John Landino’s couch may be comfortable, but it was never easy for him to sit back, relax and type. The keys were never at the right angle and there was no flat surface for a mouse. So he built the Phantom keyboard with a twirling, tilting mechanism for positioning it just right.
“The lapboard allows you to have complete and full keyboard and mouse interaction from just about any type of position,” he said. “You can use it as a lefty or righty.”
Bringing the keyboard to market was not easy — it has taken Mr. Landino’s company, Phantom Entertainment (phantom.net), three years to create it, and copies are just now being shipped from the manufacturing plant in China. He estimates that stores should be stocking it this spring at a price of $129.
Mr. Landino is not the only one focused on the keyboard. As computers shrink, more and more people aren’t content with the $10 model thrown in the box by the PC manufacturer. Some are embracing more exotic materials, some want a platform that works from an easy chair, some are demanding additional functions, and some just want a shape that places less stress on their aching hands and wrists. You can now spend more on a keyboard than on some desktop computers.
“We feel that many IT professionals take pride in choosing and using a high-performance keyboard in the same way many professional writers choose and use high-quality fountain pens and excellent typewriters,” said Kazuya Nakamura, a sales manager for Fujitsu’s keyboard division, PFU Ltd.
Last year, his company issued a limited-edition model with “Wajima-nuri lacquered keys that had been built into an elegant shaved aluminum body frame” for yen525,000, or $5,350. Its current, and less extravagant, line is sold primarily in Japan.
The living room and the bedroom are the next…