On Nov 17, 2010, at 6:35 PM, Steven wrote:
On Nov 17, 2010, at 8:16 PM, Ashgrove wrote:
Don't you love that keyboard? It's inconceivable that most of the Mac
laptops that have come afterwards cannot hold a candle to that
keyboard.
I have a clamshell, a TiBook, and a unibody MBP, and they all have
keyboards superior to most desktop keyboards. The aluminum MBP
keyboard's not bad either. By contrast, the 68K PowerBooks would get
tiresome pretty quickly (if I used them). I don't know how much their
age is a factor, but my old ADB keyboards haven't lost their great
feel, so I'm skeptical.
I still can't believe Apple doesn't make a real keyboard for their
desktop computers.
Apple hasn't made a good desktop keyboard since they dropped the Apple
Extended II (code name Nimitz) for the AppleDesign -- and the II,
while nice, still wasn't as good as the original Apple Extended (code
name Saratoga). The Bondi iMac keyboard was a joke (but not as much
as the puck mouse) and the 2006-era edgeless white keyboards I find
especially unpleasant. Not as bad as the Bondi, but still.
Particularly galling is Apple's treatment of Caps Lock. In short,
they've previously (as Apple Computer and NeXT) used two satisfactory
methods (physically locking key and Command-Shift chord respectively),
and not only abandoned both, but adopted a new delay-based method
(i.e. requiring the key to be held down) that while helping to prevent
accidental Caps Lock engagement punishes users who intentionally hit
it but do so quickly. (Yes, I normally do hit keys that fast.)
(and I think making the number pad an option is ridiculous).
My first Mac was a Plus, which had the numeric pad built-in. It had
arrow keys, but they were crippled by placing the right arrow between
the left and down arrows, forming an L shape instead of the usual
inverted T. It didn't have Esc or Control (to say nothing of function
keys or the group of six keys above the arrows). But at least it had
a physically locking Caps Lock key.
I recently got an Extended Keyboard II from a thrift store, and
eventually when I find an ADB cable and ADB-USB converter I might
switch to that
One of the reasons I won't give up my old Macs is the ADB keyboards.
I'd set them up as thin clients first. But there are decent USB
keyboards if you go third-party. I have a MacAlly that's not bad --
its layout matches the old Apple extended keyboards, including the
three LEDs (although it can't be programmed to send different codes
for left/right Shift/Option/Control like Apple's). Also, it doesn't
have modern conveniences like volume control keys, so it's a better
match for OS 9 than OS X. The Matias Tactile Pro 1, however, has the
same mechanical key switch technology as the old Apple models, plus
four additional keys for volume control and eject. It only has two
LEDs (built-in to the Caps Lock and Clear / Num Lock keys), and Caps
Lock mode lights both of them, which is odd, but I suppose it makes it
easier to notice hitting Caps Lock by accident. It's twangier than
Apple's keyboards, but I've gotten used to it. I'd recommend
considering one of these for use with OS X, but finding one might be
hard. Version 2 had defects (and is no longer sold anyway), and I
haven't seen a review of version 3 yet. Caveat emptor.
Josh
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