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From: guy@rlgvax.UUCP (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Keyboard preferences  -- (discussion of VT220)
Message-ID: <1643@rlgvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 1-Feb-84 13:39:32 EST
Article-I.D.: rlgvax.1643
Posted: Wed Feb  1 13:39:32 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 10:10:12 EST
References: <284@denelcor.UUCP> <348@sask.UUCP>
Organization: CCI Office Systems Group, Reston, VA
Lines: 37

> UNFORTUNATELY, typewriters are a bit different than this.  Specifically
> the shift for ',' is ',' and the shift for '.' is '.'  We have a VT220
> and it uses the typewriter conventions for the shift of these chars.
> They then took the '<' and ">" and placed these on a key BETWEEN
> SHIFT and 'Z'.  (where one is definitely not used to finding a key.)
> This moved the shift to the left so 'no scroll' moves up to the top
> row of function keys.  As does ESC.  As does SET-UP.  Also on a VT100
> the key with '\' and '|' is outside the RETURN.  On the VT220 this key
> is moved inside the RETURN.  and BACK SPACE is gone.  All in all the
> rather acceptable VT100 keyboard becomes a brain-damaged thing intended
> for Word Processing/Micro Computery things and as an afterthought
> may be used as a regular terminal.  (Other than this, the VT220 is
> a rather nice terminal.)


1) They placed a key between SHIFT and 'Z'?  Following in IBM's brain-damaged
footsteps?

2) Interestingly enough, some office machines have an ASCII-terminal style
keyboard, rather than a straight typewriter style keyboard.  The Xerox Star,
the NBI System One Integrated Workstation come to mind, as do DEC's word
processors (which may not count, considering they're built around VT52s
and VT100s).  Furthermore, early versions of Compucorp's "word processors"
have a *Teletype*-style keyboard (you know, ( ) over 8 and 9, + over ;, etc.).
The reason for this is probably that their "word processors" are really
Z80-based small business computers with a good word-processing package which
was written a bit later than the original system was designed.  They probably
designed the system just as a small-business computer, and of course, as
everybody knows, computers have to have Teletype-style keyboards (TM).
So it's not clear that a typewriter keyboard is necessarily the best thing
even for word processors, although I've heard some secretaries complaining
about the "< ," pairing (I don't know whether that's a matter of familiarity
with the ", ," pairing, or unfamiliarity with the idea of a CAPS LOCK key,
or what).

	Guy Harris
	{seismo,ihnp4,allegra}!rlgvax!guy