Posts by David Robinson

Apple 24in iMac (March 2009)

Numeric keypads

Apple once offered a solution to which it might usefully return. The Apple Adjustable Keyboard, which certainly dates from the introduction of the first PowerPC computers, if not before, came with a separate numeric keypad unit.

The separate keypad unit offered two advantages:

1. one could choose to use it or not

2. the keypad unit could be connected at either end of the keyboard; even a right-handed user could operate the keypad with the left hand, allowing the mouse or other pointing device to be positioned closer to the user.

The Apple Adjustable Keyboard also allowed the user to choose a conventional configuration or to angle the two halves into a more ergonomically correct configuration. It was an innovative solution which preceded at least most of the "ergonomic keyboard" solutions. It wasn't perfect, because the keys were flat (to minimise strain it is desirable that the two halves of the keyboard slope down from the centre), but it acknowledged basic ergonomics and gave the user choice.

Apple's keyboards are visually elegant. They demonstrate good taste and I regard the decision to offer compact versions as evidence of good judgement. It would be very good, though, to see Apple do some imaginative and radical design work and offer a keyboard which looks good and takes us closer to the ergonomic ideal.

Ergonomics is biomechanical common sense. It acknowledges the way the body actually works and seeks to minimise strain and improve our effectiveness and wellbeing. It should be central to all design work.

Apple prices

When people comment on Apple's UK pricing they often make two fundamental errors:

1. They compare UK prices which include VAT with US prices which do not include local taxes. The VAT component of Apple's UK prices goes to the UK government, not to Apple.

2. They fail to understand the significance of the relationship between sterling and the US dollar. Apple's development, manufacturing and product delivery processes are inevitably almost totally managed in terms of the US dollar. Consider the radical change in the value of the pound against the US dollar and it becomes obvious that UK prices must increase, simply to maintain margins.

Today's exchange rate is around 1.4 US dollars to the pound. It isn't so very long since the pound was worth 2 US dollars. This isn't a technical point but a real change in value.

The new keyboard

Some people need a numeric keypad; many make little or no use of one. The presence of a numeric keypad creates a fundamental ergonomic problem:

* The centre of the keyboard's main alphanumeric section should be aligned with the horizontal centre of the monitor and the user's body, to avoid the strain which results from twisting the body to accommodate a keyboard which is positioned off-centre.

* The width of the numeric keypad obliges the user to operate the mouse that much further from the body. The further from the body's centre the hand is used, the greater the load on the postural systems which support the arm and hand. One of the standard strategies for reducing strain for users who experience pain in the hand, arm, shoulder or neck, is to ensure that the mouse or other pointing device is as close to the trunk as possible. One of the potential advantages of a trackball or similar device is that it usually allows the hand to be used closer to the trunk than is the case when one uses a mouse.

* Eliminating the numeric keypad produces a worthwhile reduction in strain. A number of third party manufacturers have offered compact keyboards without numeric keypad and they have often been used by people with strain problems.

The iMac and height adjustment

Apple's first flat panel display was a 15-inch device with a practical and effective height-adjustable stand. Later monitors were supplied with a much simpler non-adjustable stand. This is a reasonable strategy if monitors are also provided with a standard VESA-compatible bracket which allows them to be used with VESA-compatible arms and stands, though it would be better to acknowledge the need for adjustment and provide it as standard.

The separate monitors do provide the option to purchase an adapter which enables their use with VESA-compatible arms and stands. The option has also been provided for the 24-inch iMac, but not, I think, for the smaller iMacs.

There is a fundamental ergonomic problem with the design of the 24-inch iMac which doesn't apply to the 24-inch or 30-inch monitors: the iMac occupies a significant amount of additional space below the monitor; even if one mounts it on an adjustable arm or stand, it may not be possible to adjust the monitor low enough for comfortable use.

It is always possible to lift a monitor; reducing its height is far more difficult. The only simple solution is a split-level adjustable table of the sort we once used with very large CRT monitors. That solution is expensive, though a good table will outlast several computers.

Before anyone decides to express a preference for looking up at a higher monitor, let me state clearly that:

1. The correct height relationship with a monitor is defined by what works for the eye.

2. What works for the eye depends on the position of the head, which in turn depends on how one sits: someone sitting actively, with the back balanced and self-supporting, will have a completely different experience from that of someone who slouches back in the chair.

3. The eye doesn't cope well with looking upwards: relax your eye and focus on a point which is comfortable; now lift your point of focus without moving the head. Notice the strain involved. One avoids this strain by lifting the head: this transfers the strain to the neck and the trapezius muscle. Strain in the neck and trapezius affects total postural strain; it is especially significant for strain in the shoulders, arms and hands, the strain which leads to "repetitive strain injury" or "upper limb disorder".

Monitor height is important. It would be good to see Apple returning to the values and awareness which informed the design of the first flat panel display and the first flat panel iMac, a design whose adjustable monitor arm made it an outstandingly effective and user-friendly computer.

One can understand why Apple may prefer not to get into the business of supplying adjustable monitor stands and arms, but it could certainly create effective designs which would match the appearance of its monitors. Offering its own solutions would encourage users to be aware of the importance of monitor height and simplify their search for an appropriate solution.