Google Announces The Return Of Morse Code

gCaptain ^ | 1 April 12 | gCaptain Staff

[GATOR NAVY]

The QWERTY keyboard was invented in 1874 and yet it is still used today, largely unchanged. What’s more, the keyboard doesn’t come close to the speed and effectiveness of a simple technology used on ships over a centry ago… morse code.

Today, April 1st, Google is introducing a new input method designed by the great-great grandson of Samuel F. B. Morse: Gmail Tap for Android and iOS. Gmail Tap takes the keyboard from 26 keys to just two. Every letter of the alphabet is represented by a simple pattern of dots and dashes, and once you know them you can type without even looking at your screen. This makes it ideal for situations where you need to discreetly send emails, such as when you’re on a date or in a meeting with your boss. Watch the video to learn more:

[samtheman]

Is this another stupid google april fools thingy?

[Lazlo in PA]

- .... .. ... .. ... .- -... -— ..- - - .... . ... - ..- .—. .. -.. . ... - - .... .. -. —. —. -— -— —. .-.. . .... .- ... .—. ..- - -— ..- - ..-. -— .-. .- .—. .-. .. .-.. ..-. -— -— .-.. ... .-.-.-

http://www.onlineconversion.com/morse_code.htm

[South40]

- .... .. ... / .. ... / .- -. / .- .—. .-. .. .-.. / ..-. -— -— .-.. ... / .-— -— -.- . .-.-.-

[EternalVigilance]

Coming soon: Smoke Signals for Gmail. No hands needed, once you douse the phone with gasoline and light it on fire.

[Viking2002]

.-./..-/-.-./-.-/

--./---/---/--./.-../.

.-/-./-..

-/..../.

..../---/.-./.../.

-/..././-.--

.-./---/-../.

../-.

---/-.

"As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

--H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

[Viking2002]

I think I missed a couple of breaks - I'm rusty as hell.

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats."

--H.L. Mencken, The Sage of Baltimore

[GATOR NAVY]

.. -.- -. -— .—

[hoagy62]

Okay...I know Google has done pretty good in the April Fools department in the past. This year they've outdone themselves: they have no less than FOUR April Fools pranks.

There's this, Gmail Tap. Then, there's the Multi-Tasking Mode for Chrome, where you can use 2 mouses (mice?) to get more stuff done faster. Thirdly, there's Google Maps 8-Bit for the NES.

Finally, on Google's front page today, there's a link for their "winning new partnership"...with NASCAR. Presenting... the self-driving NASCAR Race Vehicle!.

It's a load of laughs.

[cuban leaf]

It has to be. Morse code is a lot slower than a qwerty keyboard.

Interesting though, qwerty was designed to slow typing down so the old mechanical typewriters would not jam.

[Vendome]

So today must be April 1st.

[dragnet2]

It has to be. Morse code is a lot slower than a qwerty keyboard.

Interesting.

On a side note, I think it was Jay Leno who had the worlds fastest texters VS Morse code ham operators, and all sent the same message.

The Morse code hams won the speed contest.

[samtheman]

I know I can type 100 words a minute. I remember reading that 35 wpm is high speed for a morse code operator.

But that’s with a standard keyboard, sitting at a computer. On an iPhone I’m not very fast at all, and I have to look at what I’m typing (unlike on the keyboard which I can look away from and even hold a short conversation while continuing to type, depending on what I’m typing about).

So for iPhone users, taking notes on the fly, maybe morse code is faster.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Tomorrow Google will be announcing their new, state-of-the-art semaphore flag signaling system!

[bigbob]

Correct, it was on Leno.

And of course Morse can be done on every physical layer from a lighting circuit to microwaves bounced off the moon, whereas text messaging is only possible as long as you’re within range of a base station and all needed man-made infrastructure is in place and working.

But even when it is, it’s still slower because the Morse message is received in real time whereas texting is packet based and nothing even starts to be transmitted until the entire message has been entered.

[Okieshooter]

A good cw operator can do 60 wpm and at the same time carry on a conversation with someone setting beside them.

My absolute limit is 20 wpm that I had to do to gain my extra class license.

De W5HJ

[Jack Hydrazine]

Everyone needs to upgrade to the DVORAK keyboard. Check out the home row!

[fremont_steve]

Actually - not true -when it is a thumb-sized keyboard! There was a competition between two ham operators and someone texting... the Hams won!

[fremont_steve]

Should have read farther down - not Lettermen - Leno.. I stand corrected.

[fremont_steve]

Studies have shown that people proficient on a QWERTY are just as fast as those on a DVORAK. No advantage.