2. Teletypes detached from early typewriters, evolved into terminals, and then (many) home computers, with 2” and Ctrl on the left.
-
-
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
First IBM PC, 5150, in 1981, started with a keyboard similar to Selectric, but also borrowing a bit from home computers (see: Ctrl).
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
They got some backlash from office users for deviating from Selectric, and “fixed” it with 101-key Model M later that decade.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
That itself became a standard and basically spread into all the other keyboards, incl. future home computers.
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes -
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
So, IBM was kind of at a mercy of a de facto Electric/Selectric office standard it itself established in the 1960s.
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
That’s how I see the non-international part of this equation. What do you think?
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @mwichary
Makes a lot of sense! I'm still curious what prompted IBM to move the @ to the 2, but that may not have been recorded.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
-
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
They needed smaller (literally) symbols on same keys, because they would only have to configure the impression force for each key.
3 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
For example, typing in [.] needs less force to appear the same than typing in [8].
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
Too much force on [.] would make a hole in the paper, and so on.
-
-
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
So on Electromatic they just moved smaller symbols together. There’s a key with ['"], and a key with [-_]. I think the rest followed…
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @mwichary @mattlaschneider
…including [2@] being where it is.
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like - Show replies
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.