MathCurvesSurfacesWallpaper GroupsGallerySoftwarePOV-Ray
ProgramingLinuxPerl PythonHTMLCSSJavaScriptPHPJavaEmacsUnicode ♥
Web Hosting by 1&1

Maltron Keyboard Review

Xah Lee, , …,

The Maltron keyboard, made by a company in UK http://www.maltron.com/.

Maltron keyboard
Maltron keyboard, with Maltron layout. 3104×1948 img src amazon

Here's the Maltron in action.

Maltron Ergonomic stenography touch typing audio transcription. (saxeharp 2011-03-06)

The Maltron is similar to Kinesis Contoured Keyboard (Maltron designed it first. According to online sites, Kinesis copied the design). However, Maltron's more expensive and ugly. Each Maltron is individually ordered and crafted, not mass produced, and priced about USD$600, as of .

Maltron flat keyboard
The flat version “Maltron 2d flat keyboard”. About USD$470 as of . img src 3016×2088

The Maltron comes with QWERTY or Dvorak keyboard layouts, but also available is its own Maltron keyboard layout.

Maltron keyboard layout US
Maltron keyboard US layout. img src

Am not sure why they have to invent the Maltron layout since Dvorak is already there. Perhaps due to patent issues at the time. According to their marketing material, the reason given is basically “more efficient than Dvorak”, but i'm not sure the improvement is necessary unless you are a data-entry clerk (as opposed to a writer, programer.). 〔☛ Keyboard Layout: What is the Most Efficient Layout? Dvorak vs Colemak?

One problem that Maltron never appealed to me is because of its ugliness. Here's a Google employee reviewing Maltron vs Kinesis.

Following is another Maltron review, by a professional typer (the stenography typer in the video above). This means, if you are a programer, even if you work 60 hours weeks, the actual typing done by this guy is probably 10 times yours. (i myself was once a data-entry clerk) His article is a very good one.

maltron keyboard old
old Maltron keyboard. Photo by Nick Alcock
blog comments powered by Disqus