Title: Floppy Keyboard

The moment I saw a picture of the flat floppy keyboard in the newspaper, draped elegantly over the lap of a journalist with his feet up on the desk, I knew I had to have one. The write-up said you could even roll it up for stuffing handily into a briefcase or laptop satchel.

I've always despised the cramped keyboards that come on laptops. As an 85-words-per-minute touch typist, I hate having to stop and look for where they've hidden the '\' key this time. I imagined how my techie friends would gape in amazement when I casually unrolled my full-size keyboard and plugged it into the laptop.

I had another motive, also. I'd been doing rather too much typing recently, and sore wrists had me worried about repetitive strain injury in my hands. With a keyboard only 7 mm thick, my arms and hands could rest flat on the table and type without being held at an awkward angle. And according to the write-up, the keys were very sensitive to touch typing and almost silent.

So I promptly ordered the "SMART office" keyboard from Magnate Distribution Ltd. in Liverpool (0151 475 7795). There are also more expensive models called "SMART industrial" and "SMART laboratory" as well; these come with an 18-month warranty instead of the 12-month warranty for the office model. The gadget was shipped to me from Germany and is actually labelled "smart fun!" (exclamation mark included). It came attached to a large hang-up cardboard card with a plastic bubble over the keyboard - perfectly adequate, I guess, but for £60 plus VAT and shipping it might have looked a bit less casual, I thought.

However, the packaging was soon stripped off and disposed of, and the keyboard itself (if you ignore the unobtrusive "fun!" logo) is a normal putty colour and perfectly acceptable in serious company. It comes equipped with a two-meter cable ending in a normal keyboard connector (PS/2 systems require an additional adapter).

The SMART keyboard has lots of nice features: it's waterproof and dustproof, so you don't have to worry about spilling coffee on it, or smoking over it (not that I would do either!). And if something sticky does get on it, just wash it off with water or mild detergent. The industrial-strength keyboards will stand up to stronger cleaning agents. The "SMART fun!" will operate at temperatures from +5 to +50 degrees C, and the heavier-duty ones in more extreme ranges.

In a dusty or dirty environment, such as a primary school or a warehouse, a completely sealed and washable keyboard could be an asset. The keys can't be prised off or broken, either. On the other hand, it's not cheap and there are generic keyboards available that are, so you might prefer to use 'em up and throw 'em away, especially if the users are not seriously touch-typing all day long (unlikely in a school situation).

There are real electronics inside the rubber body, and the instructions say to treat the keyboard with some respect - don't strongly pull or twist it, or put a lot of pressure on it when folded, or poke it with sharp objects. Holding down both control keys at once will inactivate the keyboard, and it's recommended to do this before rolling it up. This could also be a useful feature if you are going to put something down on top of the keyboard (or if you have a really messy desk where things tend to pile up). I haven't done any stress testing to see how it would stand up to a lot of repeated folding up and travelling around in a computer bag.

Alas, the main purpose for which I bought the keyboard - relieving the stress of typing which was making my wrists and hands sore - was a total failure. The keys required such a firm pressure to operate that in only a few days my wrists were hurting much worse, and I had to switch back to the old keyboard. I keep telling myself that it's just a matter of getting used to the different action, of gently pressing the keys rather than striking them, but I haven't brought myself to try it again, even though the soreness is gone now. But it's still a neat gadget, even if only for certain situations, and if I do get used to typing on it you may see me casually unrolling it at a meeting someday.