Worst 5 Computer Keyboards | Nostalgia Nerd
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2024
- Keyboards. They've been with us for a while, and they've come in many subtle guises. Some of these keyboards are better than others. Some are absolutely terrible, but have a compelling charm about them. In this video I discuss my personal 5 worst computer keyboards and the reasons behind them. Regardless, I still love them to pieces. But you've gotta admit, typing on a ZX81 is a tad difficult.
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Развлечения
Communist Z80 computer called IQ151 had membrane keyboard with plastic domes over the keys that got stuck often during the typiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing ;-)
IQ 151 had 8080 processor, not Z80, but yes, the keyboard was as bad as you described.
Je pravda že byly použitý výtahový tlačítka, protože nic jinýho nebylo? Jsem narozen po revoluci, takže jsem nic takovýho nezažil.
@@stepa22 nečekal jsem že tu najdu čechy
@@zoranocokoljic8927 z80 is the brand
@@RMSLusitania Sorry, I had ZX Spectrum at the time (1986) and when I first saw IQ151
In computer class, I asked professor what processor does it have. The answer was not Z80
I went to high school in France: our computers were Thomson MO5. Not only they had horrible rubber keyboards that were very difficult to type on, but after a while, the edges of the keys broke down and the keys came off! Of course, we would start swapping keys, not only on a single computer, but within the whole lab...
Another flaw of these computers was a memory extension cartridge that stuck out of the top of the machine. Not a problem by itself, but the lab had special tables with a low shelf to support the monitor. That shelf was just a bit too low for the memory cartridge to clear it. So thanks to the aforementioned dreadful keyboard, the entire computer kept being pushed against the shelf until the cartridge developed bad contacts with the motherboard and the computer crashed... If that wasn't bad enough, the computer's were all networked to a single PC that the teacher could use to push the day's software onto each MO5. Well, when one MO5 crashed due to the cartridge, it would occasionally take the entire network with it...
And that was the worst keyboard I've ever used, including the blasted on screen keyboard I'm using to type this comment.
TO7 !!
@@HaroldHivart yes, TO7 keyboard was also a good pile of crap, especially for the price you paid for it.
And still none of them have an Any key...
I seem to remember someone selling keycaps with 'Any' written on them, as a gag.
This is the problem with Goat Simulator, it requires the use of the Any Key. (It actually says ᴘʀᴇss ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴʏ ᴋᴇʏ on screen.)
Do they have an esc, ctrl and pgup?
It's a joke about when a computer starts. It tells you to press any key and people say that they don't have one on their keyboard
@@okamijubei I see Esc, Catarl, and PigUp....
Nostalgia Nerd: Makes video on bad keyboards
Sinclair: _Chuckles_ I'm in danger
No, meme. Don't.
@ Well, we should remember, that at that time these keys looked "futuristic", as it remembered much of the touch screens you saw in sci fi programs at that time. Problem was just - they weren't tough screens so the responsiveness was like typing one key per second.
When the pain in my fingers becomes too strong I remember the keyboard of Russian spectrum-clone Nafanya and faint.
!remindme 1 week
Fuck, this is youtube
:)
At least, Nafanya was a semi-handicraft computer. But, gosh, even IBM had those ORIC-style keyboards )) Most of the Soviet/Russian home PCs produced at big factories had rather good keyboards (BK-001x except early ones, UK-NC, my Kvant-BK Spectrum clone and many others). The worst keyboard in my collection is on Poisk-1 (XT clone). Its mechanical keyboard has springs that could be spare parts for truck suspension, I suppose. You press the key with all your muscles! But Poisk-1 was slower than 4.77 MHz XT (it emulates CGA with its CPU spending 35-40% of processor cycles!) - so you've got plenty of time to react to the games' situations ))
@@BorisFavorov Poisk-1 has a pretty normal rubber dome keyboard, you can see it here computer-museum.ru/articles/personalnye-evm/967/ I actually fondly remember Poisk's keys (other than the annoying beep. we had to install a mute switch). First model BK 0010 - that was a pain. People keep calling it's keyboard as "membrane". But it wasn't. It was micro-switches under the plastic sheet. You had to press that sheet really hard and deep for keypress to register. And yet we played arcade games on it! It was so bad you had to use both hands just for the arrow keys. I still remember - left hand on LEFT and UP, right on DOWN and RIGHT (not sure which game that was, that required 4 directions but no action key). I even remember the very first computer game I ever played, which was a text mode Space Invaders clone (can't find it in BK game archives anywhere... no love for the very early stuff).
During my "bedroom dwelling" phase in the early 2000's. I kept spilling tea and occasionally beer on my keyboards, destroying them. With the early noughties being one of the tackiest periods in history, for example, I was actually proud of my suede coated inflatable arm chair. I thought it a smart and trendy move to use a rubber roll up keyboard. Neon blue and glow in the dark.
It was a living hell to use. With the looks of a glowing slab of square zombie nipples and only half as responsive I imagine a slab of zombie nipples would be. But. I could spill away and then just wash it under a tap and I was "back in business".
I used to game on that thing. I actually got to the point where I could frag well in Unreal Tournament but was useless with normal keyboard.
A time of my life I will never forget.
I like your story
Has a Mechanical 97 Compaq keyboard that is generally used as a ashtray with a spilled drink compartment. (for some odd reason any liquids tend to gather in the numpad section...) All required is a weekly clean up to prevent keys from sticking same goes for my 1999 looney tunes golfcart mouse pad ^^.
My old keyboard usually went in the dishwasher. If was easy to disassemble, completely toolless and only parts that weren't waterproof was the small PCB in the corner with the LEDS (numlock etc) where the removable cable came in, and the small plastic sheet that had the actualy "keys".
It even worked fine just like that while the plastic parts were drying.
I remember those things! I had two Bluetooth ones. Wanted to like them, but couldn't.
Maybe before I was able to touch type at 85WPM...
You can still buy modern ruggedized laptops with that kind of keyboard in them.
It's literally the only black mark on the computer, and is easily the reason why I won't buy it.
Sad thing is, now there are spillproof keyboards that are basically "a normal membrane keyboard wrapped in a spill proof wrapping".
I know because I have one and it's one of my favorite keyboards.
The IBM PC Junior was one of the worst in the world, not simply because it was a terrible keyboard, but because they sold that "Home" computer for over a thousand dollars, and at the time, practically every IBM product that had a keyboard had a beautiful, machined, ergonomic keyboard with beautiful feel and response. They literally had to design a terrible keyboard to replace the fine keyboards they had been using for years simply as a "point of difference" between PC and PC Jr. I guess they also wanted to promote upgrades to the "higher end" 8088 PC. Every person I knew who bought a PC Jr. either upgraded to a standard PC or walked away from computers. Absolute dickery.
trublgrl Yeah the PCjr was an absolute flop all around. I'm a bit too young to remember it's launch but in the late 80s they were plentiful and cheap as dirt. By then lots of add-ons had come around to salvage what was left of the PCjr market. 768K boards. Those weird Tandy 1000 hard drive cards with the drive on the card.
Tell me about it. My uncle had one. Every time I tried to use it, it made me appreciate the old Commodore PET keyboards in my junior highschool computer lab
While the PCjr was a bad product, it gave birth to the Tandy 1000!
The PCjr was my first "computer"... and I guess I was lucky to get the second generation keyboard. I enjoyed the hell out of the computer, though. It was a fascinating machine.
My 1st computer was a PCjr...mainly because once it was clear it had failed, they had a fire-sale on them for teachers, and my dad was a teacher. Fortunately, this was after keyboard-gate, so we got a decent (not great, but definitely usable) keyboard. We added a 3rd party expansion that gave us a whopping 512K of RAM, a PC compatibility mode that worked pretty well, a printer port & a 2nd disk drive. That turned it into an early Tandy 1000 (which was based on the PCjr, but was actually meant to work instead of being crippled). The graphics on the PCjr were quite a way ahead of the PC and even the upcoming PC-XT. It was essentially EGA graphics before that even existed. IBM really screwed up on that machine. Had they priced it right, it could have been a serious contender against the C64 (which was its intended class). Had they not crippled it, it would have been a better PC than the PC and they could have simply crushed the market with it.
I still hate touch screen keyboards every time I use one.
Swipe typing and one handed mode on a phone is glorious when it doesn't auto-correct to what I don't want to type. Tablets are pretty bad for both tapping and swipe typing. At least some keyboards can split to both sides of the screen to make tap typing easier. I hate tap typing though, so I try to avoid it as much as I can. It's painfully slow compared swiping or using a mech keyboard.
I find the easiest way to type on a touch screen is on a phone in vertical mode, without any splits, with my thumbs.
+DerVerruckteFuchs
I dunno, I can type relatively fast by taptyping .-.
If you have Android, you might try Access Company's Graffiti Pro for Android. It's gesture based input that was used on the Palm devices, with the gestures being very intuitive for most Latin letters, numbers, and punctuation.
I can actually use them pretty well. Yeah, you do not get any feedback but you dont have to hit the keys very hard, so its OK.
I am actually typing this on a touchscreen keyboard.
I LOVED the c-64 keyboard... i STILL miss it! I still, decades later, look for the QUOTE key on the 2 button :)
I agree, but I actually prefer the C64C/128 style keyboard to the breadbin, at least as far as coding on it. It was much easier on the wrists
Oh geeze, " on 2 - a real thing for the 8-bit machines. ATARI too, I think ?
UK keyboard layout still has the " on the 2 key. Also the pound symbol is actually a £ like it should be.
Typing on the C64 for longer periods (brief letters etc.) required something to rest your wrists on. Very much like other models (CPC, Sinclair+ and QL) the keyboard is placed way too high.
The Commodore 16 keyboard layout was much better than the VIC-20 and C64 one.
2018 MacBook Pro made this list with distinction
I was looking for this.
Both my barely functioning MacBook Pro keyboards feel personally offended by this ridiculous snub.
Came here to say this, and I have.
I never understood why Apple kept dicking around with their keys... like, the G4 Macbook's were SO NICE to type on, then they went to Chiclets for their keys, and then they thought "nope... we can do worse."
YES. While you were bashing the Sinclairs, I thought to myself: The Philips! And there it was... Did not think anyone would know about that one.
Here's a modern-day terrible keyboard: the PocketCHIP. Notorious for being made of unresponsive little buttons that hurt your thumbs to the point of blistering... So bad that the company knows it and encourages 3D printing d-pads and tactile keyboard cases.
I have one, and I actually find it quite responsive... if painful :D
Also, I'm pretty sure their intent really //was// to force people to learn how to use 3d printers and such. :P
From what I've seen, it's basically the user typing directly onto those PCB tactile buttons.
+Kevin Bhasi Not quite the PCB. They have little metal domes over them which _snap_ down. You used to find those under the buttons of some console controllers in the 80s. The plastic button above stopped the pain in your finger if you don't release _very_ fast as the metal snaps the nipple back attempting to impale your finger with the tip. Also, with constant use, they can become inverted such that they permanently remain depressed. Not a problem, the whole computer only costs $10. Just go buy another one. XD
no, if the keyboard goes that 70 bucks. thats like replacing your monitor when the hardrive fails.
the computer itself is 10 bucks, the pocketchip addon (which you plug the chip into, containing a keyboard and screen) is a lot more.
They can really become inverted permanently? Perhaps I should print out a keyboard case as well...
The worst modern keyboard that is currently out at the moment, is the butterfly switch that are featured on new macbook and macbook pro. They're are atrocious to use, considering how much a new macbook cost.
I don't hate all apple products (infact I own a few myself) but the butterfly switches are just crap. I don't care how much the butterfly switch saves space, it just simply awful to type on.
If you get the chance to get your hands on *hoho* a KC 85/1 or KC 87 (which is basically the same computer) from the former GDR, you will have a new winner in this very category - the keyboard looks quite similar to your #1 BUT it had a metal plate and this plate was under power the whole time - yes, I mean ELECTRICITY, so whenever your fingers did not hit the actual keys, you got a tiny electric shock which felt like a little tickle, but still it was electricity.
I second this one! Similar to #1, but even narrower keys, not rounded off. They also loved to jam in the metal plate so you'd often hit a key and it wouldn't move at all. Needless to say they'd stick down as often and require you to pull them back out.
That "almost" stretches the boundaries of what I can believe. It's a little sad that computer design of the eighties makes such a choice perceivable. The tech community has learned a great deal in the years since.
Shock-aversion might be an effective way to reinforce your touch-typing skills, lol. Burn your muscle memory in (or out) until it's perfect.
@@tripplefives1402, I'm constantly getting little electric shocks from my metal MacBook Pro, or anything with a metal case that charges via a USB lead (like my "e-pipe" magical nicotine tube). It's especially bad and feels like the metal's "vibrating" if I'm using the MacBook _and_ something metal cased charging through USB (not the Mac's USB ports but charging hubs etc). It's also pretty bad if just a corner brushes against my skin - feels like a little needle prick. I have an iPhone too, one with a Lightning charger/port, and that exposed metal on the Lightning connector bit shocks me and gets really hot if I touch it. When I was in hospital for a few weeks with a broken leg and all this equipment plugged into their electrics none of that happened, but I've had various electricians come out and test the electrics in this house, they've all said nothing's wrong even after I tell them this, I used one of those plug testers (that shows if things are fundamentally miswired - neutral/live being reversed or whatever) and that showed up no errors either. What the fuck is going on, is my house sentient, evil, and gaslighting me? I'm in the UK, so our plugs are all three pin, you can't plug anything in upside-down.
@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated I knew someone whos pc would give you a tingle if you touched the case. Turns out that the cause was a faulty electric fencing unit on the same phase/powerline as her house. The fence was plugged into the mains on a nearby farm and was somehow leaking current onto the earth (and through anything wired to earth like a pc`s metal case) of the house. Might be worth looking into something like that.
Sinclair disliked this video
swiffty1 but they can't reply would be too hard lol
Sinclair is not using an internet - he said that ones in an interview
could be using bbs
The smooth pad is the horrible Sinclair keyboard that I remember.
I laugh, but partially because that dislike can't be justified. I'm sorry, but a keyboard design like that just can't be described as comfortable. I see why he did it, but there's a reason his machines tended to stay in the hobbyist arena.
"and their descendents-" *shows a typewriter*
funny thing, AZIO makes a mechanical keyboard which uses the same keys as the typewriter in the video.
galena I think that's more of an editing error than a factual error.
First computer was indeed the ZX/81 in kit form. Had to assemble everything. Keyboard was near impossible. I wrote some educational software and had my 5 year old test it. Her hands were the right size for it. Dozens of computers later, that was the worst. Best keyboard? The TRS-80 Model 100/102 Portable Computer I still use. Can't beat 22 hours on 4 AA batteries.
Makes me question if ever somebody hacked a proper keyboard into it.
Improved ZX81 keyboards were widely available from a number of manufacturers. Some were external keyboards connecting via a ribbon cable, some were entire replacement cases for the entire computer. There were even a few weird ones that clamped over the existing keyboard.
I saw the title and I was thinking of those roll-out gel keyboards
Or those hologram/3D virtual keyboards that "display" a keyboard on any flat surface and use a sensor on the device that's displaying them as a way to register your input. Cool for Hollywood movies, complete opposite for actually typing.
@@livefreeprintguns Ah yes, the future of typing.
LOL, they actually used to sell those at my local dollar store
Do touch-screen keyboards count? I can't imagine anything worse to type on than those, I mean, auto-correct wouldn't have been such a problem if touch-screen keyboards weren't so god-awful to type on, they only work right when you have a stylus, I mean seriously, I have the thinnest of fingers and they're still too fat to consistently tap the correct character! It really should say something when the best touch-screen keyboard I've ever used was the one in Super Scribblenauts for the DS...
My cheap smartphone with a cheap touchscreen works just great. Honestly, I disabled every form of autocorrect and suggestions, and I still manage to write on them faster than some of my classmates on their PC keyboards. Wrote this from a phone. lol
I guess different folks have different luck with their touch screens... I type at 1 word a minute on a touch screen and over 100 on a good keyboard...
I'm actually pretty OK with touch typing on a full size iPad. It's not great but it's light years better than these ancient chiclet type keyboards.
It varies from phone to phone, my Nokia Lumia 925 is quite usable for this task minus for the acutes and the umlauts in my native language, my previous phone (a Samsung Galaxy Mini) was much worse but still better than nothing. I also have to keep my nails ultra-short, as it helps a lot.
I never use my fingers on a touch screen keyboard, just my thumbs. Using a touch screen to type isn't the best, but it's not horrible either(depends on the phone/tablet really). And besides you're only going to be using them to type text messages and tweets, so they're not really intended to be used for extended periods of time.
Just wanted to point this out, but at 2:01 the ad is in Spanish, not in French.
The original Tandy CoCo keyboard was pretty bad, and they made a cheapo version that was even worse.
I think the Spectrum keyboards were serviceable enough. I found the rubber keys actually had a better tactile feel for games than the proper keyboards on the CPC or C64.
Coco3 had a decent keyboard from what i remember
What you're thinking of is the CoCo MC-10. This tiny (mini) Color Computer with a built-in chicklet style key keyboard was a mess to type on...so small you could only use one hand!
First keyboard and computer i ever touched was a Commodore 64...still have it...still works a treat.
Similar experience, except for me it was the VIC-20. Keyboard was pretty much the same as the C64 anyway. Never owned an actual C64 (at least in my youth) I went from a VIC-20, then to a Coleco Adam (very briefly), then to a C128
The speccy definitely makes its way up the list a bit once you’ve had it for a few years, some combination of the QAOP keys are starting to wear out from playing games (thank god for redefinable keys) and the rubber on a bunch of them has started to tear.
Fun times. :)
Sinclair: how bad were our keyboards?
Everyone: yes.
There was a time, when Sinclair had good keyboards - when Amstrad took over and just used some kind of their CPC keyboard for the ZX Spectrum + :D
@@acmenipponair Really?! I am honestly surprised I didn't know that! Thanks for the feedback I do love learning something new about these old systems! ^_^
I have the TI-99/4 you pictured at the end. It's the worst keyboard I've ever used. I imagine it's similar to the Oric-1. The Tic-Tac keys sit on top of heavy, unstable springs that wobble uncontrollably when you press down. Activation is hit or miss. Sometimes you get nothing, sometimes you get a double hit.
I have a 99/4A with the "better" keyboard. Arguably still kinda crappy.
There's a couple different keyboards on that one. I like the ones on the black and silver a little better than the beige ones. But the biggest problem with it is just that it's a little too cramped for touch typing.
I have the stainless case model. Its been a long time since I even looked at it. It started with a black keyboard, but something went wrong with it and it now has the grey keys. Agreed that its just a bit to cramped. Copied a bunch of Basic programs out of books into that thing...
JakeHarvey The "black and silver" 99/4a had better KBs than the beige ones (cost cutting was the whole point of he beige units) But among the black and silver units, KB quality was variable, some were nicer than others.
iVTECInside The 99/4a KB is fine if you were used to a small portable typewriter of the era, like a an Olivetti - Underwood Lettera 32, (a size of machine likely familiar to the home user then). If you one was used to an IBM Selectric, you were "spoiled" by the awesomeness that IBM keyboards were known for. In the 70s I used both typewriters, So I was good in 1983 using a TI-99/4a at home and an IBM PC at work!😁
Love your vids and your sense of humour... keep up the good work :)
I remember upgrading my ZX Spectrum keyboard to a DK'Tronics keyboard and case as my dad has trashed the original keyboard trying to peel it apart to replace the worn out membrane.
So together with my Cheetah Sweet Talker interface, tape player and joystick interface I was ready to take over the world :-D
Great video Peter. Always enjoy your commentary and it's great for a few laffs. Please do a follow-up with your Best 5.
05:50 I doubt that will be the least responsive tactile experience we ever have with a computer with all those touch screens which have no tactile response whatsoever ;)
Lofote Can a touch screen really be called a keyboard?
Well, its called an "on-screen keyboard". In fact it is an input device to input text, so... I would say: yes.
The Sinclair ZX80/TS1000 membrane keyboard isn't any different from a glass touch screen, other than the glass touch screen might have a bit more key travel. So, yes.
at least touch devices sound to confirm you pressed a key, and some devices vibrate when a key is pressed.
Yes, but there are a few differences: first, on a good touchscreen, the press is recognized just touching it, meanwhile I suppose in that keyboard there would be some key travel. And there’s a visual confirmation that appears just over the key, so it’s difficult to miss.
I've never understood the hate for the ZX Spectrum "chiclet" keyboard. :P
Sure, you're not gonna touch-type on it, but I can't imagine anyone bought a ZX Spectrum for word processing.
Typing in basic programs from a magazine is a one hand on keyboard job, and the ZX Spectrum keyboard was better suited for that than the C=64 keyboard was.
Great video! Nice countdown graphics and obviously a good selection. Thanks!
Great video! Brings back some memories! :-) I think the Aquarius was the worst by far - not only was it bad like a Spectrum, the response was slow and the key top writing actually came off - I saw many in shops at the time that already had lost the writing from just kids playing with them on display! The Atari 400 was bad, but you can actually get used to it with practice as the response was fine. Weird seeing that TI99/4A with those keys - my friend had one but it had a proper keyboard on that one.
Worst - probably the Chiclet Keyboard on the Commodore Pet 2001. As a side note, the best from the early / mid 80's was undoubtedly the BBC Micro - it was mechanical and built like a tank.
I think the best keyboard is still the IBM Model M (or at least in my opinion) :-)
ZenEmu01 Absolutly! I remember the Commodore Pet 2001 keyboard when I was a child, little calculator type keys, too small for kids too :)
I'm replying to this on an IBM Model M
Yeah, 3rd party keyboards were one of the more popular peripherals for the 2001...!
Personally I prefer hard keys. It was pain is ass to find notebook wot decent actuation force.
Seriously, though, a good mechanical keyboard is a joy to type on. Remember the IBM Model Ms?
Still the best to this day.
Although some modern mechanical keys come close. And they got a wider choice of options depending on the needs.
The IBM Model F is the better keyboard in my opinion, specifically the AT variant. The keyfeel is slightly lighter and is crisp to type on. However I understand it isn't for everyone because of the layout. After all, the Model M set the current layout for keyboards.
Thank you for leaving out the Chicklet Keyboard of the TRS-80 Color Computer I.
Thanks for including that Pic of the Aquarius computer. That was my first computer that I received as a hand-me-down when I was only six years old. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of it until that Pic shocked my memory. Thanks!
This is why I tend to see touchscreen keyboards as a step backwards. They remind me of those keyboards that feel like you're just hitting a desk. Haptic feedback only helps so much.
I mean you're only supposed to type with your thumbs in that case and the visual feedback is on the screen. I really have no clue why people insist on typing things on a phone other than URLs or SMS messages, though.
I'll likely never be completely comfortable writing on touchscreen keyboards... I've mostly used proper PC keyboards so the touchscreen keyboards I've used are probably my "worst experiences". I vastly preferred the physical keybopards on my Psion 5mx or even the small one on my N600 before the one I'm forced to use on my mobile phone today.
Personally, I prefer low-profile non-mechanical keyboards for ergonomic reasons. I find mechanical keyboards to be way too high for my tastes (and for my poor wrists". I also don't like their long travel. In fact, I'll probably ditch my current cherry-switch keyboard as soon as a I find a suitable replacement (trying to find something slim, wireless but still fully featured.)
I just wanted to thank you for the nerdy and very humorous commentary. ;-) I used a few of these computers including the Timex Sinclair 1000 (aka ZX-81) it it truly was bad. Cheers!
Yeah, luckily the followup model had an improved keyboard. I owned one of them,. The keyboard on the 1000 was pretty similar to his #1 choice to be honest.
Neat videos. Subscribed!
The worst keyboard I ever had was a very old and heavy IBM keyboard that made very loud chachunking noises .... the keys actually needed a little more force to push down then my old busted keyboard....... never had I experienced this before in a keyboard but I needed something and I was a kid, I couldn't afford anything over this free old IBM AT keyboard. I wonder what year it was made? It sure felt old in the late 90s. like the kind of keyboard that could seriously injure an intruder should you need to defend yourself. It took my hands a while to get used to it because they would get tired from pushing on this stiff keyboard, you could almost see in your head the springs moving underneath the keys.
Malik Rath you're the only person I know to hate old buckling spring boards.
Malik Rath Your description sounds like a genuine model M, frequently hailed as the best keyboard ever, though I personally found the narrower keyboard on the classic 3278 terminals to be better.
The IBM keyboard defined the standard. Yes it is big and I agree that it takes up more space than I like but I do currently use one of these. Really like the feel of the model M.
Remember those days there were people hitting keys as if their fingers were pickaxes
I still do that. My fingers learned to type in about 1972, on manual typewriters, none of this newfangled "electricity" stuff.
My 68 year old dad still calls it 'punching in' rather than typing.
@9:10, the Commodore PET 8K with the chiclet keys. This was my first computer I ever used, in middle school - loading up programs was a PAIN - and I was so glad when we got up to the 32 & 64K machines with a real keyboard.
The Commodore PET that you show at 9:51 was and early model. All the PET Computers I ever used in were with the keyboard very similar to the VIC 20 and later on the C-64. Next to the original IBM keyboard I still have from the 1980's, they were the best available at the time. I liked them more than the Apple II keyboards available at the time as well.
And the only one of those 5 i dont own is the Oric.... I best get on eBay
"Christ on a Bicycle" is a good name for a band.
Thank you for the video. I loved my Spectrum when i was a kid. Started me off programming, still coding now. I do have a spectrum plus still, but keyboard membrane has broken. Just did a search thanks to watching this and keyboard membranes are still available. I'm going to fix it. Thank you very much for the video, I thought it may be a write-off.
I typically don't like the buttons on my keyboard, so I just take the little square things off and I touch the little circles underneath to type
The Atari 600XL/800XL keyboards were top-notch, among the best of the 8-bits, frankly.
The 800XL was my first computer and I can see that I was spoilt right from the beginning. My friends had Spectrums and other useless keyboards and after spending a weekend at their house, I couldn't wait to get home to my Atari again. They had a very satisfying clicky press. You always knew when the button press registered.
I disagree a little. The thing about the 800xl (not sure about the others) is if you're holding a key down, it won't register pressing another key. Which makes it really hard to type fast as every key must be separately pressed. Also on the one I have you have to press the key quite central for a consistent feel. Maybe it's my PAL version? Still, definitely on top of the 8 bits, but my Amstrad CPC128 and Amiga keyboards are great. Also the BBC's had the best 8bit keyboards that I've ever used.
That was due to the helpful clicky sound from the TV speaker.
The only atari 8-bit with a crappy keyboard was the Atari 400, the rest were good though
Maybe the 400 had the click from the TV speaker as well, meaning that at least there was some feedback? Even the ZX80 had the screen flicker as feedback, but the ZX81 was worse because it had neither.
I have a feeling that my friends old Blackberry would have made it to like #4 on this list.
Blackberry had the absolute best keys on their original devices! Back in the button phase of cellphones, only the HP calculators could top the keys of a Blackberry!
I never had an Oric but I did use one a few times. I've also used most of the Sinclair machines. Oric's keyboard was pretty awful, but I think it's a stretch to place it as worse than the ZX80/81!
Also the older Commodore PET keyboard you showed at the end was insane. It didn't even have the oblique arrangement of standard keyboards, it was clearly designed by someone who didn't type! But that didn't stop me loving the PETs I used in my school days. Ah, good old 6502 Space Invaders!
You were absolutely right about the ZX Spectrum + and the Videopac' s(Odyssey 2) keyboards, because I can personally testify about them. But they are nothing compared to every touch screen keyboard we may encounter. Especially on a handheld iOS or Android device, as Sumo stated also...
Or a TV remote? (4:36)
David Perkins On my smart tv, the keyboard is on the screen and you have to use arrow keys to go to one and type that letter.
All onscreen keyboards are automatically #1 WORST ... or they would be, if touchscreens were categorized as keyboards.
P I bet they are. What I don't understand is why they don't simply use the old-fashioned method where each number signifies a few letters, like in the way we used to write text messages on old phones: 1 for a, b, and c - 2 for d, e, and f etc.
That works a lot faster and must be easy to implement.
The on-screen keyboard just doesn't make sense.
No Atari 400?
Luis de Santos 9:02 - seems like maybe he's an honorable (dishonorable?) mention; I think Peter was only listing ones he used
When I was in grade school in the early 80s my school had an Atari 400 in the library. I remember laughing at how crappy the keyboard was compared to my Apple II at home, but still loved playing with the machine because it was different.
It turns out Atari marketed the 400 as mostly a gaming machine, and not as something you'd be doing a lot of typing on.
Luis de Santos That would have been my number 1 choice ... followed by the Enterprise 64/128.
Sure the ZX keyboards are bad and as cheap as they get ... but I still consider them almost acceptable. Other extremely shitty keyboards can be found on the Jupiter ACE, Robotron KC85/1-4 and Commodore 116.
Zorin the Lynx Haha, I bet! And yeah, the differences are what make vintage computers so interesting. And, as you kinda pointed out, the 400 and 800 (definitely the 800) were actually pretty well spec'd for the time, compared to much of the competition
LOL! He did cover that in his honourable mentions as he has never had teh 'Pleasure'(?) of using one... :)
Seems me and you have though!
As soon as I saw this come up in my suggested videos the Atari 400 came to mind. My dad had that computer when I was a kid and wow was it "fun" to use. I was glad to see it in your pictures of other awful keyboards near the end of the video.
Not a computer, but the touchscreen keyboards on Japanese karaoke remote controllers around 10 years ago were truly amazing. The touchscreens developed calibration errors, so you had to press at some offset to where the key appeared. Add to that unreliable response and software that often took a second to respond to a keypress and you had an amazing typing experience where typing even a 10-character band name was a labour of love.
I like to think these historic systems have shown modern manufacturers, how NOT to make a keyboard.
jenny bailey Gotta start somewhere.
jenny bailey then why is my Logitech k120 that i bought in the ladt 3 years of a similar construction to the spectrum+ / QL keyboard?
Similar in that the mechanism is a rubber mat under the keys which are flat, but unlike the Sinclair keyboard with separate tops.
I would say a lot of them that's for sure, although the BBC Micro Model B keyboard was years before its time, maybe not from an aesthetic standpoint, but certainly from a practicality standpoint. The keys were microswitched, which made it an early example of a mechanical keyboard, a rarity for the time the computer first came out.
macbook pro 2016
The designer of the ORIC-1 is an old friend of mine :)
Nice video.
after watching you video and following a programming class i have been complaining alot to my old laptop because of it terrible keyboard, god i still feel grateful after upgrading it and find the keyboard to be decent enough.
Mechanical Keyboard Master Race!
Eh... I mean they're nice, but a good quality membrane keyboard works as well.
no membrane keyboard suck ass they should of never been invented
They are cost efficent.
There are some very nice membrane keyboars, which I perfer over light linear switches(like MX Red)
The idea behind modern mechanical keyboards is responsiveness. A mechanical key can be designed to trigger when the key is partway down, whereas a membrane key has to be all of the way down to trigger. Not a really big deal for a typist, but for gamers every millisecond counts. So actually I would be fine with a typist using a well-designed membrane keyboard.
tyaty There are some really cheap mechanical keyboards these days. Lest I checked the Redragon Kumara was only $36 us. That's only about $11 more than the average membrane keyboard.
This touch screen.keyboard of my mobile. No tactile response and occasionally I hit the wrong keys. Like . Instead of space.
So it's like typing on a ZX 81 :D
You talked about the ZX-81! I was cursed with that keyboard for several years.
I would like to highlight the Atari 400 for having a terrible keyboard as well. A stiff membrane keyboard with a raised lip around each key that was actually painful to the fingertips. It was awful!
I have to give a mention the Commodore Pet computer keyboard you showed as an also run at the end of the vid. I had the opportunity of using an original Commodore Pet computer (Model 2001 with chiclet keyboard) back in the 80’s (that someone else owned). It had an entirely too small chiclet keyboard that looked like the keyboards on early calculators and early electronic cash register/till machines and was awful to type on. Such a chiclet keyboard is fine for the input of numbers but not for a command line based computer where typing a lot is requirement to anything. The keys apparently also had an issue of the characters rubbing off with extensive use. They replaced the awful chiclet keyboard in the replacement model 2001-N (N=New) which had a standard full size keyboard, though I never saw a later model in person so far as I can recall. I also had a U.S. version of the Sinclair ZX81 (Timex-Sinclair 1000) computer which was given to me by a friend of the family who no longer wanted it and can attest that it’s membrane keyboard was as awful as people say it was. That and the other limitations of that computer was probably why the family friend stopped using it and why I stopped using it after playing around with it for a short while.
We had those in our junior high computer lab. It was personally the second worst keyboard I've ever used.... The first being the IBM PC Jr. keyboard.
Skip to 1:47 if you’re in a rush
Amiga 600
I was getting a little tired of waiting for each episode to come out, so I took a few weeks off & waited.
Binge Time!
I had a Vtech VZ200 in the mid 80s. The rubbery keyboard was a bit like the ZX Spectrum's, but it beeped on every keystroke.
My parents were really happy when I got my own tv and didn't have to play with it in the living room anymore.
can you do worst bluetooth/usb keyboards?
Or just review the Lenovo Yoga Book.
I have seen one really cool one that projects a virtual keyboard onto a surface. It looks awesome and is the absolute worst.
@@GeoNeilUK I actually quite like my yoga's keyboard. Not as much as my T430, but I'd say it's a pretty decent keyboard. But that's on a laptop rating scale. If I'm hooking up to a monitor at home, bet your ass in plugging in either my mechanical keyboard with the aluminum case, or my frankly preposterous strike 7. Because it's over the top nature makes me laugh like a child.
Apple's bringing us a blast from the past with those shit keyboards they're selling now in their boutique stores. Of course, Apple doesn't really "do" computers anymore so w/e
thedungeondelver I see Macs on sale at my college bookstore and always wonder why anyone bothers.
I'd say "build quality" but tbh even that's gone down the pan lately. So at this point it's just...I dunno, mac status symbol. All the people I know with macbooks just boot into Windows...
Slightly OT, but love the tshirt (saw it in another video just the other day). Is it an original or a reprint? If you were to do a Top 5, The Dragon would have to be on there. Made programming on it so much more enjoyable compared to my friends with Spectrums. I had a ZX81 too though so experienced both extremes....
Wow that commodore pet at the end looked like a beast, but the one in my house had quite a nice keyboard not that small thing
I will never understand why people care about keyboards clickiness.
I'm just wondering if you've tried a mechanical, but I use one I think they're a little overrated, but they're not bad, you really feel like you're getting work done when you've got one though!
ive probably used every kind of keyboard over 20 years. its never been something i paid attention to
When you're in a public library on a computer and there are 10 other people around you typing on noisy keyboards you care because it's really, really annoying.
I LOVE CLICKY KEYBOARDS. Idk if this is a popular opinion, but it’s so satisfying.
Sounds cool, but in some cases, a nice MX Brown, Clear, Black, or Red-based board will do.
Worst yeah right I didn't see a dvorak or alphabetical keyboard in there pretty sure they would be the worst to type on now the masses are used to qwerty keyboards.
Matt Hsv he was talking about feel. Dvorak and alphabetical are just confusing.
At least Dvorak was good in principle. Alphabetical has to go away, though, except for products designed for early childhood. On the rare occasion I encounter an alphabetical keyboard it's like arrrrgh, whyyyyy? You can't even learn to type fast on an alphabetical. It literally makes EVERYBODY hunt and peck.
Dvorak is _very_ popular with "real men" who know how to computer. XD
If you purchase train tickets on-line, you have to collect them from a touch screen kiosk at the station. It's touch screen, *and* it's alphabetical. WHY GOD!? WHY!!!?
"it's alphabetical. WHY GOD!? WHY!!!?" - because for some reason the creators of these things think the masses aren't used to QWERTY, despite the fact that almost every household now has at least 1 QWERTY keyboard in regular use - even if it's only on their phone's texting app.
Well, I know a couple of people who don't have a computer, or a phone with more than 12 buttons and no touch screen in the house. Probably more than a couple, but I know a couple for _certain_. I still don't see why you can't switch between alphabet and qwerty. It's not like it's a terrible programming task, or requires considerable system resources. You can _default_ to alphabet, for the fuddy-duddies and just have a regular keyboard symbol in the corner (like a smart-phone) to switch to something more comfortable. You could even throw in dvorak for the speed demons.
We had the Philips G7000 but mostly stuck to the games as keyboard all but unusable to code, did manage to code on Spectrum 48k, can only assume being so young meant my fingers could contort more in those days to reach all the special function combos. Was a bit of a step up to the Atari ST after that... But, still, flaws and all, got a lot of fun from every one of them.
I had a Philips G7000. I was hoping it would be on this list. Apparently you could program them!
I also had a spectrum, but because it was only the 16k version. I had to plug in the 32k memory pack in the back and that was renowned for poor connection. That resulted in gentle key presses of a keyboard that required firm key pressing.
I for 1? :D
On the opposite camp... man I just remembered and realized that there are no more Hall Effect keyboards.... Those were phenomenal.
The original TRS-80 Color Computer also had a chiclet keyboard which ranks up there as the worst computer keyboard I've used. (The TRS-80 pocket computers had keyboards like an old TI calculator, but that was expected given their size.) The other notable bad keyboard in my memory were the DEC workstation keyboards I used in university. Nowhere as bad as the CoCo, but like typing on marshmallows.
At a flea market I once found some old keyboards from the local hospital. These were regular keyboards in essence, but in a rubber casing, so that they would be spill-proof and easily cleaned. Problem was, the rubber casing made it practically impossible to feel individual keys, and pushing a key tended to nudge the others as well, since the rubber wasn't that flexible.
The Sinclair Spectrum keyboard was once described by one reviewer as feeling like dead flesh, lol
Excellent video!
The Commodore Pet, as briefly shown near the end of the video. At college in the 1980's, I was typing in commands into it and one of the lecturers asked me to compare the keyboard to the ZX Spectrum. I told her that the Spectrum is much better, as I to press quite hard on the Pet's keyboard to get a respone and I keep getting which is known as 'keyboard bounce'. When I press only once, sometimes the characters will pop up twice. This made me to appreciate the Spectrum's keyboard even more.
great video especially for use in Canada an US we missed the Sinclair micros....thank you Jack Tramiel and Commodore the pet Vic and C64 had perfect keyboards and we got spoiled over here
So...thumbs are not fingers? 7:30 , just messing with you! Great video as always!
Haha thanks for reminding me of the Atari ST keyboard, I would of had one just for that if I didn't already have an Amiga 1200 at the time. lol correctly guessed 3 of the 5 ... Sinclairs :)
OMG you featured the Phillips g7000. I thought I was the only person on the planet who remembers them. A console with a keyboard! A friggin keyboard....man (yes I binge watching missed episodes again. This is not spam ;) )
Fastest way to kill a Spectrum keyboard? Daley Thompson's decathlon! Props for the Dragon 32 t-shirt too
9:28 Well, somebody running the page www.nostalcomp.cz actually did change the ZX80 and ZX81 keyboards in his replica of these computers. What he did was to wire microswitches on the motherboard, printed the keyboard on a sticky membrane, placed a plastic spacer with holes cut for the keys and placed the whole thing on the microswitches. The result looks like ZX80/ZX81 keyboard but typing on it feels much better as you have an actual tactical response from the microswitches below the "keys".
I would also change the original ZX Spectrum keyboard to something that looks exactly the same and uses exactly the same rubber dome keyboard design but instead of making the keys from rubber, I would make them from hard plastic and place them on the rubber domes. When the rubber domes are constructed correctly, it would make the resulting keyboard feel much more pleasant than it is now.
And to finish, you forgot to add another thing I hated on ZX Spectrum + keyboard: The keys like the arrows and stuff were actually pressing combinations of keys (the arrows for example were caps-shift + digit) so after they got worn out, they ended up producing numbers and/or seemingly doing nothing (in fact just presing the caps-shift). And since there was no marking of their function on the original location where the function happened to be, once this wear off ruined the key, there was practically no way for you to figure out where the alternate location is (imagine your left and right arrows stopping working when you are in the middle of heavy line editing and then figure out where the other ones are without destroying your line - and no, you can't press Enter and have the half-edited line stored in the memory because there is a syntax error on that line and you need those damn arrows to reach that spot).
Oh, my first computer was an Atari 400. The membrane keys required about ten tons each to press. "Typing" was quite painful, and entering a BASIC game from a magazine was a fair replacement for religious self-flagellation. I will blame that keyboard for any and all finger mobility issues in the future. When my dad scored an Atari 800, complete with actual working keys, it was deliverance.
I had a feeling I'd see the PC Jr on here. Had one when I was a kid, but I had the one with the improved keyboard design.
Hi! Very cool video! But, the ad at 2:01 is not a french ad, is a spanish ad!
I got the Spectrum +2, Amstrad did a very good job with the keyboards on the speccy, fully mechanical, was a delight to use.
Dammit okay you did it to me. Now I have to watch Red Dwarf. With all of the references around me lately for some reason, how could I not?
When I was at university in the mid 1980s we used to have these keyboards for use with the campus mainframe computer. The action of the keyboard was actually quite good but they had a serious flaw in that they had a reset key in the top left corner near the 1 key. One simple missed key meant losing all your work as it reset your console ending your terminal session
That extra finger gag got me. Perfect.
I'm a "proud" owner of a Microprofessor II (MPF-II). An Apple II clone that was far from very compatible.
I'd nominate that sucker for number 1. The keyboard is similar to the Oric 1, but smaller. It was so atrocious, that they even included a *second*, external keyboard. Unfortunately, that was a rubber key type thingy that sucked just as bad.
The double fail when it comes to keyboards should IMHO not have been overlooked in this vijay-o.
Cheers and keep up the 8-bit shenanigans!
Have a look at the robotron kc87 keyboard. The buttons not only didn't have any tactile feeling but the springs were also made for people working in steel industry. As a kid I remember my fingers hurting from pressing the buttons
The OG Spectrum's "Dead Flesh"... it's been 30 years, I can still feel it if I concentrate.
love the shortcuts labeled with shortcuts
5:47: "This very basic method introduces the least responsive tactile experience you're ever likely to have with a computer."
Until 2007 at least, when Steve Jobs lowered the bar even further...
I know this is a random thought, but would you ever do a video comparing... something like; how does the most modern low end smartphone compare to the world's first super computer. I mean it would just be such an interesting look back showing people how far things have come, price, speed, storage, usability, size, and how the future could look in the same amount of time from now if we continue with the speed of technology! Love your videos man, that's why I'm suggesting cos I think you would do a good job at explaining all that to the masses :)