lk401 keyboard protocol?

From: Michael Sokolov <msokolov_at_ivan.Harhan.ORG>
Date: Sun Feb 22 15:49:58 2004

der Mouse <mouse_at_rodents.montreal.qc.ca> wrote:

> As may be. Do they not have keyboards?

Well, OK, I would argue that the keyboard of a 19th century typewriter is still
an ASCII entry device. Any time you produce letter 'A', even if you handwrite
it or type it on a 19th century typewriter, you are actually producing the
fundamental symbol ("symbol" defined as "signal element" in communication
theory) 1000001 in a roundabout way, whether you realise this or not. Kids who
handwrite letters and 19th century people who typed on typewriters certainly
don't/didn't realise that they are actually generating ASCII letters, but
that's what they are fundamentally (see my previous message in response to
Kevin).

> I do? I don't know where it originated.

Well, it's certainly more than 10 years old and on-topic for this list, so if
I'm wrong on this, ClassicCmpers please correct me, but I think the Alt key
originates at the time when people began to stray from the sanctity of the
Terminal and started entertaining the fad of "personal computer" /
"workstation". That's when they moved Esc and Ctrl from where the Gods and
Goddesses of ASCII placed them (immediately to the left of 1 and A,
respectively), thinking that people don't need them anymore. This is the shift
in mentality that I am revolting against: previously everyone was required to
know the ASCII chart by heart and everybody used Ctrl and Esc to enter special
codes. Anyone who typed on a keyboard knew that he (yes, HE!) was sending
CODES to the computer. Then the mentality changed to the current fucking M$
Word mentality, where the luser (a chick) knows nothing about Computer Science
and only know "to invoke this function in Word, I press Alt-this..."

> What _I_ dislike about the LK401 (and LK201, for that matter) is that
> the <X] key and the right Shift key are single keys; I want each of
> those to be split into two keys.

Let me guess... You want it like the VT100 keyboard (and all truly Classic
ASCII keyboards of the Golden Age) where in that area you had 4 separate keys
generating ASCII BS, Delete, CR, and LF, right? If so, I'm in perfect
agreement!

MS
Received on Sun Feb 22 2004 - 15:49:58 GMT