Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site myrias.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsri!ubc-vision!alberta!myrias!cmt From: cmt@myrias.UUCP (Chris Thomson) Newsgroups: net.info-terms,net.internat Subject: Re: In search of a sane keyboard standard Message-ID: <245@myrias.UUCP> Date: Sun, 4-May-86 20:10:04 EDT Article-I.D.: myrias.245 Posted: Sun May 4 20:10:04 1986 Date-Received: Mon, 5-May-86 03:20:41 EDT References: <2071@cbosgd.UUCP> Organization: Myrias Research, Edmonton Lines: 45 Keywords: keyboard, standard, ANSI In <2071@cbosgd.UUCP> Mark Horton writes: > Are you tired of incompatible keyboards ... ? You bet I am. There seems to be a rampant opinion that "since engineers and casual computer users can't touch type anyway, keyboard layout is arbitrary". Grrr. When I went through high school a typing course was mandatory. I think it still should be. One pet peeve I have (that Mark missed) is that most new keyboards do not set off the home key positions (or at least the F and J keys), a practice that I find particularly upsetting, since it makes touch typing unreliable, and is a zero-cost thing to fix. Responding to Mark's suggested keyboard (reproduced below), I have a few comments: 1. Overall, I like it. I'd be happy to have one of these on my desk. 2. No meta key is specified. It should be optional, and below the left shift key. This is the ALT key on IBM PC's, the S2 key on Ann Arbor XL's, and the LEFT key on Sun-2's. 3. The placement of caps lock could just as well be as on the Sun-2, where it is under the left part of the left shift key. 4. While I hold the opposite view to Mark regarding the relative placement of caps lock and control, his double-wide control key satisfies both points of view. > Horton's Standard Keyboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------++++++ | ESC| ! | @ | # | $ | % | ^ | & | * | ( | ) | _ | + | BACK + DEL+ | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | - | = | SPACE+ + ------------------------------------------------------------------------++++++ | TAB | Q | W | E | R | T | Y | U | I | O | P | { | } | | | ~ | | | | | | | | | | | | | [ | ] | \ | ` | ------------------------------------------------------------------------++++++ | CTRL | A | S | D | F | G | H | J | K | L | : | " | RETURN +LINE+ | | | | | | | | | | | ; | ' | +FEED+ ------------------------------------------------------------------------++++++ | SHIFT | Z | X | C | V | B | N | M | < | > | ? | SHIFT +BRK + | | | | | | | | | , | . | / | + + ------------------------------------------------------------------------++++++ |CAPS| SPACE | |LOCK| | --------------------------------------------- -- Chris Thomson, Myrias Research Corporation ihnp4!alberta!myrias!cmt 200 10328 81 Ave, Edmonton Alberta, Canada 403 432 1616