ian@utcsstat.UUCP (06/13/83)
I'm sure the design of the keyboard comes from the brain of the designer, from which draw your own conclusions... In particular, this is one of the drawbacks of buying a micro-in-a-box: you can't replace one part of it if the design is botched. Bus-based systems, or even single-board designs which allow attachment of any random serial ASCII console, give you a lot more freedom of choice. If you have reasonable software (a la termcap) you can adapt the system to the console without a soldering iron or a wire-wrap tool. On the other hand, if writing a termcap entry is not your cup of tea, (and I'm not being hostile here, merely discriminating between programmers and the non-programming user) then buy the micro-in-a-box and live with the keyboard. Ian Darwin, Toronto