--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Nicholas Bodley" <nbodley@...> wrote:

> The one I'm typing on is a limited-production custom variation of an
> "also-ran", specifically an Adesso Eagle Touch. Other than custom

keytops

> (unfortunately, somewhat amateurish in places), the only difference

from a

> stock "qwerty" is some minor circuit changes (if any!) to make the

extreme

> far right key select either Dvorak or qwerty layouts. The rightmost

LED

> now indicates which layout is in use. The "chip" inside is definitely
> custom; that's where the major difference (and cost) lies.
>
> There are "chips" that can be programmed by semi-technical customers

to

> contain and sometimes manipulate a very wide variety of data; for

small

> lots, they would be the way to go.

I disagree. Both Windows and UNIX can be programmed to accept
non-QWERTY keyboard mappings. (I've got 4 set up on my PC now - US,
US-International, Thai Kedmanee (non-shiftlock) and KhmerOS.) It's
probably simpler to set-up a standard keyboard on Windows, but easier
for an idiosyncratic keyboard mapping for an X-terminal in UNIX. I
don't know how things stand with serious Input Method Editors (IMEs) -
I haven't a clue how to define dead keys for a UNIX system.

The chips would matter if you were trying to use extra keys.

Richard.