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From: sas1@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Stuart Schmukler)
Newsgroups: net.info-terms,net.internat
Subject: Re: In search of a sane keyboard standard
Message-ID: <132@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-May-86 12:34:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: sphinx.132
Posted: Mon May  5 12:34:54 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 7-May-86 06:17:20 EDT
Expires: Tue, 21-Dec-99 00:00:00 EDT
References: <2071@cbosgd.UUCP> <1314@oddjob.UUCP>
Reply-To: sas1@sphinx.UUCP (Stuart Schmukler)
Organization: U. Chicago - Computation Center
Lines: 29
Keywords: keyboard, standard, ANSI
Xref: watmath net.info-terms:912 net.internat:269
Summary: Some One should do some research

In article <2071@cbosgd.UUCP> mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) writes:
>Are you tired of incompatible keyboards that require you to stand
>on your head to type, or to use two hands to type Control S?  I am.

Yes I am tried of tring to use incompatible keyboards, but the manufacturers
seem to to rely on the pliablity of computer users.  None of the manufacturers 
I have spoken with seem to be able to (or are willing to) justify their 
positioning of keys on a keyboard.  

In article <1314@oddjob.UUCP> mrl@oddjob.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson) writes:
>The vt200 has a ",," and ".." key, as on many typewriters, and
>puts <> on a key between Z and SHIFT; as you might expect, this
>is a real pain, and no one around here likes it. 

I have even seen some one from DEC strongly defend this positioning in a
discussion of standard keyboards for the APL community.  In general that
keyboard seems to be motivated by an attempt to court the secretarial user and 
the europeans.

My biggest problem is with the right-handed designers of numeric keypads.
Grafting the keypad to the right side of the keyboard seems to put 20% 
(I think) of the population disadvantage.  Putting the keypad on a
separate attachable panel seems to be a good solution for both left and
right handers.

>>Comments and suggested improvements are welcome.
(I wish that manufacturers would put this on their keyboards:).)

SaS