I remember having a conversation with a relative some months ago concerning wireless keyboards and mouses. I have from time to time considered purchasing one or the other or both, but never have for the obvious reasons that they depend on batteries. That’s an expense and inconvenience I’d rather not have with any device that can single-handedly make or break a good computer setup. Could the pros of having wireless extremities such as those make it worth it? Absolutely not.
Nevertheless, while browsing through a secondhand store recently, I happened upon a small desktop keyboard with a much desired and sought-after layout similar to my IBM ThinkPad’s. It even had a built in cursor mover (mouse). The only thin was, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, it was wireless. As I’ve said, I have long wanted a keyboard like it; small, without that god-awful numpad sticking out in butt-fucked right field. (Seriously, what purpose does the keypad have on a home PC? It’s not like were checking groceries at our desktops. It’s totally redundant to have two sets of numbers on the PC keyboard. And to top it all off, it throws the whole keyboard off center, which means we have to sit with our arms unnaturally to our far left anytime we need to type. It literally does not make any sense.)
Anyway, I bought the keyboard with the intention of testing whether it worked and maybe convertinging the power source to be wired instead of battery powered. It only takes two AA’s, so it wouldn’t be hard to wire it up to a basic AC to DC power adapter. The wireless signal I wouldn’t change, the vulnerability is primarily in the power source. Anyway (again), I promptly forgot about it. Though I did make it a point to buy some batteries a few weeks later, though I could not remember for what. :”>
Enter the Sony Playstation 3. For months now I have been craving a good game console and some quality game play time, so two weeks ago, I bought a PS3. (Totally fun, way awesome system!) As you may or may not be aware, the PS3, like all next gen game consoles, comes with wireless accessories, the controller for instance. The way Sony pulled this technique off, was to have the controller rechargeable via a USB cable. Ingenious! All a player has to do is plug the device in whenever it’s convenient, we can even play while its charging.
If computer accessories used that approach to wireless extremities, I won’t hesitate to purchase them. Especially if they didn’t freeze the computer every time the power pack became too low to send signals. With the PS3, when the control doesn’t function, such as when it’s out of power or turned off, the PS3 system doesn’t freeze. That’s the ultimate hotplugger right there. Just plug it in (to charge) or turn it on, and viola, everything’s fine, no hassle, no inconvenience, no messy hard-booting, and no wasted time.
Today, I found that wireless keyboard I had bought batteries for and hooked it up. I’ve been using this whole time while writing this blog entry. Very nice. I didn’t like the little mouse thingy though, so I’m using my real mouse. It’s nice to sit back and use it’s symmetrical layout in my lap. Before, when I was always fumbling with an over-sized board which never sat right in my lap because of that blasted numpad… I think I’ll get used to this real quick. Some buttons are in new places and some others stick, but overall, its not more than I can handle. Looks like I’ve got some soldering to do in the near future because, even with all the pros going for it, it still runs on batteries.
