I wasn't going to respond either. I agree with Dboh and Kiwi. It depends on which application I'm using as to how much keyboarding gets done: in some I've programmed all the F keys; in others it's mostly the mouse.
That's how I use the computer too.
I'm probably the closest thing to this product's target demographic, and I almost certainly wouldn't use one. I don't find it difficult to use the keys on the keyboard as shortcuts, and int he program where I use the most keyboard shortcuts (Photoshop) every key on the keyboard acts as a shortcut. I need not ever take my hand off the keyboard for shortcuts OR for type.
If I were to buy a multi-button input device, it wouldn't be one that acted only as a set of shortcuts. I'd want something with more functionality.
And they already exist. They are called "chorded keyboards" or "keyers" and they are commonly used with wearable computers, when you don't have access to a full physical keyboard.
The device that Phos is describing sounds almost exactly like the HandyKey Twiddler2 chorded keyboard--a small hand-sized device that allows keyboard input by using different combinations of key presses. Unlike his device, though, the Twiddler2 does more than just function keys; it's a set of programmable function/shortcut keys and also a full-fledged alphanumeric keypad. Different combinations of button presses produce different letters.
How fast is it? I've seen someone type 60 words per minute on a Twiddler after, he says, only about six weeks of practice--not bad, in my book.
Wearable computer users are all about these gizmos, because you can "type" while holding the gadget in your hand.
