Dick Wetherald (07/14/89)
Message-ID: <8905051752.AA03538@rice.edu> Organization: BBN Communications Corp, Cambridge, Massachusetts The keyboard that Sun started shipping with the 386i and now ships with all machines, the type-4 keyboard, is a step backwards for an engineering workstation. [...] Why did Sun do this? If it wants to woo the IBM PC market by making a PC-style keyboard, Sun should offer a choice of keyboards (say, "IBM PC layout" and "engineering style") so as not to alienate the engineers, their existing user base. We agree that the Type 4 keyboard is a step backward. Why does the company who publicly supports standards insist on working against the market on the keyboard issue? The VT220 style keyboard is found on most terminal and PC products today. Even IBM decided to follow suit with the "339" keyboard which is quite similar and that is now the PS/2 standard. Sun is slow to embrace the de facto standard keyboard. We purchased over 300 Sun 386i machines, and was able to buy a VT220-PS/2-like keyboard from Sun. It is called a @RR220KBDKIT. It is now a standard part number that customers can order. (This includes a mechanical mouse, but Sun was willing to provide either optical or mechanical with the kit.) We encourage you to ask your rep for it. Dick Wetherald Advanced WorkStation (AWS) Project Leader Chemical Abstracts Service Div. of the American Chemical Society (614) 447-3600 x3328
hedrick@geneva.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) (07/24/89)
After hearing about how the type 4 keyboard is a creation of the devil, I've finally had a chance to use one. I was pleasantly surprised. It achieves reasonable compatibility with traditional Unix and PC keyboard designs. Presumably PC compatibility is a goal both because it's used on the 386i and because there is DOS emulation software for the Sparcstation. Makes some sense. It manages to avoid the known serious keyboard breakages: having shift lock where control is supposed to be, and putting escape somewhere in never-never-land. The main criticisms are that we'd rather see delete and backspace reversed, and that the return may be a bit too far to the right. These are both things that have reasonable arguments both ways. I'm sure we'll adapt. One presumes that they didn't do a VT220 keyboard because they know that the DEC user base threatened to assassinate the designer of the keyboard, and the Unix user community has threatened grievous bodily harm to any other vendor that comes with with such a thing. It does seem a bit crowded. But in general I approve of the small footprint of the newer machines. I guess the keyboard has to follow suit.
bzs@bu-cs.bu.edu (Barry Shein) (07/30/89)
From: hedrick@geneva.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) >After hearing about how the type 4 keyboard is a creation of the devil, >I've finally had a chance to use one. I was pleasantly surprised. It >achieves reasonable compatibility with traditional Unix and PC keyboard >designs. Presumably PC compatibility is a goal both because it's used on >the 386i and because there is DOS emulation software for the Sparcstation. >Makes some sense. I agree, it took an hour or two to get used to but I'm satisfied with it. Maybe not the greatest keyboard I've ever used but it's fine and I hardly think about it. The only small gripe I have, and this may just be me, is that the way the keys above the numeric row are angled I find I hit them a lot when reaching for a numeric, a little distance might have helped or lower profile on the keycaps, not sure, not fatal, getting used to this also. I liked the Sun3 keyboard but the travel was a bit stiff for me and I often found I didn't really have the shift key down all the way which was annoying. I guess my favorite keyboards were the VT100 and old SUN2 (which I can verify survived a 16-oz coffee bath and subsequent clean-up w/o a glitch :-) But this one is just fine, I don't understand what all the hub-bub is about. I suggest people give it a chance before getting negative, have more faith in your fingers' learning curves. -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die, Purveyors to the Trade 1330 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02146, (617) 739-0202 Internet: bzs@skuld.std.com UUCP: encore!xylogics!skuld!bzs or uunet!skuld!bzs