The Worst Keyboards of All Time
Most of us here at Switched H.Q. are old enough to have lived through the ergonomics disasters that were early personal computers. Computers from the 70s and 80s were revolutionary, but their manufacturers were still trying to figure out what people wanted their keyboard to do, This resulted in some far-out and, often, completely unusable designs. And, since everybody likes lists of things, PCWorld.com has gathered their 10 Worst PC Keyboards of All Time.
The one most people will find familiar is that big, ugly, brown Commodore 64 keyboard (which actually was the computer), coming in at the number 10 slot. Far more problematic was the Atari 400, number seven on the list, which used a "membrane" keyboard that offered zero feedback to would-be BASIC programmers of the day, feeling a little like the flat buttons on Motorola's RAZR.
The number one worst keyboard on the list is the 1984's IBM PCjr, which on paper sounded great. It was wireless, something that's still considered a bit of a luxury today, and featured dedicated keys for Backspace and for moving the cursor about (surprising rarities in those days). However, the infra-red wireless connection meant the keyboard had to have a clear line of sight to the computer itself, and the thing's hunger for batteries was unmatched, leaving it dead more often than not.
This list only includes personal keyboards, so those thumb-crampingly bad keypads found on many mobile phones today weren't eligible. However, we expect that list to be compiled shortly and hope that it won't take 20 years for cell phone makers to get those perfect.
From PC World
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steve ballmer @ Nov 28th 2007 9:57PM
I think that skinny little thing on the new iMacs is horendious!
ascatal @ Nov 28th 2007 10:29PM
omg i am old enough to remeber most of the monstosities and i had used a few of them fortunately it was never for anything critical
ironmike @ Nov 28th 2007 11:31PM
I don't think that Atari 400 k-b was all that bad - I used it, it held up well (more than I can say for the later Atari k-bs) - didn't miss the 'feel' at all ...
Robert @ Nov 29th 2007 7:40AM
The Atari 400 was THE WORST. If you think typing any length of Basic programming on a membrane keyboard is OK, take your fingers and randomly press make-believe keys on your desk for 30-minutes at your normal typing speed.
All-done? You just duplicated the pleasure of the Atari 400 experience (as well as wasted 1/2-hour). Now go soak your fingers in ice water and imagine typing like that for hours.