Remapping Your Keyboard Physically

Logical remapping is one thing, physical remapping another. If you apply a different keyboard layout, or remap keys logically by using a remapping utility, youll end up with keys that produce a different letter from that shown on the key caps. If youre touch-typing, that may not be too much of a problem, but you may still be tempted to improve matters.

With some keyboards, you can pop off the key caps and put them back on in different positions without doing any damage. With others, youll find that some keys fit only in certain positions , and that you cant change the layout of the key caps physically. In this case, your best bet is to apply stickers neatly over the keys youve changed.

Cubeboard ( www.personalkeyboard.com ) has announced keyboards (and other products, such as remote controls) in which you can easily remove and rearrange the keys. Better yet, each key cap is hard-coded to its characters , so it knows which letter to produce; when you move the key cap to a different position on the keyboard, it still delivers the same letter, so you dont need to apply a different logical layout or remap keys.

Cubeboards plans sound great, but at this writing, Cubeboard hasnt brought its products to market.