Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!lethe!yunexus!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!brunix!rca
From: rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Those Damn Keyboards
Message-ID: <64150@brunix.UUCP>
Date: 8 Feb 91 07:24:13 GMT
References: <5137@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Sender: news@brunix.UUCP
Reply-To: rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony)
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Lines: 35

In article <5137@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> lacsap@plethora.media.mit.edu (Pascal Chesnais) writes:
>ISO KEYBOARDS - JUST SAY NO!!!
>Bring back the "Classic Keyboard"!
>
>One of the key requirements was that the return key had to be "L"
>shaped.  To accomplish this, one of the keys had to be removed and the
>key codes remapped.  In lengthy discussions with our engineers and our
>European and Asian teams, the new key layout was approved.

I understand that NeXT, if they want especially government and large
corporate orders, has to comply with the ISO standards. What you sould
know is that in Europe even trade unions have their **** in such
things. It would be probably discriminating and unhuman for a
secretary to need a day to get used to a new keyboard....

Now for the constructive part: I still think NeXT should leave the
keyboard as it was. The old keyboard is the best thing I have ever
used. I type at least 15-20% faster on it than on anything else.

Now if you just made the key removable and depending on whether you
put on a single L-shaped or two regular key caps on the two switches
you can have either the old or the new keyboard. In the keyboard
program you then only need to mark the lost key as invalid if you use
the L-shaped key cap.

This should be possible. e.g. Toshiba delivers its laptops with
additional key caps, thus you can have a US, German, French or
whatsoever keyboard when you use your laptop while travelling and want
to change the layout with each border you cross :)

Ronald
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man."   G.B. Shaw   |  rca@cs.brown.edu or antony@browncog.bitnet