Old Keytronic advert sounds new

[engicoder]

I stumbled across this old Keytronic advertisement in the April 1981 issue of Byte magazine. I was struck by how the text of the ad sounded like it could have been written about a new keyboard today.

[fohat.digs]

That is startling.

The tactile/linear argument is much older than I thought, and who knew that people were already looking for double-shot key caps!

[SpAmRaY]

'Please call or write for further information. You will be glad you did.'

That's just awesome.

[YuukiHaruto]

We haven't changed much 

[False_Dmitry_II]

What switches would those be using? When I had previously stumbled across mentions of keytronic before it turned out that they were just rubber domes of supposed better quality than usual, but those were generally 90's vintage. I'd assume what the ad is talking about would be something else.

[Demetrium]

Hahaha, pretty neat. Cool find.

[engicoder]

What switches would those be using? When I had previously stumbled across mentions of keytronic before it turned out that they were just rubber domes of supposed better quality than usual, but those were generally 90's vintage. I'd assume what the ad is talking about would be something else.

I think the Key-tronic version of capacitive switches were of the "foam and foil" variety which were the forerunner of todays membrane keyboards(they did not have truly individual switches).....so not exactly Topre quality.

[blackbox]

Nice find! They could have used the same comercial now.

[dorkvader]

What switches would those be using? When I had previously stumbled across mentions of keytronic before it turned out that they were just rubber domes of supposed better quality than usual, but those were generally 90's vintage. I'd assume what the ad is talking about would be something else.

I think the Key-tronic version of capacitive switches were of the "foam and foil" variety which were the forerunner of todays membrane keyboards(they did not have truly individual switches).....so not exactly Topre quality.

If it's the same generation as my wang keytronic capacitive (mine is from 1983) then the switches are all plate mounted and separate. I really like how light the springs are and how they can easily make heavier spring switches for "reset" etc.

As far as I can tell, Keytronic started phasing out reed switches from their normal computer keyboards at about this time. They persisted much longer in industrial applications however (for example, gilbarco keyboards, before gilbarco switched to cortron hall effect).

[bhtooefr]

If this is what I think it is, both variants are foam and foil capacitive, specifically this switch: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Key_Tronic_foam_and_foil

The tactile version uses buckling rubber sleeves (think an inside-out rubber dome with a hole in it for the slider to go through, and in fact IBM/Lexmark simply referred to their BRS boards (Model M4 and M6 families) as rubber dome) as the spring, the linear version uses coil springs.

[ideus]

The advert sounds new, or we like old technology. 

[engicoder]

If it's the same generation as my wang keytronic capacitive (mine is from 1983) then the switches are all plate mounted and separate. I really like how light the springs are and how they can easily make heavier spring switches for "reset" etc.

I've never seen one, maybe you could help my understanding of how they worked.
Wikipedia has the following:

In 1978, Key Tronic Corporation introduced keyboards with capacitive-based switches, one of the first keyboard technologies to not use self-contained switches. There was simply a sponge pad with a conductive-coated Mylar plastic sheet on the switch plunger, and two half-moon trace patterns on the printed circuit board below. As the key was depressed, the capacitance between the plunger pad and the patterns on the PCB below changed, which was detected by integrated circuits (IC).

Does that description match your board?

[YuukiHaruto]

If it's the same generation as my wang keytronic capacitive (mine is from 1983) then the switches are all plate mounted and separate. I really like how light the springs are and how they can easily make heavier spring switches for "reset" etc.

I've never seen one, maybe you could help my understanding of how they worked.
Wikipedia has the following:

In 1978, Key Tronic Corporation introduced keyboards with capacitive-based switches, one of the first keyboard technologies to not use self-contained switches. There was simply a sponge pad with a conductive-coated Mylar plastic sheet on the switch plunger, and two half-moon trace patterns on the printed circuit board below. As the key was depressed, the capacitance between the plunger pad and the patterns on the PCB below changed, which was detected by integrated circuits (IC).

Does that description match your board?

Early topre? seems quite similar to me