traditional positions. On a standard keyboard, these keys live in the top-right corner, however, in the Combimouse keyboard, they've be placed in the bottom-right corner. Other keys have been made a lot smaller (check out the right-hand shift key!), have changed shape or have been stacked (see the function keys) to fit the keyboard's form. The left and right arrow keys don't even line up anymore!

Tinkering with the QWERTY layout is a bad idea. Very bad, in fact. The QWERTY layout is familiar to millions and deeply entrenched in the minds and muscle memory of those that have learned to touch type (at least, in the Western world it is). Messing around with this layout means that these users can no longer rely upon finding the keys in the positions they anticipate - which can only result in lost productivity and frustration. If the Dvorak layout - a layout that has repeatedly been proved the most efficient keyboard design around - cannot conquer the QWERTY layout, there is little hope for Combimouse's layout.

Finally, don't the manufacturers of this device know that no keyboard is really complete without a built in phone?! ;-)