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A Condensed History Of The Keyboard
An anonymous reader points to this overview of old (good) keyboards versus the cheap and nasty kind which begins "Today's keyboards aren't what they used to be, no sir! Back in my day, we had our BS technology; our keyboards had chassis's which allowed 'em to be thrown off a 3-story building and still work - barely dented. Yes those were the days." Not a lot of new information, but some good visuals.
In those days, 'audiovisual feedback' actually meant something. Long rolls of dead tree recording every single charxxxacaaxxxx ^h^h\H^H^H/d/d ^C^C^Q^Deof.DAMN...
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Quoting the story: Key caps allow one to reconfigure their letters without actually prying off the keys from the keyboard. This was implemented due to the aforementioned QWERTY/Dvorak controversy.
I loved the ability to remove the cap keys, every few weeks I would remove all the cap keys from my keyboard and clean each one by hand using a bleach solution, inside and out. It's great for all us obsessive-compulsive cleaners.
The other great thing about them was the ability to play practical jokes, all one had to do was change around a few 'key' keys and watch all the non-touch typists in a computer lab get pissed off at the computer. And with Windows 2k, I'd change the insert and delete keys around, (makes it hard to use CTRL-ALT-DEL to get to the login screen)
Accentuate the positive, don't waste your mod points on the negative.
I loved mine and I am still looking for one of those old clickity clackity huge heavy monsters with their wonderous tactile feedback feel.
Anyone else in the same boat?
At least I still have my Logitech 3 button mouse.
What is your favorite keyboard type?
ACK
No new information in a history of something? How surprising!
Ah yes, the keyboards of old could be thrown from a 747 into the middle of the Pacifac, and when they washed ashore, they would still function... but they didn't have an E-mail button. After all, what good is a keyboard without an E-mail button?
"It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
Thing I never understood about modern computer keyboards is the staggered layout of the rows -- presumably a throwback from old typewriter days, but I think they'd be far more efficient if the keys were arranged in a proper grid (ie the H directly beneath the Y, and not slightly to the right).
Karma: NaN
They also weighed more than the CRT, and easily drowned out my Adlib soundcard when I went up to 60 wpm.
we used to have keyboard sword-fights with DEC terminal keyboards.
You can have my IBM Model M when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
Today's keyboards aren't what they used to be, no sir! Back in my day, we had our BS technology; our keyboards had chassis's which allowed 'em to be thrown off a 3-story building and still work - barely dented. Yes those were the days. Now we've got these newfangled Wireless Ergonomic E-Mail button membrane keyboards. To heck with them, I say!
This article really entails two things: The history of the Universal or QWERTY keyboard layout and a comparison between BS and Membrane technology used today in keyboards, one of the most used interfaces to the computer at present.
QWERTY keyboards are known as Universal keyboards - they are the standard by which keyboard manufacturers produce their keyboards today. It was named this due to the q,w,e,r,t,y pattern in the upper left hand corner of the keyboard. QWERTY was originally designed by Christopher Sholes to slow typing down.
Wait a second why would we be using a keyboard layout made to slow us down? Let's look back before keyboards - typewriting. In 1868 Christopher Latham Sholes was awarded the operative patent for the typewriter. After receiving this patent, Sholes still had many 'bugs' to work out, and spent a good deal of time with the machine, working out the kinks. One of the kinks in the machine was key jamming, which was prone to happen often and could hurt the machine. If a typist typed two letters one after the other too quickly, the hammers would hit each other; the typist then had to dislodge the hammers and that could get a bit messy. So, Sholes came up with a keyboard layout that would place letters which would be most likely struck closely in succession on opposite sides of the layout.
Eventually, due to the ability to touch type with QWERTY efficiently [first demonstrated when in a typing contest a QWERTY typist managed to type quicker than someone on a stenograph-styled machine] it became the standard.
In 1936, August Dvorak patented his Simplified Keyboard - DSK. It was designed to balance the load of typing more evenly - those letters, which would be stricken most, would be under the strongest fingers. The credibility of the claims that the Dvorak is faster is outside the scope of this article. If one is truly interested, I recommend reading an informative article at: http://wwwpub.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/keys1.html. However I do believe that Dvorak perhaps is the better layout - although due to my experience with QWERTY I still stick with it. For those of you who think Dvorak is a legacy item no longer used, you will all be pleased to know that all windows versions greater than 3.11 are Dvorak compliant, and a simple setting can change the layout setting.
On to the Keyboards!
To this day I still use the IBM Model M keyboard. This keyboard was released with the original IBM PS/2 computer. It is known for it's weight, feedback, and distinctive keystroke sound. There are some Model M's which are branded by Lexmark on the back - Lexmark bought the design from IBM in the late 1980s.
Model M's are 101 key keyboards, and still comply with all ps/2 requirements [read on for Pentium 4 possible incompatibilities and fixes.] What makes this keyboard so special?
The first aspect that is most obvious upon actually typing is the sound and feel of the keyboard. There is a noticeable and quite prominent 'click' which is not as high pitched as some Chiconey keyboards (which are quite nice too,) the sound is not soft and mushy. The Model M's keys also have a bit of resistance to them - not so that it's hard to push them down, but just a tad bit more pressure is needed to fully depress a key. Now, for those of you up late at night, or up in the wee hours of the morning, perhaps this is a disadvantage for you. Also, many people prefer not to hear the keystroke - companies like Dell, IBM, and hundreds of others have manufactured (or sub-contracted other companies) to make quiet keyboards. Let's take a look at why these keyboards are quiet, and w
Why do I h8 apple?
Mirror here for the PS/2 modification for operation with some p4 motherboards
-dk
This is quickly going to turn into a lovefest for the IBM M keyboard.
I have several of them stashed away on the off chance that the one I've been using for the past 13 years breaks. Which it hasn't. Hoping to sell it on "Antiques Roadshow" in about 40 years.
Back in my day we chiseled everything on a stone tablet
Just another day in Paradise
I will probably get totally flamed for this but I think the best keyboards I have owned have all been made by Microsoft. Right now I am using the Office Keyboard and I love it. The action is great and the extra keys actually serve my purpose (I work in Excel and Word all day).
I know M$'s OS is crap, but their keyboards and mice have always been built to a very high quality.
Expensive, but well worth the money!!!
I just bought a new, out of the box original XT style keyboard... (XT style because the keyboard is built the same way, except it has a PS/2 style connection instead of the original connector).
5 bucks... and I was more than happy to send my plasticky dell keyb to the closet...
They are great, you can spill beer on them and they survive, and heavy enough to use as weapon if needed...
Indeed. Today's keyboards can be picked up for less than a fiver. Try picking one up for that price back in the "old days".
There are plenty of good keyboards out there, but because the PC market is often dictated by price, you see more of the cheap ones than you do anything else.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I enjoy the quiet touch of my laptop's keyboard while I'm coding... its so much easier to fly across the keys without having to slam each one home... just my opinion
This only reflects the movement of the computing model, and the seperation of what is regarded as essential to what is regarded as an accessory.
"I am not bound to please thee with my answers" [William Shakespeare]
That's simply wrong. QWERTY was designed to speed typing up by spacing out the most used keys to different sides of the keyboard.
QWERTY was designed as he states to reduce jamming of the hammers, not to slow typists down. Even without hammers QWERTY was still faster due to the use of both hands for common letters.
The QWERTY keyboard was not designed to "slow typing down", buy rather to reduce the number of jams in a much more elegant way. It avoids having frequent adjacent letter pairs activating levers that are close to each other on the typewriters mechanism. This means that jams (which occur between adjacent levers) occur less frequently when typing FAST!
Get your self a nice Space Cadet Keyboard. Nice action, plus you never know when you will need triangle, meta, super, or hyper!
Actually this is something I have been trying to hunt down for a couple years, quite a nice piece of equipment.
...was made by Wyse, attached to a Wyse 286 PC I used at work many years ago. It had neither an XT nor a PS/2 connector; instead, it attached via a modular phone (RJ-11) style connector. It had a very light touch and a nice sound. I wish I could get one for my G4.
Absurdity: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. -- Ambrose Bierce
I am writing this with a OmniKey 101 from my first computer which has long since died. I take this keyboard from job to job and it's really funny to see the look of the "kids" that look at for the first time.
Weighin' in at over three pounds, tactile, removable keys (not that it's ever been cleaned...) and it sounds like an M-60 in full auto when I'm furiously typing.
I love this thing.
By the way, does anyone know of a old-style keyboard connector to USB changer? I have a feeling that my PS/2 connector is about to out moded...
Chris
So Buddha walks into a pizza parlor and says: "Hey, make me one with everything."
Google cache of the article how to modify an old IBM keyboard to work on a new P4 computer.
I had no such problems though. Maybe it's because I have an Athlon...
My favourite keyboards were the one for the PCjr (not the chicklet one) and the one for the Atari PC1. They both had a very light, non-rubbery feel to them.
I've just spent an exhaustive search for a replacement desktop keyboard and was absolutely dismayed by the garbage keyboards out there. What I really wanted was one that had key switches similar to my old IBM T23 laptop, the best keyboard ever IMHO. I eventually found one, and it is close, but not quite as good as the IBM.
For those interested, you can see it at Precision Squared. Look for the PSK-5000 model. For touch typists, I highly recommend this keyboard. Mac users can find its equivalent with the MacAlly IceKey which appears to be a re-branded PSK-5000.
www.brownsauce.org
But, some how, the membrane keyboard was just about right. Keys had feedback, because the rubber mat was just about perfect. The keys were just where I needed them.
Sinclair released a cheaper version for his flagship Spectrum system a little later, which had virtually no feedback and which was so poorly built that if you turned many of the machines upside down, all the keys would fall out...
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
What a coincidence -- I actually had to take my work KB (a new IBM mush-model similar to the one in the article) apart to fix it Monday because the 'p' key was getting less and less reliable, and my typing was steadily getting worse.
When I popped the 'p' key off and looked underneath, the rubber contact mat was off center, like it had been stretched underneath so the contact didn't line up under the key. I pulled a few screws, blew out the dust and the rubber spring mat that lies on the contacts was misaligned by, like, 1/4 inch in areas. I pulled it off and tried to re-align it properly when I realized that the plastic/mylar/whatever contact sheet on the bottom wasn't flat either - like a rug that wasn't quite cut the correct shape for a room, there was a hump in it. I loosened the screws around the contacts to the PCB and I was able to then flatten the contact sheet and retighten, then realign the rubber springmat and reassemble.
Voila! Perfect. I want to point out three things.
1) It's still not a model M. If you find an old one GET IT, even if it's missing a few keys. Your neighbors' neighbors will hate all the clicking, but your fingers will be very, very happy. I personally have one of these as well as an original Northgate Omnikey Ultra purchased by me from Northgate Inc. in 1990 which was in use until March of this year. I replaced it because I bought a new PC and wanted a wireless KB. Every collector's shelf should have a Northgate on it, too.
2) This new IBM has way more contacts inside than keys. I realize this is so they can produce one electronic assembly to support 15 languages, but I wonder what the other contacts would do if I hit them. Maybe I'll get bored later today.
3) IBM's subassembly quality control has really hit the can. I realize this is a $5 keyboard, which by its design expects a certain number of defects, but if you could see how badly aligned the springmat was in this thing... SHEESH!
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
I've got one of the keyboards mentioned in the article--specifically, the 101-key Customizer, from www.pckeyboard.com. It weighs about five pounds, and feels like it could be used to bash in an intruder's head if necessary. Plus, it doesn't have Windows keys, which is a boon when I'm gaming--no more accidentally dumping me out to the desktop during heated Battlefield 1942 matches!
It's buckling-spring and loud as hell, though it doesn't sound quite the same as a Model M. Still key response is crisp and exactly matches what I want out of a keyboard. It is easily the best computer-related purchase I have ever made. After all, what part of your computer do you physically interact with every time you sit down?
A few weeks ago I killed my Ortek keyboard. It wasn't a great keyboard; it had the "silent" mushy-keys and plenty of useless "internet" and "media" chiclet buttons. The Enter key broke and I'd fastend it with a small screw (which surprisingly didn't interfere with typing). It died in the most cliched way possible: direct coffee spillage.
The same day I drove down to Office Max to get an emergency keyboard. Everything was pretty much worthless, even compared to my old keyboard. I finally settled on a Logitech media keyboard solely on the feel of it.
I used it for about a day, then heard someone commenting on IBM Model M and Northgate keyboards. I remembered the little worthless 486 test server I had sitting in my closet, and remembered the keyboard attached to it was a Northgate. I walked over and pressed the keys...click click. Smiled, grabbed AT-to-PS/2 adapter, and replaced the new Logitech.
I'll never go back. In fact, I surprised I used anything else, because that old keyboard used to be my main keyboard back in the day. When it dies, I'll get an Avant Stellar, which is a remake of the original Northgate using the original design documents and manufacturing processes.
Every key has a perfectly balanced snap action. It provides just the right amount of force before the key clicks in, and once you hear the click you know the key has been pressed. It might sound like someone with a clicky keyboard is really pounding on it, but ideally it allows you to flit over the keyboard without having to mash every key down to the bottom to ensure it was pressed. You learn to hear each keypress, and can often catch an accidental extra letter by ear.
And now you know why all the old laptops had a "key-click" noisemaking feature, sometimes in the BIOS.
...
A year ago, I got myself a Kinesis Contoured keyboard. It took me two weeks and a couple of hours of TuxTyping to get used to it, but since then it's great. I've never had any real RSI, but the Kinesis makes you sit more comfortable. You sit with straight arms; horizontally as well as in a straight angle.
It's quite expensive, though. :-/
8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
"Today's websites aren't what they used to be, no sir! Back in my day, we had our caching technology; our wesites had redundency which allowed 'em to be slashdotted and still work - barely dented. Yes those were the days."
[Please type your sig here.]
Until he finally explained on page 2 that BS technology is an abreviation for Buckling Spring technology, I was reading Bullshit technology every time.
---
"The chances of a demonic possession spreading are remote -- relax."
To the lazy people, lemme reproduce the link:
What I find funny, besides the comment that what causes limb disorders is the stress of deadlines and not the keyboard (citing gamers who supposedly don't have any problems, hah!), is the author's choice of pictures. I guess I can understand lara croft, but what's with the cat? And look at the caption on that picture...I don't know, I have a weird sense of humor, maybe it's just funny to me.
Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.
before they got all artsy-fartsy. Now the keyboard is the first thing I toss when I buy a new Mac.
I loved how the caps lock actually locked down at half-height on the old Apple Pro Keyboard, so you could tell by touch if the caps lock was on.
I recently bought a Model-M for work. It's brand new (but was built in 1999, as can be seen from the sticker on the back).
www.pckeyboard.com sells them. If they are out of IBM model-Ms you can buy buckling spring keyboards made by unicomp. For an extra 5$ you can get "cap and stem" which is removable keycaps.
When I bought from unicomp it was a pleasure. They keyboard arrived very quickly.
There\'s no place like ~
I've used many keyboards since of course, and whilst I seem to have settled on Microsoft keyboards these days I still haven't found anything nicer than the ancient Apple. Co-incidently (or not, as the case may be...) the keyboard on the 12" Powerbook is also extremely nice.
Cheers,
Ian
Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
Check out the Logitech Elite there at the top. Best keyboard made.
Alternatively, if you just need something simple for office use, or to purchase in volume, the Mitsumi KFK-EA4XT is a solid no-frills keyboard. I use it on all my secondary systems.
The unofficial
DoesThatMeanTheyHadABrokenSpaceBar? :)
Have a look at http://www.pckeyboard.com/.
.au but euh... I wasn't happy with the price. I've asked them again, maybe the price has dropped a little bit.
Asked them one time how much it costs to get one shipped to
bash$
Although he doesn't mention it, but how much did they cost back then? Adjusting for inflation, they probably cost more than new ones cost today. One thing it interesting to note that most of the functionality hasn't changed. Sure newer keyboards are wireless and have additional buttons, but older ones work just as well.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Newer keyboards have all these keys that I don't use but I don't mind them too much as they are optional from manufacturers. The one useless key that I hate is that damn Windows key. It always gets in my way when I use CTRL and ALT. As far as I can tell it's completely useless for most everyday functions. Incidently, I've noticed it's in the exact position as the Apple key on Apple keyboards. But on the Apple it is better spaced to avoid conusion and it is used for shortcuts.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Don't get me wrong - I code for a living, so I can certainly appreciate the value of the keyboard as a user interface peripheral. A good friend of mine who had RSI in his wrists really bad switched to using Dragon speech recognition software exclusively. Listening to him attempt to code (in Perl) was pretty funny, e.g. saying "twiddle" for "~" and such.
Mod me down for being off topic, but I cannot resist mentioning the Star Trek (#4 - with the whales) movie where Scottie attempts to use the computer from the past by talking to it.
It just goes to show how far off we are in terms of a truely intuitive user interface.
Stavr0 wrote:
For this, I nominate the ZX-81 keyboard WORST KEYBOARD EVER.
Funny, I just mentioned the ZX81 keyboard in a comment I just wrote under the same subject.
And yes, I agree. In 3rd grade at school, we had an optional course called "Basic Computer Programming", where we were tought how to program on the ZX81.
Now, when these computers were brand new, the keyboards were "fine". But since every school has its bullies, and bullies tend to use more physical force than required, these keyboards wore out after a couple of weeks. To compensate for the worn out keyboards, we had to press even harder to have our keystrokes registered...
Oh, the sore fingertips we had..
www.6502asm.com - Code 6502 assembly or.. DIE!!
I still have my Sinclair, and I agree about the keyboard. It was like little bubbles that you depressed. The "L" bubble is worn through on mine, so I can't load programs anymore! Talk about shitty...
Apparently you can find them for sale, albeit in limited quantities, here (as well as on eBay, natch).
There's a site all about the thing at www.modelm.org, but I can't get to the server right now, so here's a Google cache instead.
They have it in black now, too. Unfortunately, they still don't have a USB version.
Though they only worked with terminals, the *real* manly keyboard in a world of manly keyboards was the IBM 3270/5250 terminal keyboard. Twenty-four function keys across the top, ten special purpose function keys on the left side, arrow keys actually laid out in a diamond shape instead of the common upside-down T, a numeric keypad, and a keyboard cable so thick it could be used to support bridges.
Add to the fact that it had a metal casing similar to the original IBM keyboard whereas the later model keyboards, and all the PS/2 keyboards are plastic. Tough plastic to be sure, but I still was able to chip and crack one.
With all that you had a keyboard that weighed two pounds!
I rescued one from a dumpster, but couldn't figure out the pin configuration to make any kind of whatever-to-ps2 adapter.
Even stranger were the IBM 3278 terminal keyboards..they had a weird form of tactile feedback that has to be used to be believed. They were more conventional in terms of layout, but were packaged into a case that, while detached from the terminal itself, was a massive block of metal that weighed in at 2+ pounds.
The strangest keyboard I think IBM ever made was a keyboard for the Chinese; it was big (I think it was about two feet square) and was laid out like a giant tablet; the left side was a massive set of overlays and "mushy" buttons" with individual characters, and the right side had conventional keys a la the 3270/5250 keyboard. I wish I had some pictures of it...it was in IBM's computer exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for years and years, but that exhibit has long since disappeared and with it the keyboard.
You gotta hand it to IBM...they built their (mainframe) equipment to last. I fully expect to be sitting at the Social Security office when I'm 70+, complaining about my measly $2.53 check with a person sitting in front of an IBM terminal with one of those massive metal keyboards. Fun!
Here's my antique keyboard it punches morse code tapes.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
I used to have problems with my hands hurting after coding all night (for my own fun) with keyboards of the normal type including the IBM model M (I have 3 anyone want one). My outfingers joints would ache, and my hands hurt from twisting my hand into contortions attempting to press all of the special keys which get used quite often while programming.
I went through several keyboards looking for one which would make it less painful to do something which I really enjoyed. I never wanted to admit to buying anything of an ergonimic keyboard especially one from Microsoft. However, after working on a friends all night, I didn't notice the pain from using it. I ended up ordering a simple Microsoft Elite with the parts for a new computer.
Since using the this keyboard I find my fingers have rarely hurt unless I'm typing really fast for extended periods of time. Other benefits of this keyboard is that it is reasonably quiet (I don't wake up the house with my typing now) and it feels really good. I don't plan on getting another keyboard anytime soon. The only company that I can say comes close to Microsofts keyboards and mice (I've tried several also) is Logitech (whose mice I usually prefer)
Reserved Word.
I have 2 keyboards from Leading Edge 286s. These keyboards are a joy to use. Everytime I see one at a garage sale, or Goodwill I snap it up. I have given them to friends and family, to spread the joy of "real" keyboards.
Hey folks,
since we're talking about keyboards. I am surprised nobody mentioned programmable keyboards yet. Does anyone use/can recommend any good programmable keyboards these days?
The one I've used is Gateway's model... I think it's called AnyKey kb. Had four extra buttons in the top right, Program Macro(sticking a series of keystrokes into one key press), Remap(remapping a single key), and an extra column of function keys on the left hand side.
In any case, in my programming duties, I often find myself needing to do things like reformat 50 lines in an identical fashion. Like take out first four chars on a line, indent, put AAA there, go to next line.
So with this kb, you didn't have to use software, you just record a macro, use it 50 times, and you're done! Life saver for the fingers/wrists/carpal tunnel.
Any info appreciated!
"If you could only see what I've seen with your eyes..." - Roy Batty
It's funny that I never see the Avant Stellar (http://www.cvtinc.com/) mentioned in these discussions about keyboards. It has a significant flaw (see below) but it's still my favorite. Great "clicky" feel, very firm, 100% programmable, macros, two sets of function keys (so you can reprogram the ones you don't normally use)... Lots of good stuff!
The problem is that their programming software doesn't work on NT/2000/XP, just 95/98/ME. It's not a problem for me because I use a KVM switch to connect six systems to the same keyboard/monitor/mouse, and one of my systems is Windows 98, so I just run the software on that system and switch to it when I need to change something.
I have it programmed so that some of the unused function keys have macros that tell the KVM to switch to different systems. Single-key switching from Windows 2000 to Linux...
"... all windows versions greater than 3.11 are Dvorak compliant, and a simple setting can change the layout setting."
As a user that normally runs dvorak and occasionly windows I can assure you this isn't quite true.
I've used a dvorak mapping in windows 98, 2000 and XP and all have buggy implementations, though they are getting slightly better. The catch is that the remappable keys seems to have been a tacked on feature, some programs will work, some programs will work for a while and some seem to use direct keyboard access, ignoring any mapping.
For example I recall I was working with a notepad session and a command prompt. After a while the command prompt decided it would start running qwerty, so everytime I switched between the windows I had to pause to remind myself which keyboard mapping I was using. Games are also really bad, Half-life for example uses the dvorak mapping in the menu but uses stardard qwerty layout in the game. This makes key binding from the menu a wonderful activity.
I've been running dvorak for about 8 months now and its not about speed, its all in the name of comfort.
was the Northgate Computer Systems Omnikey.
For those of us who learned to program before the
advent of the IBM PC, they have the "correct" layout
(the layout for which and with which vi was developed)
with the control key just to the left of the 'a', As God Intended)*
Buckling spring, Alps switches, removable keycaps, steel base,
fully programmable key assignments, DIP switches for common
configuration options. Indispensible and indestructible.
I have two, and they continue to work perfectly after
lo these many years, and there's a brisk market for them
on ebay (lots of old hackers treasure them).
But they're no longer made.
Fortunately, CTI makes a close copy. The Avant Stellar
is by all accounts superb, and bears the Tibor Polgar seal of approval.
Buy a couple while they're still made, and you're set for life.
The Customizer seems to be similar, but I have no experience with this keyboard.
* and if you're one of those people like me who has spent the
last twenty years cursing IBM for screwing up the layout of
ASCII keyboards for all time by fiddling with the the
One True Layout (with the control key to the left of the 'a'),
then you may be happy to know about the superb small program
ctrl2cap from Systems Internals, which makes the
usless never-to-be-sufficiently-damned caps lock key
into a control key. Tiny, slick, sophisticated, open source, free.
Check it out.
Wait a minute. Didn't I say that on the other side of the record? I'd better check
Back in the day (before "PC") we had REAL word processors. the MICOM P2000 came with a keyboard that had magnets in plungers, and solid-state pickups for each of the keys. A spring completed the key assembly. Very weighty keys, slowed down the typing nicely. Since switches, etc. were not involved, dishwashers were routinely employed to clean them. And these keyboards were servicable. And they weighed in at 15lbs (7 kilos). Which made them a VERY formidable weapon.
Before that I used an ASR-33. WHACK WHACK WHACK. Very satisfying. Built up my finger strength. Problem is, now I punch holes THROUGH these new "girly-man" keyboards. Such posers.
Seriously, the IBM BS keyboards are my favorites. A bit noisy, but the tactile feedback is worth it. My current keyboard (some "no-name" thing) has the nasty habit of "vibrating" at the bottom end of each keystroke. Feels nasty.
Ratboy.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
This is nice:
http://www.monu-cad.com/keyboard.htm
Of course, the side effect of that was sub-optimal typing speed and accuracy, but it certainly wasn't done just for that reason.
Come play at the only online poker room with a Mac-native client
In other words, these things are about as close to the original IBM keyboards as you can get. I've owned mine for three years now and I love it.
-R
Which is BS, by the way. It wasn't to avoid jamming the keys by slowing the typist down, but by making sure the commonly-used key levers weren't close enough to each other to jam. And I think that the dvorak layout was designed to put the most commonly-used keys right under the fingertips, not just within reach of the "strongest fingers." Geez, like you need really STRONG fingers to type faster.
I have no problem with talking all you like about the differences between keyboards and why you prefer one over the other. Reminiscing is fun sometimes. But don't tout it as a "condensed history of the keyboard." Just call it "One guy's ideas about keyboards."
Any sufficiently simple magic can be passed off as mere advanced technology.
Dvorak users consistently report less effort in typing and that it just "feels" better, but they must be wrong since QWERTY is better. QED. Even though the fastest typer uses dvorak and other dvorak typers cleaned house in competitions, these results are all faked or "suspect". Even though all reason points to markets acheiving local maxima, just like theory says they should, Liebo insists that if one just defines the value of technology based on what the market has chosen then it proves that the market always right.
And oh yeah, therefore Microsoft never had an OS monopoly.
But maybe that's just me.
The Present is the point at which time touches eternity. - C.S. Lewis
I agree with your sentiment on those useless volume control-multimedia keys. What a waste of kb space.
However, when it comes to recording short macros, I prefer mine completely on the kb-side.
1) They're faster
2) OS-independent
3) Easier to record
4) Sometimes applications read keystrokes "more directly" than the macro-recorder/playback software. Can't explain it better than that, except that the software solutions don't always work in all the apps.
"If you could only see what I've seen with your eyes..." - Roy Batty
Once had a keyboard with a minor defect. The '6' key (the one above the letters, not the keypad one) felt normal, but would usually spit out "666" each time it was hit. All the other keys were fine. Got pretty annoying typing "6^H^H" to get a 6. I finally donated it to a Christian charity.
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"