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From: jwb@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (Jim Breen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Which Came First?
Message-ID: <12879@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 2 Oct 90 01:24:14 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 702, Message 3 of 12


In article <12785@accuvax.nwu.edu>, johnp@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (John
Parsons) writes:

> When Touch*Tone first came out, I remember my father griping that the
> number pad was arranged differently from that of ten-key adding
> machines, i.e.,

>     1 2 3                        7 8 9
>     4 5 6   on the phone, vs.    4 5 6  on calculators.
>     7 8 9                        1 2 3
>       0 			 0 

> Does anyone remember why Bell chose to be different?  (I assume ten-key
> adders came first).

As I have heard it, the ISO standard for numeric keypads antedated the
CCITT recommendation. When CCITT "studied" the keypad layout, AT&T
representatives refused point-blank to compromise, and CCITT
(cravenly) gave in.

All praise to those (few) PTTs which held out and adopted the ISO
version.

An anecdote. When Telecom Autralia introduced Touchfones in the mid
1970s, the Standards Association of Australia (our equivalent of ANSI)
had a gentle correspondence battle with Telecom, trying to convince it
to use the ISO layout. In its replies to SAA, Telecom stated that
"overseas studies" had shown that there was no confusion when the two
layouts were used simultaneously on a desk, e.g. on a phone and a VDU
keyboard. Quite coincidently, Telecom was insisting that all the VDUs
it purchased had the numeric keypads reversed to the CCITT format. The
reason stated in the documentation was "to prevent confusion with
telephone keypads." Plus ca change, plus ca la meme chose.


     Jim Breen ($B%8%`(J) (jwb@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au) Dept of 
           Robotics & Digital Technology. Monash University
            PO Box 197 Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
              (ph) +61 3 573 2552 (fax) +61 3 573 2745