Around that time (the joke goes) there was a similar device to be worn on
the back pocket, called the Ass-Key. The version for the front pocket was
never released because it could only generate EBCDIC.

On Sat, 18 Nov 2000, Andy Howard wrote:

> Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 23:06:21 -0000
> From: Andy Howard <musica@UKONLINE.CO.UK>
> Reply-To: pic microcontroller discussion list <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OT] Microsofts Tablet PC
>
> > From: "Roman Black" <fastvid@EZY.NET.AU>
>
>
> > Imagine a wearable computer on your left forearm, with five
> > "buttons" spaced for your five digits of your right hand.
> >
> > A basic binary system of 5bits gives you 32 key combinations,
> > so enough for all the letters and some control codes. In using it
> > you could "rap" your fingers up and down in the same spots and
> > type one character per "rap". In real usage you would probably
> > have two buttons for the thumb and two for the forefinger, giving
> > more combinations etc.
>
> There was a device that was almost exactly that which was briefly popular in
> the 80's. It was called Microwriter. One application claimed for it was that
> you could type with your hands in your pockets. The system was called
> "chording" because you pressed more than one button at a time IIRC.
>
> I dimly remember a diagram showing how the coding was supposedly designed
> such that the key presses corresponded when possible to a skeleton outline
> of the letter with the thumb as descender, though in practice this was about
> as obvious as star constellations looking like animals or humans.
>
>
> A quick search produced the following:
>
> The original:
>
> http://www.nifty.demon.co.uk/images/odd/mw/
>
>
> Similar devices:
>
> http://www.infogrip.com/bat.htm
>
> http://web.mountain.net/~roair/wearjunk.html
>
> ftp://sac-ftp.gratex.sk/sac/utilmisc/7key.zip
>
> http://www.bellaire.demon.co.uk/cykey.htm#CyKey
>
> http://www.datahand.com/
>
>
> There was also an early PDA (more like a Casio databank really) called
> AgendA which had an alpha keyboard and also Microwrite-type keys.
>
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