[tlug] Old U.S. Keyboards and Current Japanese Keyboards (was Re: Need a Japanese keyboard)

[jep200404@example.com]

On Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:30:03 +0200, Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com> wrote:

> I actually *like* the Japanese layout--I used it in Ireland after
> giving up on the UK layout after a couple frustrating weeks, same
> story here, but it only took a week to hate and fear the Swedish
> layout. :)

Look at an ASCII chart[1], then look at how the bits change 
between unshifted and shifted keys. Also look at how the 
Ctrl key affects encoding. Think about how you would 
build an ASCII keyboard encoder in _mechanical_ hardware[2]. 
Keep it as simple as possible, because mechanical stuff is far 
more expensive than today's electronics. Many (most?) pre-PC 
US keyboards are rather similar to present Japanese layout 
(for non-Japanese use), so the non-Japanese use layout of 
Japanese keyboards is familiar to some Americans who have 
no clue about _anything_ Japanese. 

For giggles, type for an hour on an ASR-33 or KSR-33. 
You should be able to outrun it. You get to the the point where 
you have a finger pressing the next key waiting for it to be 
allowed to go down. At least the layout will feel familiar. 

[1] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/ASCII_Code_Chart-Quick_ref_card.png
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASR-33 Teletype
    http://www.pdp8.net/asr33/pics/old_front_nocover.shtml?large
    http://www.pdp8.net/asr33/pics/kbd_top.shtml?large