Google Japan's conveyor belt keyboard is a sad reminder of the sense of humour the whole company used to have long, long ago

Is this a piss take? Okay, this is definitely a piss take. Google Japan has posted a YouTube video showcasing the new Gboard Conveyor Belt Version. What we are talking about here, people, is "a keyboard whose keys are delivered straight to your finger tips." Literally.

Turns out, Google Japan has form with this kind of thing, what with the rotary keyboard and absurdly-long-stick-of-single-keys keyboard, er, keyboards they've done before. But this conveyor-belt board? This one might just be the best of all.

The keyboard has four columns of vertically stacked keys that rotate on a belt, the idea being that you don't move your hand, you just wait for the right key to arrive. As the video explains, "just as conveyor belts ramped up factory productivity, we wondered if we could streamline typing in the exact same way." Well, quite.

"This key advancement allows you to fluidly convey your ideas," Google's Japan team explains, adding, "with keys streaming under …