Keyboard love

[Venusian Broon]

It could have been worse. You could have learnt to touch type on this:

or even this:

I had both computers - so not knocking them as fantastic introductions to programming, computers and gaming. Just that their keyboard design and tech was pretty awful.

 

[HareBrain]

That was the advantage of the Commodore 64, with its proper keyboard: it was much easier to type things like

10 print "Bryan is skill"
20 goto 10

 

[.matthew.]

Is it wrong that I kind of love that? It's so dumb but so simple...

 

[Venusian Broon]

Is it wrong that I kind of love that? It's so dumb but so simple...

It was the wild west of computing at the time, people were throwing together all sorts of things to make a home computer, making them cheaper and cheaper. I think Sinclair Research thought that a real keyboard would make their computers too expensive so cobbled together these simpler alternatives.

 

[Astro Pen]

The last few years This has been my main keyboard. Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600
Stone reliable, compact, no faded keys and pretty quiet, which is good because I write at night. It has the handy button for the calculator.
It also has the mysterious "scr lock" key which I have never understood the function of or used.
I open it up a couple of times a year for the important maintenance ritual of "De-crumbing"

 

[Phyrebrat]

I had (we had, I should say) a Spectrum+ which was so sturdy though. The keys were a little over-designed, but I learnt to progamme BASIC on it with things like.

10 REM
20 INPUT a: CLS
30 INPUT "Is Bryan skill?", b
40 IF b=a THEN PRINT "That is fake news": STOP
50 IF b\<a THEN PRINT "Don't be absurd, he's a wazzock"
60 IF b\>a THEN PRINT "Short answer is no"
70 GO TO 30

That was the advantage of the Commodore 64, with its proper keyboard: it was much easier to type things like

10 print "Bryan is skill"
20 goto 10

I was quite fond of the 48k keypads but my mate's brother's ZX81 was a total nightmare.

pH

 

[ckatt]

Don't know what I'd do without this beast. Can't type on a regular keyboard for more than an hour. Bad RSI stopped me from writing for a few years, but this helped me through it.
Just finished cleaning it, and the desk, when I saw this thread.

 

[sknox]

One of the best decisions of my life I made in the summer between seventh and eighth grade. I took a typing class. I have no idea why I did that unnervingly wise thing for a 13-year-old. Learned on actual manual typewriters. Whatever the reasons, I learned to type by touch and the learning stuck. It helped me get office jobs, which positioned me to be in offices when the first PCs started showing up (DecMate, for all you oldsters), which in turn led this medieval grad student being able to pose as a "computer expert." It was the early 80s and nobody needed credentials. Anyway, thanks to that young kid who surely ought to have been able to think of something better to do than typing class!

BTW, ScrollLock was originally used for terminal sessions. It was also used in Lotus 1-2-3. Even more mysterious was the SysReq key.

 

[ckatt]

Two years ago I decided enough was enough. My brain worked faster than my fingers and I needed them up to speed. I went to typingclub.com, a free website, and practiced every day for 20 minutes or so. After about I month, I could touch type. Still peek at the keys sometimes but once I got into the habit of using the right fingers on the right keys I didn't need the website anymore. And I continue to practice every day, but using my own words.
My bad habits had been engrained for 30 years but I was still able to (mostly) break them in a month. Never say you're are too old. Of all the writing skills I have learned over the years, this one has had the most tangible payoff.

 

[-K2-]

K2

 

[Dan Jones]

Can we now agree @Dan Jones @The Big Peat and @Venusian Broon that HB needs a smartphone?

This thread is clearly a cry for help. Maybe we should arrange a Clap For HB's Keyboard every Thursday at 8pm?

I've been using my Macbook keyboard for a few years now and am long past the days when I wanted to throw the bloody thing out of the window because all the keys are in the wrong place. Randomly, the number 6 has been the first (and so far only) key to become partially dislodged through overuse. Maybe I shouldn't spend so much time typing out Iron Maiden lyrics?

 

[Phyrebrat]

Even more mysterious was the SysReq key.

I never slept for years till I realised unless I was running LINUX I didn't have to worry about it (athough I did get a bit handy with PrtScr and numlock).

pH