On 27.08.2016 23:09, Vincent Legoll wrote:
On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 9:29 PM, Alexander .S.T. Ross maillist_arm-netbook@aross.me wrote:
some thinkpads at one point had a led light that pointed down and lite up the keyboard without shining in the users eyes i think. it was in the top bezel of the screen. maybe that would be a simpler mod.
Yep, that's the one (thinkpad T42p) it was located just next to the webcam, over the display, angled towards the keyboard, with a slight overhang from the case, so that the led was not directly visible. It was switchable with a key Fn combo. Just ON/OFF, no real need for light levels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_ThinkPad_ThinkLight
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkLight
http://blog.lenovo.com/en/blog/keyboard-illumination-thinklight-or-backlight
https://web.archive.org/web/20130307081645/http://blog.lenovo.com/design/she...
One of the key (ba-da-ching) ergonomic features of the Thinklight is that the keyboard combo to switch them on or off is always bottom-left key + top-right key. That way, you don't need to be able to see the keys in order to switch the light on: you can still be sure, just by touch, of being able to activate the correct ones. At the times when I've used Thinkpads, I've appreciated this.
I don't know if any aspect of the Thinklight concept or its implementation is patented or covered by design rights, etc. I would hope not - it's just a light with a switch! - but "Method of swinging on a swing", and all that...