EARLIER FEATURES

FEATURES CONTENTS

LATER FEATURES

KEYBOARDS

Brian Grainger

brianATgrainger1.freeserve.co.uk

I have frequently mentioned the importance of standards within software to easy interoperability. I don't often bring up standards in hardware because it pretty much regulates itself. At least it did, until I realised I needed a new keyboard.

Earlier in the year my trusty keyboard, circa 1998, developed a fault. The right Ctrl key sometimes did not work. I struggled along for quite a long time but when my holiday came and I had a bit of free time to go window shopping I decided it was time to get another keyboard.

The previous time I had bought a keyboard came quite a few years ago when I found that wine poured in the keyboard tended to make the keys stop working! No problem. I went out and bought an inexpensive keyboard from a local shop and all was well.

I think all my PC desktops from way back in 1992 have had the same keyboard layout. It goes under the title 'Standard 101/102 keyboard' in Windows device manager. This has the alphanumeric keys on the left, a numeric keypad on the right and between them a 2 row by 3 column block of keys above an inverted T block of cursor keys. A gap of a keys height exists between these two blocks. Over the years some slight alterations have occurred. The euro currency symbol appeared along with the 'Windows' menu and context menu keys and the Alt Gr key. Nothing to cause any problems.

I did not want to pay too much for a new keyboard so I looked for the cheapest I could find. This turned out to be a 'Value' keyboard from Tesco. Now, I have nothing but contempt for Tesco 'Value' products normally, but how can they go wrong with a keyboard? Well, actually it was possible. You had to hit the keys so hard that I found my text was often missing characters from where the keys had not been pressed hard enough. However, that was not the only thing I noticed. I was finding that when I pressed the 'Delete' key nothing happened. After this happened a few times I had a good look at the keyboard. While I am not a touch typist I do hit a lot of keys without looking - the 'Delete' key particularly because you are looking on the screen to see that the character has been deleted!

On this new keyboard I found the gap between the inverted T and the 2x3 block was not there. The 2x3 block had been moved downward so that the 'Delete' key was were the gap used to be and the 'Insert' key was where the 'Delete' key was previously. All I was doing when I pressed what I thought was the 'Delete' key was that I toggled the insert mode!

Now that the 2x3 block was moved downward there was a gap at the top. Well, there would have been except 3 buttons had taken its place. One was to switch the PC into sleep mode instantly. I cannot remember what the others were. Apparently, the functionality of these buttons have been possible since Windows 98, my current desktop, but I never knew! The instant sleep mode was quite useful I thought.

I was getting more and more angry as I kept missing the 'Delete' key. I thought, who was the bright spark that decided to move the keys down instead of putting the new buttons in the gap and leaving the keys were they were. Not a typist, that's for sure.

In the end the keyboard was taken back - because of the force needed to get the keys to work.

I started looking around again, this time making a careful note of the keyboard layout. I got a big shock. Very few keyboards conformed to the 'standard' layout. To be fair, I could find a Logitech keyboard that conformed, with the 3 buttons in the gap. It was twice the price of the Tesco keyboard.

What really surprised me were the Microsoft keyboards. It seems that Microsoft have decided, on all their keyboards, to change the arrangement completely. The 2 x 3 block had become a 3 x 2 block. So it might save a bit of width on the overall keyboard but that small benefit does not compensate for the sheer irritation of finding a numbers of keys are no longer where you expect them to be.

Over the years many people have tried to change the layout of the alphabet on keyboards to make them 'better' to use. Remember the Commodore PET chicklet keyboard, for example? The 'qwerty' keyboard still holds sway. It may not be optimum but it is a standard - because that is where most English speaking people expect the keys to be.

I venture to suggest that the 2x3 block and inverted T arrangement that computers have added should also be a standard. They have been around long enough. I think I will make my protest at Microsoft's attempt to change another 'standard' by getting a Linux keyboard, where the Windows keys are replaced by 'Tux' keys.

TOP