The 10 most failed keyboards in history

As the main operating tool of human-machine interaction, the keyboard has always been a more valued accessory for consumers. With the major peripheral brands in the keyboard work of the gradual improvement, today's keyboard is not only in the appearance of Fondle admiringly, and feel and function have improved a lot.

Microsoft ergonomic 4000 keyboard won North American sales in 05

The worst 10 keyboards in history

When we tap the comfort of the keyboard to browse each site, you will never think of history, there have been 10 work extremely failed keyboard, these products are mostly produced in the the 1870s and 80, in today's view, they are indeed a lot of shortcomings.

1982 Commodore 64 keyboard

Commodore 64 is a testament to the history of personal computers. The complete machine comes with 1541 single floppy drives, a C2N cassette drive, a keyboard and 7 software disks. This is the traditional way of computing. It clock speed 1.023mhz,64kb memory. In the early 80 its price was 600 dollars. Now the price of recycledgoods.com is 225 dollars. Although the machine is classic, but its keyboard is clumsy can.

The Commodore of 1982 64

The Commodore of 1982 64

The PC keyboard has three major flaws. First of all, the key design is very easy to create visual confusion, because there are too many icons on each key, this is no doubt a nightmare for computer beginners, and secondly, about 2 feet tall, uncomfortable to use and often placed under the wrist of an untrained typist; In addition, the keyboard layout is still to be improved, keyboard placement is not ideal. For example, the Home/clear key is placed on the left side of the delete (Backspace), so that users are often accidentally pressed, and the cursor runs to the top of the screen. In addition, the PC keyboard layout has many non-standard keys, such as run/stop and restore, and other keys.

1983 Sinclair 2068 Keyboard

April 1982 Sinclair ZX Spectrum released, based on Z80 chip, clock frequency 3.5MHz. can display 8 kinds of colors. The following year in the process of improving the U.S. market, Timex launched a industry-recognized failure of the keyboard production line, which is Timex Sinclair 2068.

The Sinclair of 1983 2068

The Sinclair of 1983 2068

The design of the Timex Sinclair 2068 keyboard is really bad, and some buttons even have as many as six different functions. Knock again, you will find that there is no backspace key, although many early home computers have such a problem. But you really can't imagine what the designer intended. But the keyboard price is now about 50 dollars, believe only collectors will touch it.

The 1978 Commodore PET Keyboard

Commodore Pet (model 2001-32-n) is its first generation of upgraded products, and it has made a lot of improvements over the first generation of pet keyboards. However, Commodore still has some serious flaws in the layout.

1978 Commodore PET 2001-32-n

The design puts the Run/stop key on the left side of the return key. The serious thing is that there is still no "Backspace"; there is only one button like Backspace, but the user needs to hold down the shift and the left/right cursor keys on the numeric keypad to eliminate the digits from the original keyboard area. But if you do this on a modern keyboard, you are actually typing an icon.

The 1979 TI-99/4 keyboard

Texas Instruments TI-99/4 (1979) is known as the most rubbish computer in history, and its struggle in the computer market does not last for a long time. At that time, all the other computers were able to connect to the normal display, only 99/4 compatible with their own display--13 inch Zenith TV. And its keyboard is as notorious as a computer.

The TI-99/4 of the 1979

Its keyboard is more like TI's hand-cranked calculator, 99/4 does not support lowercase letters. Because of this limitation, the SHIFT key is used as a function-changing device that is marked on a plastic veneer. The most uncomfortable of these key combinations, shift-q, is that the combination can exit the program or reset the computer, and the user will be annoyed to accidentally lose a day's work while trying to capitalize the letter Q. The 99/4 layout problem extends to Q's puzzle: The ENTER key is placed on the right SHIFT key in the standard layout.

The 1983 Tandy MC-10 keyboard

Tandy's TRS-80 Model I is thought to be a classic computer that, while lacking the natural sense of Apple II, is the first computer to be accepted by most consumers. According to statistics, there are more than 200,000 such monochrome small machines sold by Radio Shack, such an alarming number, so that it is not a suspense. However, MC-10 's release, it can be a flawed keyboard design.

The 1983 Tandy MC-10

MC-10 was released in 1983, and the design seemed to have been very conservative at the time. To match the color computer, the MC-10 button surprisingly appears with a Chiclet key (albeit only half the size). Unfortunately, many keys control four different functions, including basic shortcuts. In terms of layout, MC-10 has three major design flaws: The break design is where the backspace key should be, and there is no backspace key, and there is no left SHIFT key, but it is amazing that the control key is in its position, and there is a space bar, This is somewhat agreeable.

1979 Atari (Atari) 400 keyboard

In 1979, Atari (Atari) released their first home computer system, Atari 400. Texas Instruments released ti-99/4a home computer. It's retail for 1499.99 dollars.

1979 Atari (Atari) 400

1979 Atari (Atari) 400

As Atari (Atari) 's first low-end PC, it had 8KB of RAM and flat-panel "film" keyboards, which were a bright spot at the time, but their performance was far less good. The fact is, the All-in-one thin-film keyboard is not that expensive. Moreover, the key of Atari 400 lacks tactile response, and the user cannot decide whether or not to successfully press the key by feeling. Atari compensates for this function by tapping a sound from the internal speakers each time the user presses the key. Unfortunately, the break key is located next to the frequently used backspace key. It's the most lethal for people who often type.

1982 Timex Sinclair 1000 keyboard

Timex Sinclair 1000, the oldest home computer in history, sold for $99 in 1982, and the Machine is a North American version of the ZX-81, which is almost identical in design. It was the cheapest computer at the time, and Timex sold more than 600,000 people.

1982 Timex Sinclair 1000

On such a machine, the whole computer is a single circuit board with only 4 IC chips. And its keyboard is also the most controversial, a small keyboard, layout is very cramped and completely flat. Because of the small size of the keyboard, Sinclair developed several basic keyword instructions for each key, and there were so many instructions on the key that it was not executed to use the keyboard to type instructions that were not basic. While this may seem more convenient, it can only be painful to encounter more difficult orders.

The 1983 Mattel Aquarius keyboard

1983 Mattel released their home computer Aquarius--mattel Aquarius. As the world's total sales volume of 60 million of superstars, to set the Nintendo home to play hardware in the field of the king of the Nintendo FC officially unveiled. Most of the players began to touch home for electricity during this period, and the keyboard was also a concern.

The 1983 Mattel Aquarius

But the keyboard has only a small space bar rather than the normal size of the space bar, which gives the player a very convenient operation experience, more frustrating is that it is also placed in the SHIFT key should be in position, which now seems to be difficult to understand. Not only that, the Mattel return key position is also very unique, but, although the keyboard failed, but this machine is still the foundation of Nintendo's PC game brand.

1977 Commodore PET 2001 keyboard

In 1977, Commodore PET 2001, Apple II and TRS-80 Model 1 were named the Three Musketeers in the computer field. However, the Commodore PET 2001 uses a very bizarre design that integrates the keyboard, the monitor and the host, making it look a little like an unprocessed combination.

1977 Commodore PET 2001 keyboard

The Commodore PET 2001 Keyboard is the most poorly designed. The keyboard looks like a calculator and does not have the concept of a stand-alone keyboard at all. And the key feedback is weak, so it's hard to determine if you pressed a key. Commodore at that time although confused a lot of pet users, and a small space bar to replace the bars of the space bar as a selling point. But the release of the time, or the introduction of a Third-party keyboard, it is because of the third party keyboard entry, Commodore PET 2001 will not scold a sound, of course, the built-in Commodore Pet 2001 keyboard has become the target.

The 1984 PCJR Keyboard

As the IT dingding famous giant, IBM has been known for its fame, although its products have been famous for high quality, but in 1984, IBM suffered a failure. IBM is trying to use PCJR to deliver a relatively inexpensive PC for homes and schools, but for individual users, PCjr is neither cheap nor easy. A few stiff buttons on a wireless keyboard make the most basic typing uncomfortable. Also, the PCjr is not equipped with a hard drive and will be plugged into the tray from the front of the chassis to run. So in 1985, PCjr had to pull out of the market.

The 1984 PCJR Keyboard

In the keyboard design, IBM played smart, with a hard plastic key to create Chiclet key, there are no characters on the key. And the key is not a touch, the biggest problem is that the machine in a year is completely scrapped. It is hard to imagine that now IBM 8815 and other models such as the best-selling version of the predecessor is the biggest failure in exchange for.