The problem is, as I've been flamed for before, Linux is still nowhere near the point where a non-techie will consider adopting it.

I disagree, its more than ready.

My father is 70 and self-taught in terms of computers. He has a non-tech background, he worked for Customs and Excise, finding drug smugglers, identifying fraudulent tax and gambling schemes and implementing the dreaded VAT. Definitely not technical. Occasionally I get a call from him to ask "how do I do this?", or "what does this mean?", not much. He has used Windows all the time and refused to upgrade to Vista. He wants it to use Office, use the Web (Firefox), email (Thunderbird), write notes on historical research and do some image processing with his digital photos.

Then about a month ago out of the blue I found out that he had installed Ubuntu 8.10 on his PC. He was really happy with it. Everything worked, it even resized his partitions nicely and kept his Windows stuff as well.

As I write this he is setting up a refurbished Dell multimedia system with XP and Ubuntu with no help from me (other than to tell him to choose NTFS rather than FAT32 when installing XP).

Also, things *do* work with the latest Ubuntu. Its so much better than say a year ago. I recently setup two machines with Ubuntu and everything setup without me touching one config file, even the dual monitor ATI card. Just as easy (and faster) than setting up XP on the same hardware.

If a 70 year old non-techie can do that, anyone can. Linux has arrived, its called Ubuntu :-)

Stephen

Frequently the people at the top have no idea of the screws instigated in their name by the people lower down.

It seems in the US, from what I read on this topic, Lexus === old folks, but in the UK its a premium brand for all ages. Knowing this will happen has guaranteed I will never consider Lexus as a serious choice in the future (back to considering German only cars).

Thats seriously bad marketing.

I've lived with RSI since 1993 - you get used to recognising things that do not help ergonomically. This looks like one of those things.

One of the major problems with RSI is that prolonged activation of muscle groups leads to fatigue. The term for this is static loading.

This is why click and release mouse behaviour (to activate menus, then click again to choose) is better for your health than the alternative method (click and hold, release to choose) because the alternative forces you to hold the mouse button down until you make your choice.

This keyboard idea is doing the same thing.

I suspect healthy people may like this keyboard and those suffering from RSI will dislike it greatly.

Info on RSI and remedial exercises: http://www.objmedia.demon.co.uk/rsi/rsi_srk.html

Stephen

Peadophilia is, statistically speaking, less of a threat to your children than lightning.

Odds of being struck by lightning in the US. Do various searches on the internet. Values between 244,000:1 and 576,000:1.

Assuming a US population of 250 million, with the lower number, that means there should be about 1000 victims of paedophilia in the US per year.

With the higher number, about 500 per year.

Doesn't matter which you pick, you are wrong. Its still true if you have a US population of 350 million.