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Hardware

A Selective History Of The Keyboard 445

Posted by timothy from the triumph-of-the-louse dept.
Anonymous Gimp writes "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 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!"
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A Selective History Of The Keyboard More

A Selective History Of The Keyboard

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  • Tap tap tap (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ObviousGuy ( 578567 ) <ObviousGuy@hotmail.com> on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:13AM (#3820875) Homepage Journal
    While I don't like the gummy feeling of a lot of keyboards that are apparently trying to be 'soft', I am not exactly a fan of the loud clicky types either.

    The keyboard that I've found works best and feels best to me is the original Microsoft Natural keyboard. It is ergonomically designed with no extra frills like app buttons across the top. It's also larger and a little sturdier than the Natural Light keyboards Microsoft is pushing these days with their freaky arrow keys and misaligned Insert/Delete/Home/End/PageUp/PageDown key block.

    Microsoft! Do something good for the users! Bring back the original Natural keyboard!

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I own two IBM 42H1292 [dansdata.com] keyboards, and they're huge, heavy, clumsy and noisy, but by God, they're TOUGH.

      I love 'em.

      I dread the day when motherboards all move to USB and I won't be able to use my beloved keyboards (hmmm... maybe I should start stocking up on PS2/USB adaptors...)

    • Too many of the new keyboards have the capslock key where the control key should be and used to be. Correcting this would make the keyboard more ergonomic. How often does anyone, aside from people writing Nigerian mail scams, use the caps lock? Odds are not as often as the control key, even for MS-Windows users.
    • "The keyboard that I've found works best and feels best to me is the original Microsoft Natural keyboard. It is ergonomically designed with no extra frills like app buttons across the top. It's also larger and a little sturdier than the Natural Light keyboards Microsoft is pushing these days with their freaky arrow keys and misaligned Insert/Delete/Home/End/PageUp/PageDown key block."

      Personally, I liked the old old IBM keyboards ... 24 function keys, and, more importantly, 9 cursor control keys, laid out logically (the center key was 'home').

      Currently, the MCK version [mck142.com] is about as close as you can get.

      Plus, massive programability ... when people talk about 'ergonomics', they're generally talking about someone whacking away at the keyboard. Start putting strings (like the entire logon sequence) onto a single key. Most of my functions are probably ~11 keystrokes, but I've had them up to 50+ on occasion. One ALT+PF16, and let it play out for the next few seconds ... that's ergonomic!

      The extra function keys make a dif ... I like the CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT combos, dislike three key combos (esp ALT+CTRL+DEL), and the extra keys mean another 36 two finger combos.

    • I use a Microsoft Natural Elite keyboard myself.

      It does take some getting used to but after using this keyboard for a while when you go back to a regular keyboard the feel is very uncomfortable indeed. This is due to the fact on regular keyboards the wrist is not in the straight position, which makes for uncomfortable long-term typing.
    • That article did not mention the "any" key, and many people still get confused looking for it. If you are one of them, here it is. [uncoveror.com] The "any" key is unmarked due to a dispute with its inventor Milton Crane, formerly CEO of Typewriters International of Toledo.
    • I'm not a big fan of "soft" keyboards either, but when my girlfriend got me a Logitech wireless, I didn't hesitate to switch. It's very soft, and doesn't provide the tactile feedback of my trusty '98 HP keyboard, but the wireless is SO nice. It's got a 6 ft range, and weighs only a few ounces. It's great. Once you get used to the feel of the keyboard, it's not that hard to adjust to. Before you're used to it, you miss keystrokes and stuff, but once you're properly adjusted, it's one sweet piece of hardware.

  • The ultimate keyboard.. the C-64!!! :) (Score:5, Funny)

    by Wraithlyn ( 133796 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:15AM (#3820887)
    Yessir, back in my day we had these incredible keyboards. I have a VIC-20 keyboard and and Commodore 64 keyboard. Some people claimed they were kind of big, but for keyboards, they were sure packed with features! Like computers! :)
    • Actually, the C64 keypad wasn't bad, as long as you put a pillow in front of it.

      Yup, there were no wrist pads in those days.

      The advantage of the pillow is that you could also put your head on it and take a nap while waiting for things to load off tape.
    • Still my fave, and they stopped making them years ago. Apple's keyboards have gone downhill ever since. I have two Apple Extended Keyboards and I will keep using them until the keys don't work anymore. They're huge, heavy (but not too heavy), and the keys have the perfect balance between "soft" and "clunk" when you pound on them. I even spilled tequila on one of them and didn't fry it (don't try this at home though; I'm sure I got lucky.... heh, friends don't let friends code drunk). My heart sunk when I bought a 7100/66 back in the day and, expecting another extended keyboard, I opened the box to find a smaller, mushier keyboard (I forget its name, but I threw it away it sucked so bad).

      Anyway here's a pic [tripod.co.jp] if you like to drool over pics of keyboards (the page itself is not so informative unless you speak Japanese). You can probably still buy these things used on ebay... if you use a Mac and have an ADB input (I don't think they have them on the newest ones but I'm not sure) that you don't mind using your keyboard in, pick one up!! This keyboard rules over all others.... I'm so obsessed with this keyboard that I'm considering getting a USB to ADB adapter [cwol.com] so I can plug it into my tibook.

      Keyboards do matter.

      • This was meant to be a reply to the main thread; not the c-64 thread. I guess friends shouldn't let friends browse slashdot drunk either.
      • Anyway here's a pic [tripod.co.jp] if you like to drool over pics of keyboards

        The picture of the Apple Adjustable Keyboard [tripod.co.jp] is interesting because it puts the 6 key on the correct side! Microsoft's crappy ergonomic keyboard puts the 6 key on the left side, while touch-typists (me at least) use their right hand for the 6 key.

      • Damn right. Can we petition Apple to bring these back in USB? I've got a USB Pro keyboard, and after awhile I was able to get used to it, but after two years I still don't like it. The Apple Extended Keyboard was absolutely perfect. The right feel, and all the keys in the right place - what is it with keyboard manufacturers that refuse to put the backslash where it belongs?
    • Nah - probably didn't see them in the states, but we had something here in the UK called a ZX spectrum - the keyboard was a single, molded piece of rubber; if you had dropped one from a three-story building, you could probably have caught it on the first bounce :)

  • The original IBM keyboards rule! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by barc0001 ( 173002 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:18AM (#3820893)
    You know, the ones with the steel plates inside? I have 5 of them, 4 in storage, hopefully enough to last the rest of my life. The one I am typing this on is from my IBM AT that I got in 1992. Still going strong..... You can occasionally find them at garage sales(!) and swap meets and such. If you see one, grab it. It is really the best keyboard.

    • Hear, hear! These clicky-clacky keyboards are great for dancing one's fingers across the keys with a minimum of force while still getting great tactile and audible feedback that yes, the keys you think you hit, really were hit. Nothing quite like them for "sureness" of typing.

      (Do I use one now? No, I don't have one, but if I tripped over one in good condition, I'd probably buy it. By the way, barc0001, why did you get an AT in 1992? They were quite old by then...)
      • Well, go to PCKeyboard [pckeyboard.com] and buy yourself one. PCKeyboard is the ex keyboard division of IBM and Lexmark, and still has tons of old keyboards (and new ones as well).
    • There's always someone who goes on about the old IBM keyboards, and while their movement and feedback are greatly superior to $bundled_crapboard they aren't anywhere nearly as comfortable to use as a good ergonomic split keyboard like the original Microsoft Natural or, my current favourite, the Logitech Cordless Desktop Pro.
    • When I put together my pII-era box, I scavenged the keyboard from the PC XT I inherited (I still have the XT too). Only un-feature (besides lack of ergonomics) is the lack of the *lock LEDs. I s'pose IBM figured that if you could use DOS 3.2, you could figure out if caps was on.
      • If you were typing at the dos/DOS command line, you didn't care if the caps key was on. DOS was case iNSenSiTiVe.
      • I have two of the old-style IBM keyboards, I think they are from an IBM PC or maybe an XT. The difference between these and the buckling spring Model M is like the difference between the Model M and a clone keyboard. They're so heavy it's not true :-).

        But alas, they don't work with any modern system. The big DIN keyboard plug is the same shape as on the PC-AT but the interface is completely different. I'm surprised that you got your XT keyboards working, perhaps there is a difference between the IBM PC keyboard and the PC-XT keyboard. I know there was some change between the PC and the PC-AT, hence the incompatibility. (But between AT and PS/2 there is no big change in keyboard interface, despite the new smaller plug.)
    • They don't rule for the home or office if you are in close proximity to other people. They make far too much noise.

      They do have a good response to touch, and you do have a "positiveness" about keyclick, but it's obnoxious in an environment within earshot of other users.

      Solution:-
      Get a quiet keyboard, a set of headphones, and program Windows to make a click every time you type a key.

    • Pricey, but heavy and built solid. http://www.cvtinc.com/ [cvtinc.com]. The Stellar, with extra F-keys down the side, is a disappointment: I wanted extra keys, but the side F-keys send the same codes as the top F-keys. They have a Windows program to change key codes, but won't release the protocol and aren't interested in anyone writing a Linux version ("somebody else wrote it; we just re-sell it").

    • Re:The original IBM keyboards rule! (Score:4, Informative)

      by CharlieG ( 34950 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @10:27AM (#3821869) Homepage
      And you can BUY the original PC keyboard to this day - NEW - I put one on every system I own

      www.pckeyboard.com

      They are the old IBM keyboard division!

      Look for the 104 key, buckling spring keyboard - they call it the "Customizer"

      If you want a keyboard that can be customized for Linux, look at their 104 key model

      Standard disclaimer - no relation to them except a happy customer
    • Oh yeah. Our church just had sixty-some Compaq DeskPros donated for our garage sale ($20 got you at least a P133, 16MB, 1.1GB, keyboard, mouse, 14" monitor, and 95 license... the local Linux users group members are buying 'em up five at a time), and out of a large number of Compaq and Dell keyboards, there was one lonely IBM keyboard.

      It is *so* mine now.
    • I just picked up a 1992 Ps/2 model that's in primo condition from a used computer store for $3! I had to steal some keycaps from some foreign language keyboards to make it complete, and it only took a little bit of work to clean off some dirt. After that, it looks and works great.
    • I've been using the AT keyboards since 1984! I've also got a lifetime supply of spares. I'm also eternally baffled why anyone would move the function keys away from the left side of the keyboard where they can be touch typed. Why, I can type SHIFT-CTRL-F8 with one hand tied behind my back and never lift my thumb from the space bar.

  • nostalgic but... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CProgrammer98 ( 240351 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:23AM (#3820911) Homepage
    I remember with fondness the big old solid metal cased IBM keyboards, I guess the fondness comes from the fact that it was my first pc (well, ok, the companies, but the first one I used). But I would actually much prefer a modern quiet membrane keyboard. I work in an open plan office with desks in clusters of 4, and it's very distracting whne you're trying to pin down a bug and having to think and concentrate but your neighbour is clacking away typing an email (or a slashdot post!) The keyboards we have now are Compaq (well, probably not, but that's what it says on the label) and they are quite noisy when you're typing quickly, and very distracting. My keyboard at home (generic no-name $15.00 membrane keyboard) is much quieter and even has a nicer feel. It has all hose fancy media and internet buttons which I never use, I bought it cuz I needed a new keyboard fats and didn't have much money. I went for the cheapest on the shelf and was actually pleasently surprised.

    The other thing I like about mebrane keyboards is that they're very easy to strip down and clean when the accumulated crud from sandwich crumbs and cake bars gets too much!

  • Curious about Dvorak? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    For those of you interested in faster and more
    comfortable typing I would just like to say that
    I have been using dvorak for 4 years and I'll
    never go back.

    It takes one or two days before you know aproximately whene all the letters are, and then
    it's just to start typing (without looking) you'll
    have your old typing speed back within a month
    and from there it gets even faster.

    hans AT anti DOT nu

    • Re:Curious about Dvorak? (Score:5, Informative)

      by PacoTaco ( 577292 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:46AM (#3820973)
      Dvorak superiority is probably a myth [utdallas.edu].
      • The authors of the cited article have an interest in denying the existence of "path dependence" so that they can argue that the most popular product is always the best. (I'm a libertarian, and have no love of government, but I can't agree to that.) For balance it might also be worth looking at this web page [mwbrooks.com].
      • The article you link makes several attempts to debase the traditional points made by Dvorak advocates, but as Dvorak typist for 11 years now I can offer a few refutations. First, the article says that QWERTY is, in fact, a more "evolved" standard than was once though, which is to say it underwent iterative refinements that improved its usefulness. I buy this only up to a point. Yes, there were certainly many failed keyboard layouts prior to QWERTY (most had separate keys for caps and lowercase, for instance, and many were alpha order), but I've never read an account that claimed QWERTY was engineered with an eye toward the three cardinal rules of keyboard layout (as stated in the article):

        A. The loads on the right and left hands are equalized.

        B. The load on the home (middle) row is maximized.

        C. The frequency of alternating hand sequences is maximized and the frequency of same-finger typing is minimized.

        If you look at QWERTY, you'll see that A is not satisfied very well at all - many of the most commonly used letters such as A,S,D,F,E,R,T and C are in the left hand. (The article actually states that QWERTY fails at this - 57% to 43% balance between hands.) Condition B is certainly not satisfied either - look at the preponderance of vowels and common letters in the top row. The last condition is the only one that QWERTY comes close to satisfying, but even then try typing words like "exaggerated" or "monopoly" (thanks to Jared Diamond and his April 1997 Discover Magazine article [buffalo.edu]). Dvorak's layout is, in fact, optimized for all three of these conditions, using careful analysis of letter frequency, finger movement, and letter combinations. Note the presence of all the vowels on the home row, and common consonants like "snthd" on the home row of the right hand. This makes it highly likely that after the typist uses a vowel he will be switching to the opposite hand (likely the home row) to type the next letter.

        What I'm getting at is that Dvorak's advantage may be more in hand/wrist comfort than anything else. I'll admit that claims of increased speed using Dvorak are probably not persuasive enough to make the argument for superiority. The article's strongest point is showing that typing speed varies little as a function of the layout of the keys. I'm willing to buy that anyone can type about as fast on any layout using the modern "shift" style keyboard. But speed isn't the only consideration. I haven't read or heard about many studies making the claim for reduced RSI while using Dvorak, but I'd guess that it's true. Anyone who's used the layout can confirm that typing on it has a flow and continuity that QWERTY cannot match - every time I'm forced to use a QWERTY keyboard I'm struck by how much my fingers are stretching all around to find the letters (and yes, I can still touch-typed in QWERTY after a minute or two of warm-up and finger-conversion - it's kind of like being keyboard bilingual). With Dvorak typing is just more natural feeling, like a ball rolling down a smooth hill. QWERTY is like rolling that same ball down a flight of steps. And if you gain a little extra typing speed out of it, all the better! (For what it's worth, the world typing speed record has been held by Dvorak typists for many years now.)

        This is not some evangelical manifesto urging everyone to change layouts - but if you do make the switch, I promise you won't be disappointed. Both Windows and Mac have built-in Dvorak capability, and switching between the two is just a simple key combination. I've found that Mac is a bit more cooperative in this regard, but Windows is passably good. It's easy to fall into the trap of "well, if most of the world uses it, it must be the best thing out there." Doesn't hold true for Windows, does it?

        • IMHO, if you're a programmer, the argument of QWERTY vs. Dvorak is moot. Programming (or using any non-word processing app) requires a huge amount of usage of arrow keys, ctl and alt sequences, and funny symbols, not to mention mouse movement.

          My hands tend to bother me more from these actions than from typing words. In fact, I can type straight text all day and not feel much strain.

          My latest theory is that you can strain your hands even without typing. Long stretches of just holding my hands in a tense position over the keyboard ready to edit code seems to bother me.

    • Re:Curious about Dvorak? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by prockcore ( 543967 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:52AM (#3820983)
      Grr... the article perpetuates the urban legend that qwerty is designed to "slow down the typist".

      That's not true at all! What he found was that when typing quickly on old typewriters, hitting two keys that were right next to each other would jam. So instead of moving keys around to "slow you down" he moved keys around to speed you up! By moving commonly used keys to opposite sides of the keyboard, the typist was able to type quickly without jamming the typewriter.

      It's been shown that dvorak actually makes RSI worse because commonly used keys are hit by the same finger. Where qwerty spreads things out so that all fingers are used frequently, dvorak causes you to use half your fingers far more frequently than the others.

      Also qwerty relies a lot on alternating hands.. this is shown to be much faster than using a single hand to type a word.
      • Where qwerty spreads things out so that all fingers are used frequently, dvorak causes you to use half your fingers far more frequently than the others.
        This is not true. The buttons on the home row are "aoeu id htns". All very common letters - and all on a finger of their own (except "id"). So all the fingers on both hands are used.
        Also qwerty relies a lot on alternating hands.. this is shown to be much faster than using a single hand to type a word.
        An analysis of almost any english text will show that qwerty alternates less between the hands than dvorak. Dvorak has all the vowels on the left hand, so you'll have to use it several times for almost every word.

        The thing with qwerty that bothers me the most is that it requires my fingers to dance over the keyboard all spidery, while dvorak only forces me to move my fingers once or twice per word. I worked as a translator one summer, typing all day long. After a while, my finger began aching. That's when I seriously began thinking of switching.

        Look: some economic students want to badmouth dvorak and promote qwerty for some rather silly reasons having to do with economic theory. I don't care about that.

        I've used qwerty for twelve years before I switched to dvorak. Now I use both (nothing but dvorak on my own computer, though). The switch wasn't that easy, but it was worth it. It took me a few days to learn it properly. (One of my friends learned it in one evening, though - she wrote freakishly fast almost right away.)

        More and more people are hearing of dvorak from the internet or their friends, and some of them switch. I know several people IRL (living in my town) who uses dvorak. In the typewriter age, switching to dvorak is a difficult and expensive task. In the computer age, switching is a manner of typing "setxkbmap dvorak" in the nearest xterm. (Have an image of the new keyboard layout on your screen, and look at it instead of at the keys. Keep the fingers on the home row. If you like it (it takes about a month to be good, though), you can mod your keyboard or get a special one.)

        Dvorak isn't the be-all and end-all of keyboards, but I think it's an improvement on qwerty, just as qwerty was an improvement on the abcde-style layouts before it.

        Dvorak won't miraculously cure your RSI (although it did help against my finger-aches) or make you become the fastest typist in the world (although the fastest typist in the world did use dvorak).

  • For those who don't read articles... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Thomas M Hughes ( 463951 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:32AM (#3820935)
    Well, its slashdotted, so you're excused.

    But BS = Buckling Spring.
  • The zx80 keyboard? Well, it had no keys at all, really - just patches of plastic you had to run your finger over to get the characters to appear on the screen.

    Thene there was the zxspectrum keyboard - memorably described as having the texture of the flesh of a dead fish.

    My keyboard is full of button (HP internet extensions) which Linux seems unable to use properly - I have tried avrious solutions, but none works well. There is a specific driver for this keyboard too, but it doesn't seem to drive the extra keys AFAICS.
    • The zx80 keyboard?

      My introduction to programming was reading the manual of my nextdoor neighbour's ZX80 when I was about 10 years old. I think that qualifies me as a true nerd.
    • > (HP internet extensions) which Linux seems unable to use properly

      Hmm. Does Linux properly support all keys found on a ZX81/Spectrum? Even that (couch) wonderful "command completion" thing in BASIC? ' Guess not. No Linux at all for these micros...

      I remember that to overcome cumbersome experiences with the ATM-like soft-touch/dead fish feeling, my dad built his own keyboard - from scratch, mostly. He used an old electric typewriter he found on a dump an bought for "just" $50 (real keyboards costed twice that in the early eigties). Using that piece of junk, a lot of wires and solder he finally got something that looked like a contemporary computer. Looked a bit like a C64. (My dad had gained some experience from previously building a keyboard for Acorn's System-1 computer, that came as a do-it-yourself-kit with just a few leds and the same 12 keys you'll find on any mobile phone today!)

      Ah. Real pieces of art - but I was so happy when we got a BBC micro in '83.

  • Today's Keyboards... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stuffman64 ( 208233 ) <stuffman@[ ]il.com ['gma' in gap]> on Thursday July 04, 2002 @04:38AM (#3820955)
    Up until recently, I have been using trusty 'ol IBM PS/2 [geocities.com] keyboard. Its trusty mechanical feedback was great, not to mention nearly error-free when working properly. Also, when my high school chucked out its old computers, I was able to salvage about 15 to 20 of these beauties. Nearly all worked perfectly, and those that didn't were not to hard to fix with a solder iron and spare parts.

    But recently, my wrists have begun to bother me (probably CTS setting in; and I'm nary 20 years old) and the old keyboards refused to work on my new rig (I probably could have modified one of them to work, but college really cuts out the free time). So I went to Wally Mart Computer Center and picked up this Logitech Navigator [logitech.com] keyboard. This is by far one of the best keyboards I have used. Sure, those Mikeysoft Naturals are comfy, but they take up too much space and it is quite difficult to play Unreal Tournament with. The tactile sensation, while softer and not nearly as loud as the PS/2's, has a reassuring, yet subtle "crunch" to it. Not to mention, it has a scroll wheel built in (I use mine to switch apps, it is quite handy), and numerous other handy buttons. All the Ctrl functions are silkscreened on the front side of the keys for handy reference. And it was only $30.

    The most unique feature, however, is the zero-tilt design. All of the keys are perfectly flat; normal keyboards "curve up" as you approach the number row, but all the keys on this keyboard are on the same plane, parallel to the desk. I have to say that it takes some getting used to, but in the end it is far more comfortable than a regular "tilted" keyboard. Now if only I can figure out how to get some of these extra buttons and stuff working in Linux.... damn semi-n00b skillz.

    While I miss my PS/2's (they are still attached to my other boxes), I would have to say that I am quite impressed with the Navigator. Hopefully this thing will be as durable as the old PS/2's.
  • Well, still quarter to five, and we killed em...

    Google Cache [216.239.51.100]
  • The article is slashdotted already, but since we're on the subject of keyboards...

    IBM Model M: Best. Keyboard. Ever. I found two of 'em in a box full of crappy Dell QuietKeys a while back, and was instantly hooked.

    Apple Extended Keyboard II: Not nearly as "clack clack" as the Model M, but a very nice feel to a very solid keyboard. Whenever I get around to buying a new(er) Mac, I think the USB keyboard will just stay in the box, while the Extended II gets hooked up with an adapter.

    The Microsoft Naturals are supposed to be nice, but I can't stand the look or the feel of split keyboards.

    Anyway, that's my list, as if you care. :)
  • Most old timers remember the super loud "clicky" IBM keyboards that were super durable. Their only two disadvantages were the loud noise and their price, but if you want good tactile feedback, you pay the price of added noise. Furthermore, if you want a strong keyboard that will last, it will have to be built out of high quality components and materials. Doing a little research finds that the original technology used in the old IBM keyboards is still around. The technology is called "Buckling Spring Capacitive Keyswitches", and a company called Unicomp [pckeyboard.com] long ago bought the technology from IBM. In fact, they still sell [yahoo.com] those lovable clicky and nearly indestructable keyboards.

    There are a few things you need to realize about this technology. It is truely superior to the foam and rubber dome keyswitches used in most mainstream keyboards. The BS capacitive keyswitches last for millions and millions more keystrokes than the other technologies, so buying one of these keyboards is an investment. Not only that, but BS keyswitch technology is more water resistant than the cheaper keyswitch technologies. You can spill your drink into an old IBM keyboard... and as long as you unplug it and let it dry out, it will still work. Other things play into this older IBM keyboard tech. For example, keys sticking or not registering is highly unlikely with the IBM technology, but it happens all the time with the foam keyswitches used in the popular Microsoft keyboards. Finally, touch typing is so much easier with buckling spring capacitive keyswitches as you can feel the click AND hear it.

    I highly suggest any self respecting computer user to get one of these keyboards for their house. Just remember the only two drawbacks: noise and price. In every other way these keyboards excel! I suggest the old skool IBM keyboard that Unicomp sells through their Yahoo store [yahoo.com].
  • I fell in love with the tactile clickety-click keyboards while at Uni in the early 1990s - and put up with quite a few people telling me to shut the hell up when I -really- got going on them. Pity. Not that anyone was particularly quiet on the things

    Now having a mac with only a USB Pro Keyboard to keep me happy (and with its big fat keys it has its own kind of appeal) I don't have access to anything clickety - anyone know of USB keyboards with 'kick'?

    a grrl & her server [danamania.com]

  • Teletype! (Score:4, Informative)

    by pesc ( 147035 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @05:25AM (#3821059)
    Hah!

    Listen kids, back in MY days, we used teletypes [columbia.edu]. Those keyboards were not for the weak. You had to hammer down the keys. And when one key was down, the other were mechanically locked and could not be pressed. You would hurt your fingers if you tried to hammer two keys at once.

    The wonder of the teletype! No electronics. It was all mechanics. Imagine that! And they also had a paper tape reader/puncher which was handy to save your programs if your 100K disk allowance was used up.

  • Oh yes, the old IBM keyboards. I loved those, wish I had one - no, two, one for home and one for work.
    The first computer I had, a Tangerine Microtan 65, had the option of a really good keyboard, and aside from the aforementioned IBM keyboards was one of the best computer keyboards I have ever used.
    Modern membrane keyboards range from the barely acceptable to the completely useless. I cannot stand typing on a keyboard that feels like limp wet lettuce, which is what some of the cheaper membranes often supplied with PCs feel like. Ugh! After a keyboard failed at work lately, I had to go through five spare keyboards to find one that I could use.
    When I type, I like to feel the keys go down with a satisfying 'clunk', not a soft 'squish'.
    Membranes. Hate 'em!

  • Happy Hacking Keyboard (Score:4, Interesting)

    by wirefarm ( 18470 ) <jim@mmdCOWc.net minus herbivore> on Thursday July 04, 2002 @05:49AM (#3821118) Homepage
    The Happy Hacking Keyboard [pfuca.com] is about the best new keyboard I've found. Good feel, no extra keys, remarkably small, but keys as big as an old IBM.
    From their site:
    - NO CAPS LOCK KEY
    - NO WINDOWS KEY
    - CTRL Key is in Right Position
    - Full Size Key Pitch

    They don't have any of those cutesy 'Shop on the Web' buttons that link you to long-dead dotcoms or even seperate number pad or arrow keys - this is a keyboard perfect for serious text editing. (Dare I say it? A real man's keyboard!)

    If you've ever used one, you probably know what I'm talking about...

    Cheers,
    Jim in Tokyo
    • That's too bad. My shareware keyboard macro program, mgSimply, [com.com] allows you to use the Windows key as a modifier key. The benefit is the key significantly increases the number of keyboard macros you can have.

      If you use Windows XP,NT, or 2000, you'll need this patch [greenes.com].
    • i love my happy hacking2 keyboard, but i saw this SolidTek kb at a local Second Cup.
      solidtek kb [onesource.nl]
      actually the one i saw was black and wasn't wireless. i've tried to find more info on them, but i haven't had much success.
      i'd change one thing about the HH2 kb, i'd make the home/end keys single keys, chording on home/end is annoying.

  • dishwasher safe (Score:3, Funny)

    by _ph1ux_ ( 216706 ) on Thursday July 04, 2002 @05:56AM (#3821129)
    we used to run them through the dishwasher when they got too dirty - and they would work fine afterwards.

    reminds me of an urban legend/ it horror story about some IT guy telling some chick that she needed to clean out her machine and she ran it through the dishwasher.

  • Piling on... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Daniel Rutter ( 126873 ) <dan@dansdata.com> on Thursday July 04, 2002 @06:40AM (#3821202) Homepage
    My own review of the IBM 42H1292 and related 'boards is here [dansdata.com], in case anybody cares.
  • As far as layout goes, the Amiga keyboards rock! They place the system options keys "Amiga keys" next to the space bar where they should be and there is actually a help key. Of course the Amiga OS knows how the use those keys far more efficent than Windows can use it's Windows keys. On the Amiga, left key is for global system hot keys and right is for app short cuts. But when it comes to physical construction, nothing can beat the Omni Key Ultra keyboard. I could kill someone with it. Plus when you press a key, you know it's been pressed. Since that keyboard supported the Amiga, although somewhat buggly in faster Amigas, it combined the best of both keyboards. -Tekoneiric-
    • The Avant Prime and Stellar keyboards (mentioned elsewhere in this thread; see the CVT web site [cvtinc.com] for details) were evidently designed by the folks who did the Northgate Omnikey, and judging by a review I read, share its sturdiness. (The key reprogramming software runs under Windows; no word as to whether it will run under WINE.) Rather pricey at $150, but if you're at your keyboard a lot, it might be worth it.

  • Those new keyboards do work in Linux (Score:3, Informative)

    by dobratzp ( 155212 ) <dobratzp@ele.uri.edu> on Thursday July 04, 2002 @07:45AM (#3821316) Homepage

    There have been a number of posts complaining about how they have a new keyboard and it doesn't work in Linux. Well, though the Keyboard HOWTO [tldp.org] doesn't mention it, these new keyboards work without modification to the standard X setup. That is to say, when you press an "internet" key, the X server recognizes this and recieves the scancode. All you have to do is map that scancode to a useful key, and presto, you have a functional internet keyboard.

    Step by Step:
    1. Swap keyboards (no need to reboot here)
    2. Run xev. Make note of the desired key's scancode
    3. Edit your .Xmodmap file to map the key to something useful (X provides the symbolic names F13 and above for situations like this)
    4. Run xmodmap .Xmodmap to tell your X server about your new keys.
    5. Configure your applications to recognize these new keys. For example, in enlightenment you can edit keybindings.cfg so that F13 starts XMMS.
  • .. can use this one [dumbentia.com][pdf] :-)?
  • I'm using an IBM mini with a TP eraser pointer. It works nice. The key travel is not squishy but not long either. Like a Thinkpad really. And the eraser pointer is nice. It has it's own PS/2 mouse port in, so I plug in a Marble Mouse and switch off between Eraser and Marble.

    I also have a mini (no keypad) w/o no Eraser but w/ standard 'click' travel PS/2 keys.

    I also have a standard size with an Eraser but w/ standard click.

    I also have 3 Soft Touch that are whisper quiet.
    -all IBM KB's

    BTW there are companies that make lefthand keyboards and keyboards with detachable keypads that be attached on the left or right or made free.

    I liked the Happy Hacking compactness but felt that they were taking advantage of people at what, $70?
  • Was a PCXT 10 function button down the left side. It was STEEL and you could sled on it or bash someone's head in. Almost as heavy as the unit on a 3279. Then I had a PCAT with the 'standard 12/24 function keys across the top. Still STEEL. It weighed almost as much as small notebook machine.
  • I feel compelled to point out i've been typing pretty much every day for the past 10 years. I dont' do that home-row nonsense.. my fingers float over the keyboard, my hands move a lot, my writs stay straight usually, as my 'angle of attack' is crooked. I've completely stopped thinking when i type, so, obviously, it works. And i can go at about 90 WPM.

    It messes me up to no end when i get on the "natual" keyboards.. they cramp my style, and my wrists.
  • How old is your keyboard?

    a) new
    b) 1-2 years
    c) 3-4 years
    d) 5-8 years
    e) 8-10 years
    f) >10 years
    g) Keyboard? I use the Apple CowboyNeal Lightpen!


    Believe it or not, I'm typing this on the same Northgate Omnikey 102 I bought twelve years ago - in December, 1990!
    • How old is your keyboard?

      a) new
      b) 1-2 years
      c) 3-4 years
      d) 5-8 years
      e) 8-10 years
      f) >10 years
      g) Keyboard? I use the Apple CowboyNeal Lightpen!

      I'm typing this on an IBM model M. Made in USA, so you know it's old. The date on this one is 10-14-92, so it's (e), almost to (f).

  • I found that PCKeyboard does still provide the old IBM BS keyboards, and they even promise to deliver soon 105 (non-English) keys layouts with the stick!

    Too bad there's nor Brazilian Portuguese neither Swiss French layouts, and those are the ones I'm after.

    I would like to get a layout that once was created specifically with the same goals as the Dvorak one, but tailored for Portuguese&hellip;

  • QWERTY slow? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by codeButcher ( 223668 )
    QWERTY was originally designed by Christopher Sholes to slow typing down. [...] 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.

    I believe he chose the layout to SPEED UP typing. I mean, do you know how slow you type when you have to untangle hammers all the time???

  • One of the best keyboards ever was the one on the original Xerox PARC Alto. That thing had a machined casting as the frame and case, and was very heavy. But it wasn't that big; no function keys or other useless buttons. The keys had good tactile feedback. The original PARC mouse, though, wasn't very good.

    A few of those original keyboards are still in use, twenty years later.

  • Zeos! (Score:2)

    by Enahs ( 1606 )
    The company got absorbed by Micron, true, but a ca. 1990 Zeos keyboard is every bit the keyboard a Model M is. Well, okay; it doesn't have drainholes (great idea!) or interchangable cables but it feels great to type on and could probably pass the 3-story test. I've got one stored away in a closet; I switch back to it when whatever my latest keyboard happens to be decides to crap out.
  • "I've seen have used membrane technology, but I have always been a believer that ergonomic keyboards not only hinder a typist, but also do not relieve any stress from typing. I never proved that of course, but I've always felt more "natural" with standard keyboards. An article was just released at the BBC, describing how ergonomic keyboards might not be as helpful as many might hope to believe."

    As fate would have it, I'm a big guy. I wear either a XXLT or XXXLT shirt. Given that I have broader shoulders than most, I find that an ergo keyboard to be very much more comfortable than regular rectangular keyboards.

    I *suspect* that there's a number of variables that play a role in whether or not a person finds ergo keyboards to be a significant improvement over conventional keyboards.

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