Other Rows (Left-Sided Version)

To access other Rows, the user presses the Other Rows key with his or her left thumb and, while holding it down, presses the Finger Key(s) that access the desired Row. For example, the user presses PH for Phone Row. The user then releases the Other Rows key and the Finger Keys will then perform the functions of the Phone Row. The user presses D to enter the Database Row, SP for Spreadsheet Row, and so on.

The letters on the Other Row are laid out in the same way as on the Word Row. Here are some of the Rows that a user might have programmed into his Express Keys in addition to the six basic Rows already discussed.

The Other Rows KeyRow Discs: A New Industry
The Express Keys would be sold with a “standard issue” of the six basic Rows described on this website plus a Phone Row when the keys are used on a device that incorporates a cell phone.

A person would have the option of buying accessory discs with other Rows programmed onto them. The user who wants to write Chinese would be able to buy any number of  Chinese Language Rows put out by different companies, just as many companies now put out Chinese instruction CDs. These accessory discs could be called Row Discs, and the user could install these programs on his keyboard or computer similar to the way programs are installed today.

The number of Row Discs could keep multiplying as new uses for the Express Keys are discovered. There may ultimately be many thousands of different Rows.

The computer industry could align itself with the Row system by reformatting its software programs as Rows. All present applications (Microsoft’s Office,  Adobe’s Photoshop, and so on) could be adapted to the Rows approach. Adobe wouldn’t put out a program called InDesign but rather a Row with the same name. The user would enter this Row by pressing the Other Row key and then typing ID for InDesign. We would then no longer speak of “opening programs” but of “entering Rows.”

Just as the shift from vinyl records to CDs gave the recording industry a tremendous boost, this change of format could recharge the computer industry.

New Freedoms
Organizing the computing experience by Rows allows many new freedoms. Currently, if a person writes and edits text in a word processing program, he must import this into a layout program such as InDesign if he wants to do layout work. However, in the Express Keys system, an open document can be altered by any Row. This means that the user could write in the Word Row, then edit the text with the Correct Row, then enter the Style Row to change its appearance, then enter the Japanese Row to add some Japanese characters, and then enter the Graphics Row to insert some graphical elements—all without opening and closing the document.

The computing experience would no longer be organized around  programs, but rather, around the open document and the immediate needs of the user. The user will no longer have to move text or graphics between programs because the programs are “moved” to the text. This would lend a new fluidity and ease to the computing experience.

A List of Other Rows

Here is a list of some other possible Rows.  After the name of each Row is a possible address or password that could be typed to access that Row while the Other Rows key is being held down by the thumb.

In these Rows, the user would automatically be shifted to the Word or Number Rows when appropriate. For example, in the Calendar Row, when the user wants to add an appointment to a day, he selects the day, and then he is automatically in the Word Row until he presses Forward and returns to the Calendar Row.  In other words, the basic Rows are seamlessly integrated into these various Rows.

Phone Row (PH)
The Phone Row has the same layout of numbers as the Number Row. This way, all the numbers are on one side of the keyboard (the side of the user’s dominant hand). The keys on the other side will perform all phone-related activities—automatic dialing, re-dialing, checking messages, and so on.

The Phone Row would be designed so that people could easily write notes while talking on the phone.

The Phone Row would work in conjunction with a microphone and speaker. The user could place a call by writing or speaking a name, send voice messages to a group of people (just as is done with mass e-mails presently), leave personal voice messages, and so on.

The user would also be able to record messages and calls, and have them transcribed into text.

Web Row  (WEB)
This Row would be specialized for use with the Internet, and perform such tasks as managing e-mails, marking favorite pages, and creating hyperlinks. This Row would incorporate the arrow keys on the Move-View Row for navigation.

My Life  (ML)
This Row would be a personal organizer for the general user, with everything pertaining to managing a schedule: calendars with coloring coding, reminder alarms for appointments and special days, “to do” lists with color coding, address books, note pads, and so on.

Layout Row (LY)
This Row allows the user to import, move, and layer graphical elements and text blocks. The Layout Row would use free-floating boxes that could be moved anywhere in the document. It would include layering options, advanced text algorithms (for kerning, etc.), and other features of modern layout programs.

Database Row  (D)
This Row is for creating a Database and entering information. The user could create, name, and define the parameters of fields. The next step would be to determine the layout of those fields, and so on.

Table Row  (T)
For creating and inserting tables of all kinds into open documents.

Camera Row (CA)
This Row would be configured to operate the camera that would be part of portable devices. It might also allow the user to alter and organize images, though that might be a separate Row.

Programmer’s Rows   (PR)
Each programming language could have its own Row, though they would have conventions in common with each other and with the Word and Number Rows.

Webmaster Row  (WM)

Gamer’s Rows  (G)
Various Gamer’s Rows would have some keys in common, and others that are specific to each game. These Rows would incorporate some of the commands in the Move-View Row.

Finances and Banking Row (FB)
Tracking expenses, tax data, etc.

Mailing Row (MR)
With a database at its core, this would enable the user to create mass mailings easily.

Speech Recognition Row  (SR)
This Row would allow users to convert recorded messages into text, and visa versa.  Like the Phone Row, this Row would activate the built-in microphone and speaker.

Graphics Row (GR)

Spreadsheet  (SP)

Illustrator (IL)

Language Row (L)
In this book, I have described the Word Row for writers of the English Language. I imagine there will be Word Rows for speakers of many other languages.

Though the English version of the Word Row discussed in this document is designed to be usable by writers of other languages that employ the Roman alphabet (all sorts of diacritical marks  can be accessed by pressing the Option key in the Word Row), each language could have a layout of letters fitted to the characteristic patterns of that language.

For example, a German speaker might prefer to use a German Row having a different layout of letters that reflect the frequency patterns of that language. On the other hand, if the user often writes in English, he may prefer to use the English Word Row and access the umlauts and ß key on the Word Option Row.

The Express Keys could be also used to type non-Roman scripts.  It is interesting to note that one popular way of typing Chinese characters on the QWERTY keyboard uses just 24 of the keys. That is the same number of finger subkeys in the Express Keys system.

Event Planner Row  (EP)

Student  Row  (ST)
For students organizing their classes, homework, exam schedules, class requirements, and so on.

Clients Row (CL)
This would be for those who run a service business—piano teachers, massage therapists, and others.

Meal Planner Row  (MP)
This Row offers users ways to catalog recipes, plan meals, make grocery lists, access dietary information about various foodstuffs, monitor allergic reactions, and so on.

More Rows
Rows can be as specialized and varied as the market will bear.