Everything returns. The first "computer" that passed my hands was a Sinclair ZX81. A colleague from the institute bought it for him. As it lacked storage, if we wanted to "play" something, we had to first type all the instructions for the game in Basic. My friend dictated them to me, taken from the monthly magazines that were published at the time, and I typed them. We would play with those huge black and white pixels for a while, and the next day, start over.
This "vintage" vibe is relevant because said ZX81 had a "keyless" keyboard. It was a single smooth plastic membrane with screen-printed keys, which you had to press to make contact with the printed circuit that ran underneath. Like those extra-flat Casio "credit card" calculators. Now Apple has patented a MacBook without keys, like that computer that Clive Sinclair invented. Everything returns.
Apple has been granted another patent related to a MacBook. A few weeks ago I posted another noticia on another patent that explained the idea of a MacBook with haptic zones on the case instead of the trackpad. On this occasion the new patent granted on March 30, 2021 seems to eliminate not only the trackpad, but also the full keyboard.
This new patent is entitled "configurable pressure sensitive input structure for electronic devices". The idea is to avoid the problem with mechanical keyboards, as Apple experimented with problematic butterfly-mechanism keyboards that suffered sometimes unsolvable defects when dust and dirt accumulated under the keys.
A single configurable smooth zone
An image that clearly reflects the idea of the patent.
In this patent, the input area, where a laptop's keyboard and trackpad are normally located, is a single-contact metal surface. Beneath this surface are two layers on which the input controls are built.
A pressure-yielding layer could offer the user input feedback and small translucent holes in the metal surface could allow buttons or edges to show through and accommodate different settings.
It is interesting that, according to the patent, the user can configure the entrance area himself. So instead of a qwerty keyboard, the entire surface could be used as a numeric keypad, or a single trackpad, for example.
We will see if one day this already patented idea will become a reality, or will simply remain filed as a patent more than the hundreds of them that remain in just ideas and projects.
