New Bloomberg Terminal Keyboard
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
- Ergonomics sucks!
- I can't re-map caps lock to be escape, what trash!
- This is so old!
- Too expensive!
- Dell makes cheaper monitors!
- Fingerprint authentication can be hacked.
But what everybody is not considering is:
1. You have to have a Bloomberg keyboard to work in finance. It's not even a question. It's a COGS for anybody who wants to work in finance or trading.
2. Bloomberg chat is Facebook messenger for finance people.
3. If your trading desk is bringing in $10M in profits/year, four Bloomberg terminals are a rounding error.
People who berate Bloomberg and it's tech need to have more empathy and ask why things are the way they are.
Edit: It's just a regular USB keyboard for windows apps. Remap away!
By the way, I have used Bloomberg terminals before with a traditional keyboard, and know that there is nothing special in that keyboard that cannot be done by similar hardware.
http://nypost.com/2016/01/14/bank-of-america-set-to-cash-on-...
I understand how we got where we are, but it's nevertheless surprising that something like a modernized space-cadet keyboard isn't standard for developers. Or at least a programmable keyboard with a thumb-activated modifier key plus a home row key for the most commonly used symbols.
* SHIFT+<anything other than letters> is awkward if you have to do it enough. Especially laptops, which enjoy deviating from ANSI or ISO layouts. I've also heard it told that some international layouts make "[" and "]" especially unhandy.
A programmer's qwerty would be pretty handy, too.
Edit: and there's plenty of programmable keyboards, like ergodox (https://ergodox-ez.com/, though I'm not sure if that's the canonical url).
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/298670-REG/Contour_SPR...
When not programming, many of the symbols on the QWERTY keyboard are useless, and it's missing a lot of typographic symbols that I end up having to use shortcuts, character maps, or unicode for. It doesn't even have a real apostrophe or left and right quotes, let alone en and em dashes, bullets, or various space widths.
However, it is still the case that even programmers will likely have the symbols off the beaten path a bit. Programmers still do a lot of not-programming, so it's hard for a symbol to displace even unpopular letters from the most convenient spaces. Your local written language will still end up dominating the keyspace.
I've made my own keyboard layout using Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator which unfortunately doesn't support rebinding the modifiers.
It sort of works, but you're much better off doing it in the registry: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MovingTheCtrlKey#toc18
As much as neat devices like the data hand and other input devices make waves on HN every now and then, I feel most programmers are just like the rest of the world, they just use QWERTY because that's what they learned and never saw anything wrong with it.
The best part of using the mentioned symbols is that they are found on virtually every keyboard, you don't need a specialised input device.
You mention laptops being awkward to type on and yes the travel is bad, and the layout is often cramped, but it really depends on the laptop in question. I'm not a 3d modeller, accountant, or anyone who actually uses a num pad, so I am glad to not have one. With that said, my current laptop (Lenovo U430p) has my favourite keyboard layout yet - I miss it on my desktop.
It's not flawless. However, if I was to make changes I would basically change the fn modifier layout, and the labels. Reason why is that AutoHotKey is awkard compared to a custom keyboard layout. Maybe I should make a custom mechanical keyboard for my desktop.
While I don't believe that hardware is as hard/expensive to develop as software, I certainly know that it is harder to change. Changing software according to your needs is a one man weekend project. Especially if you are a software developer.
Edit: corrected for year
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...
You're probably confusing the sharing of insider information via the IM feature, which definitely does happen. But blaming Bloomberg for that makes about as much sense as blaming Apple for terrorists using iPhones.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/may/10/bloomberg-goldm...
> The Guardian also understands that JP Morgan also has concerns about how Bloomberg used information from its terminals while pursuing stories about Bruno Iksil, the trader known as the London Whale, who was blamed for massive losses at the bank last year. Bloomberg said it had blocked journalists' access to client data within 24 hours of receiving a complaint from Goldman.
Interestingly, Goldman Sachs recently launched its own "Bloomberg Terminal killer", Symphony: http://qz.com/501783/the-goldman-sachs-backed-bloomberg-term...
Funny quote from the QZ article:
> At a cost of more than $20,000 per year per terminal, Bloomberg is an extremely expensive system for users mostly interested in its chat features.
I think it is a smart move to force bundle the hardware and form the users' keystroke habits over a career. I imagine the switching costs are extreme.
I'm not a trader. I'm actually a programmer and just curious about a lot of things. One day, I contacted Thomson Reuters and asked to try their competing system, I think it was Elektron. It is a pure software system that I got bored with after a few days of exploring.
[1] http://financial.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/data-analyti... [2] http://financial.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/tools-applic...
Not coincidentally, that's why I take his pontificating about finance and economics with a grain of salt - he was a tech savvy info delivery man who lucked into trapping people into a dog-shit ugly, expensive, and industry ubiquitous device.
It's along the lines of "I'll view Google as more than just an extremely successful ad agency when they make money on their other projects" which might not seem fair, but cuts through a lot of the enigma-like perspectives regarding tech firms.
For example: * Magazines provide content in their subject area. * Yahoo: provides content apps and content.
The story goes that one of Charlie's distant relatives had cornered some part of the 1920's shoebutton market. Back then, shoebuttons were smallish ornaments you put on your shoes.
The success entitled the prince to pontificate on any and all things in unlimited fashion--especially those outside the realm of shoebuttons.
Although, having worked in municipal finance on the Street for a couple years (somewhat back office, somewhat deal support) I can honestly say that a lot of the systems and information in certain sectors is pretty dated. As in, not very good by modern standards. The MSRB is trying with EMMA - but because there's no fiscal / competitive reward like in Bloomberg's info providing case, rather it's for regulatory and market stability - but a lot of stuff was still pretty old school.
I've designed an "Information as a Service" program targeting some of the most lucrative sectors in public finance (construction, transportation, education, etc) but still haven't mastered the design / handshakes with needed sources (ex. Thompson Reuters) to really call it ready to debut. Another issue is finding the right price point - Bloomberg's got a racket going, I'd just want to hit a good spot where most businesses could afford access, or put it at a value premium where having the information before others (arranged/conditioned by the system) would be worth larger expense. Eh, good times!
On a side note, hated my B-unit, always took 5+ lengthy swipes to register.
Not everyone works in finance and/or is familiar with Bloomberg terminals (like me). I think this is pretty interesting since Bloomberg, unlike most application developers, has taken their UX to the point where they're building application-specific hardware (though I understand a lot of that is basically legacy inertia).
Also, programmers seem to be far more interested in keyboards as a subject that most people.
I also thought the B-unit is interesting, it's different than any other authentication device I've used.
http://www.bbhub.io/professional/sites/4/2015/03/b-unit_3_us...
They worry about keyboards because it's one of the professions where RSI is common.
http://markmcb.com/2014/10/13/severe-hand-rsi-pain-and-recov...
http://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/wrist.php - Stanford professor and creator of TCL
Here are plenty of other stories: https://github.com/melling/ErgonomicNotes
I'm surprised, like many other commenters on this thread, that there isn't a more ergonomic version of this, and that there doesn't appear to be an option for better keyswitches, like Cherry MXes. The world of Bloomberg terminals is totally foreign to me, and that makes them interesting.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05/16/gummi_bears_defeat_f...
http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-and-threats/apple...?
People making devices for “professionals” should take inspiration from keyboards produced in the 1970s–80s, which are generally much nicer than anything on the market today.
In the same general market, WEY makes much nicer keyboards than Bloomberg, e.g. http://www.weytec.com/en/products/wey-keyboards/mk06-keyboar...
You'd think they could splurge a little on keyswitches given that it costs $20k a year to use one (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomberg_Terminal).
Though it was kinda funny watching the guy in the video hunting-and-pecking on a 80s chiclet keyboard that could've come from a TRS-80.
If you haven't picked up on it there has been a resurgence in engineering/design around mechanical keyboards. From switch design to keycaps and board layouts.
* Boards like the KBC Pok3r, the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional2 are readily available on Amazon. And novel designs like the Ergodox or The White Fox are available through group buys on massdrop or desk authority.
* Keycaps of many makes and profiles are being designed from a couple companies, designed by enthusiasts for group buys and made Signature Plastics and Tai-Hao.
* Mechanical Switches are being made by the Cherry which has been around forever, as well as new entrants Gateron and Kailh
Check out r/MechanicalKeyboards there is a lot of interesting stuff going on.
The point remains though, the keyswitches and keycaps common in the 1970s are much nicer than Cherry MX or its clones, or anything easily available today. All the currently available keycap profiles are noticeably worse than e.g. the profile IBM used on Selectric typewriters or beam spring keyboards in the 1970s.
As far as keycaps are concerned, you might enjoy these little props I made last year: http://i.imgur.com/kFxqOm8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M3tQybL.jpg
My own preferred fix to the Ergodox concept is something along the lines of http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg (ignore the legends; my keymap is unrelated)
It’s just kind of sad how they call these “professional” products when the core typing/keyboarding experience sucks, and they try to differentiate their product based on gimmicks instead.
oh yes and the fingerprint reader too that i forgot. what a pain.
And no, I don't think I could build my own little hedge fund, or beat the market, but it would be interesting to know what one could build on top of if one wanted to try that. Or build custom info dashboards.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24/elan_flan_enterprise...
This in that the UI reminds me of one of the tile based ones found on *nix.
1) Voice controls, e.g. Amazon Echo
2) Pluggable custom key extension sideboard decoupled for the main keyboard so that extension board can be easily customized.
This was posted as a joke here, right? People here actually know tech (and therefore don't believe stuff like the quote) and many people may never have heard of a brand for Wallstreet guys (so no impact from the "big" name, at least from all people I showed this to and laughed about it together).
I have been a subscriber to the Bloomberg terminal for a full 17 years, the keyboard has been changed literally 4 times in that period, and I have yet to see one that is not a regression from the one that went before. Today you get a plasticky, flexy, Asia-made, chicklets device with capacitor touches whereas the original was a monstrous, metallic, mechanical beast, IBM-style. It would have made the massdrop community swoon, with its retro vibe and indestructible build.
For the past 10 years I have not used a bb keyboard. They provide a separate finger sensor if desired (as they should - it costs 1800 dollars a month for subscription), and you can always use your b-unit.
The bloomberg keyboard is a dinosaur that dates back from the UI of Bloomberg's 1980s ethos -> the mainframe. It even has the command line in the top of the screen, old System/360 style. The colour coded keys are almost an embarrassment, reflecting the embarrassingly bad UI. Bloomberg is 10 000 different pieces of functionality of which the average user uses 1%. It's a catastrophically badly done taxonomy of (what is, underlying, awesome) functionality. That's why they have so many Bloomberg "reps" who come over constantly to show you new stuff. These poor guys are compensating for the fact that all the good stuff is extremely difficult to find.
Thanks Bloomberg for the new 80 dollar toy. That'll be about 5% of my monthly subscription price then. Doesn't hide the fact that your entire UI is prehistoric.
Does that mean that anyone with a picture of my finger can access my account?