The vast majority of PC users today have no memory of what PC keyboards looked like before the standard 101/102-key layout arrived, even though various OEMs do their best to mangle the standard layout in order to minimize usability, especially on laptops. OEM-specific modifications aside, the basic layout of the main block of alphanumeric keys has not changed in over 30 years, since 1986.
However, up until that point the PC keyboard layout and the keyboard hardware changed quite a bit, and looking at the 1981-1986 IBM Technical References is key to understanding a) why the standard keyboard scan codes are so complex, and b) why there are so many seemingly odd vendor-specific modifications of the standard layout.
With our modern operating systems and crazy fast processors, it’s easy to forget that the PC as a platform is almost 40 years old, and many of the PC standards we don’t even think of as standards have roots that date back that far – and the keyboard is no exception.
I am old enough to know all of those keyboards 🙁
Especially the first one had a lovely tactile feeling, but if I remember correctly it was quite loud to typ on.
Now that I am here, can anyone recommend me a cheap mechanical keyboard?
If you want the absolutely most cheap keyboard, go to Goodwill and get a used one. They tend to have a bunch of mice and keyboards for a couple bucks. Otherwise, one cheap-ass keyboard is much like any other these days. If it’s not Cherry, it’s all the same.
And I’ve been using keyboards since before there was a PC. The old IBM mechanical keyboards were awesome, especially for touch typing. If you want that anymore, you need Cherry keys.
I miss the keyboard computers like the C64 and Amiga 500 (great keyboard!). Could be just nostalgia. Forcing you to buy a new keyboard to replace your computer is silly. Unless the keyboard uses a compute card.
Funny you mention this, I’m not sure it was for real or just a mock-up, but I saw a roll-out / roll-up display keyboard PC in Taiwan. Think of a rolled OLED / Amiga 64 hybrid. Nice proof of concept but useful and practical, I very much doubt it?????
I loved the keyboard on the Amiga. The A500 was a great home computer. Replaced my Atari 400 back in ’88-ish. Now THERE was a bad keyboard (the touch keyboard of the A400). I replaced it with a B-Key full stroke keyboard first thing. Someone over at AtariAge is trying to make a replacement keyboard for the Atari 400 using Cherry low-profile keys and a more standard layout.