Transcription

If you look down at your keyboard, chances are you have an inverted T cursor arrangement. This is a pretty good arrangement because you can keep all three fingers planted on the keys, thus they can be found and operated by touch alone. And your middle finger, being the longest, can easily switch between the up and down position. Digital Equipment Corporation, one of the earliest adopters, made the decision to go with this in 1982 with the LK-201 keyboard because they determined that the left, right, and down were the most commonly used keystrokes. So they could put the three most used keys in easy reach. This is the de facto standard today, but it wasn't always the case. A lot of people probably think that the IBM Model M keyboard, which came out in 1985, was the first. And it's probably fair to say that this keyboard helped to popularize the arrangement, but it certainly wasn't the first. I tried to trace back to see if I could find the first use of this arrangement, and so far, the oldest thing I've found is actually not a computer, but a terminal called the Adds Console 880, which came out in 1970. So it's safe to say the concept has been around for a while. So why would I make a video about cursor keys? Well, it's something that everybody uses, but almost nobody ever talks about. And they were completely non-standard for a really long time. Cursor keys are so named because originally their purpose was to move the cursor around on the screen. Though they also ended up being used to move menus and stuff around on the screen. And in the case of some platforms like the IBM PC, they were often used for playing games instead of a joystick or other keys. However, these days a lot of people just refer to these as arrow keys. Things like typewriters and teletypes had no need for cursor keys because there's no screen and hence no cursor. But most computers that used a screen of some sort did have cursor keys. So let's take a look at some of the arrangements from the past, starting with some of the worst. The worst are the computers that had no cursor keys at all, like the Apple Lisa and the original Macintosh. This was a decision by Steve Jobs because he wanted to force both the end users and the software developers to use the mouse instead. However, that didn't last long and before you know it, Apple keyboards started to include cursor keys. But we'll circle back to this. The original Apple II from 1977 only had two cursor keys for left and right. Also the original Apple II keyboard had no backspace keys. So if you wanted to back up, you did have to use the left cursor key for that. Later on, Apple did add all 4 cursor keys, as well as a backspace key that doesn't actually work for some reason, at least not in BASIC. But the cursor keys were arranged in such a horrible manner that any games relying on keyboard controls wound up using other keys on the keyboard. The problem with this is that nearly every game had their own key combinations, with no real standard on how to control movement in a game. For example, to play Ms. Pac-Man you'd use the left and right cursor keys, and then A and Z for up and down. On the other hand, Lode Runner used IJKL and didn't use the cursor keys at all. Interestingly enough, IJKL does mimic an inverted T arrangement, just on different keys. Assuming you had all 4 cursor keys, about the only thing that used them were a productivity software like Appleworks. So moving on, let's talk about some computers that actually had all 4 cursor keys, but were really hard to use. Atari had one of the worst cursor key arrangements, starting with the 400 and 800 in 1979. I'm going to immediately say that the 400 is worse simply because it is a membrane keyboard. But even the 800 is difficult to use for two reasons. Not only is the square configuration a bit unintuitive, but you have to hold down the control key to use them at all, so you needed two hands to use the cursor keys. This concept was carried over to the 800XL, and all the way over to the XE-GS. The BBC Micro had a similar arrangement, but at least you didn't need a modifier key to use them. However, the arrangement is slightly different because it is essentially upside down from the Atari design. So, had you trained your brain on the Atari, good luck operating the ones on the BBC. There's at least one other computer with this sort of square arrangement, which is the HP 9835. They are at the top of the keyboard, which is a bad place as there is nowhere to rest your hand. And, like the other two, this is a finger twister of an arrangement. And top it off, it is also different from either of the other two computers using this sort of arrangement. The Sinclair machines are equally bad because they lack dedicated keys requiring you to use a modifier key. And the early ones with the membrane keyboard means you definitely can't use them by touch. The TI-99-4 series of computers is only slightly better because it also lacks dedicated keys and the arrangement is still hard to use. The original TRS-80 from 1977 did in fact have all 4 cursor keys, but they are on opposite sides of the keyboard, like this. And here you can see this was continued in the Model 4. And you really need two hands to operate cursor keys like this. But at least you won't get your fingers tangled up trying to use them. The same configuration carried over to the Color Computer series as well. Both the Coco-1 and Coco-2 used this arrangement, although the Coco-3 moved to this arrangement here, which we'll circle back to. Another two-handed style setup would be the Casio FX-9000P. The cursor keys are just far enough apart that you'd need two hands to use them, although you might be able to classify these in the straight 4 design. Speaking of, let's talk about some of those. The big one is Apple. Now, while they shunned cursor keys in the early days, the Apple IIe and IIc did include all 4 cursor keys, in this straight arrangement. It's not impossible to use like some of the others, but you do have to retrain your brain for it, and it's certainly not as intuitive as the inverted T. I don't think a lot of games really expected you to use them, though. The 2GS, and likewise later Macs that used the ADB keyboard, also used this same arrangement. But a lot of other computers use the same layout, such as digital terminals. Of course, they say the same layout, but actually if you look closely you'll see the configuration is actually different from Apple. I did find one other computer that shares this design, which is the Kaypro. But here's another one, the Centurion. And the question is, which configuration does it match? Oh, actually, neither. It also has its own proprietary configuration. But I mean, there's only so many ways you can do this, right? Well, what about the Hewlett Packard? Well, darn it, it doesn't match either. And here's another one, the Televideo. Which setup does it match? If you guessed none, then you guessed correctly. And the last one we'll look at is the TRS-80 portable systems like the Model 100. And guess what? It doesn't match any of the other systems. And if you think that's bad, they revised the keyboard layout with the Model 102 and changed the cursor keys to this arrangement. I have no idea why, because it still doesn't match any of the other arrangements. It's almost like they were trying to make sure that every system used a different arrangement. So there's no way you'd ever be able to move from one system to another without visually looking at the cursor keys, rather than being able to use them by touch alone. There are also some systems that are close to the inline 4, but slightly different, such as the ADM3 terminal, which places the home key in the center. Also the IBM 5100 series did something similar, only it's the attention key. Commodore wasn't all that much better with their systems, starting with the PET in 1977. They only gave you two cursor keys, which by default let you move down or right. If you want to go the other way, you have to use shift to reverse direction. This was also a very uncomfortable placement on the keyboard. But later computers like the VIC-20 and C64 kept this concept as well. But at least they were placed at the bottom right of the keyboard, next to the shift key. And at least here you can plant 3 fingers on the keys and control the cursor in all 4 directions by tactile feel. It's not perfect, and it takes a little time to train your brain to use this setup. But it worked decently well for editing text, such as your basic listings. But these keys were virtually never used by games. Commodore games pretty much expected you to use the joystick. Then the C128 came out with what was probably expected to be an improvement because now you have, in addition to the old style, also 4 extra keys arranged in the straight 4 like other systems from the era. The question is, does the arrangement match any of the other straight 4 systems we talked about earlier? Actually, yes, it matches the digital and K-Pro layout. Now whether that is by design or accident, I'm not sure. However, placing them up high on the keyboard means you can't rest your palm anywhere when trying to use them. And to make matters worse, they didn't work in C64 mode. Thus, these keys were seldom used and most people just opted to use the regular 3 button layout at the bottom. One piece of trivia about the Commodore cursor keys is that I have a pretty easy time switching between this design and the modern inverted T. And part of it is no doubt because I grew up on Commodore systems, but there's an interesting coincidence. Without holding down the shift key, the default movement of the cursor keys is down and right. And you use the same two fingers here as you would on the inverted T. And thus, at least two of the 4 movements are exactly the same. In fact, even moving up, you're still using your middle finger for the up direction. And even when going left, you're still using your pointer finger for that too. So the actual difference is smaller than you might think. The Plus 4, at first glance, looks like it might have a decent cursor key arrangement. This is called a diamond configuration, which some other systems of the era had. Which might be OK, except for one big problem. They're just far too small. I mean, look, my thumb practically covers the entire group, and thus it's really hard to use these for anything outside of some rudimentary text editing, or selecting something in a menu. Now, let's move on to some cursor key arrangements that were pretty good, but still not as good as the inverted T. Apple actually gave us this configuration on their little convertible keyboard. It's not impossible to use, and would probably work pretty well if you could train your brain to use it. And they also used the same configuration on the Apple III. Neither of these systems were that popular, so I doubt many people ever really trained their brain to use these. The Amiga 1000 also has a strange layout. It would almost be usable, except for the fact that the left and right keys are so close together, it prevents you from easily using your middle finger to alternate between up and down. However, in 1987, with the introduction of the Amiga 500 and 2000, they did change to the inverted T style that we all use today. So, the Amiga 1000 is the only Amiga that had cursors like this. Osborne had a setup very similar to this, so it's a little bit of a finger-tangler as well. But one interesting thing Osborne did is the left cursor key also doubles as a backspace key. But unlike the Apple II, it's actually located in the place you'd expect the backspace key to be on the keyboard, which I thought was pretty clever. They also carried this same design over to the Osborne executive. The Color Computer III, as we mentioned earlier, also uses this arrangement. And one more computer using this sort of layout was the IBM PCjr, both the chiclet version and the better version that came out later. Now, let's talk about the original IBM PC using the Model F keyboard. So, at first glance you might think it has no cursor keys at all. However, if you look at the number pad, you'll notice the 4 cursor keys labeled here. And believe it or not, Num Lock was turned off by default on these machines at time of boot. Which means these keys default to being cursor keys, not number keys. Most games on the platform actually supported the use of cursor keys for movement. And a lot of games actually ended up using not just these 4 keys, but also 4 more keys for diagonal movement, meaning you could have 8 cursor keys. Sierra games were known to use this. Another game I know of is LHX. So for example, I can turn left or right like this, I can go forward like this, or I can go diagonal using the extra keys. Thus, the IBM cursor keys are also among my favorite as they are very usable. Also, most XT clones of the era, such as the Compact Portable, also used this same setup. Of course, after just a few years, IBM switched over to using the inverted T-shape cursor keys and started to have Num Lock enabled at boot time. But even on later models, you always still had the option to turn off Num Lock and then use the 8-key arrangement for games that supported it. There were some other systems that gave us cursor keys really close to the IBM layout, such as the Regent 1000 terminal from ads. Only this one is really clever because home is right in the middle. Although putting home at the top left also makes sense because on most computers, pressing home will take the cursor to the top left of the screen. So, I can't fault IBM for that. And here's another one, the Coleco Atom. It follows the exact same setup, again with the home in the middle. And I've even seen some old third party keyboards for IBM systems that use this same type of setup. And while this is really similar to the IBM cursor layout on the number pad, I have to say that it is not my favorite. You do have to move your middle finger further to go up or down, and I'm willing to make that sacrifice if it means getting 8 directions. But I think if you're only going to have 4 directions total, then the inverted T just makes so much more sense. So, what are some other computers that use the inverted T, even back in the day? Well, you have the Amiga computers, except for the original like I mentioned earlier. The Commodore 65 had it, which for those that don't know never quite made it to market, but several prototypes exist. And even the Atari ST systems had this design. And they even gave you a place to rest your palm, which was pretty cool. Apple eventually offered this in their larger enhanced keyboards. And even this old AT&T Unix system has it. In fact, I think most Unix workstation type machines had this, including the SunSpark stations and Silicon Graphics too. So, you've probably learned more about cursor keys than you ever wanted to know. I just find it fascinating that for like 2 decades, there was essentially no standard, no agreement among manufacturers, it's almost like they were trying to make sure they were completely different from one computer to the next. And one problem this creates today is that when younger people try to go back and play with these vintage computers from the 70s or 80s that they didn't grow up with, it can be really difficult to use the cursor keys because their brains aren't really trained to use keys in that arrangement. And so, it can be a little frustrating. This was also a consideration on the Commander X16. And even before we settled on using a PS2 keyboard, I had insisted we use inverted T cursor keys instead of the Commodore style cursor keys because I want anyone to be able to sit down at the computer and feel at home. And I mean, sure, we did keep a few legacy keys like the one stop at our store. But the cursor keys were always going to be the inverted T. But anyway, that's it for this episode, so as always, thanks for watching!