Current keyboards with the Control key placed where God intended

[elmwood]

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.





What currently manufactured keyboards have the Control key placed to the left of the A key?  I can only think of the following:

* Unicomp Linux boards
* Matias membrane USB keyboards; Mac (white) and PC/Mac (black) layout.  These aren't that expensive; are they any good for a membrane?
* Happy Hacking boards
* Sun Type 7 USB keyboard, Unix layout.  Again, membrane.
* Avant Prime keyboards; ship with extra replacement keys so users can swap Caps Lock and Control.

[wellington1869]

Although with a little autohotkey exorcism, any keyboard can be returned to God's righteous path.

[xsphat]

Although with a little autohotkey exorcism, any keyboard can be returned to God's righteous path.

It's a preference in Mac. That's where mine is.

Add Topre keyboards to your list. I can set it up that way with the DIP switches on my 86 and it even comes with the Capslock sized Ctrl key.

[djones]

I disagree. control key to the left of the 'a' key encourages one handed key combos, bad bad bad for RSI. modifiers belong on the space bar row and should be pressed with the forefinger (and the actual key with the other hand).

[bhtooefr]

Except when doing a key combo that's all on the left, say, something like a Ctrl-C, I hit the Ctrl key with my left pinky anyway. Why move my right hand from the home row?

[iMav]

I disagree. control key to the left of the 'a' key encourages one handed key combos, bad bad bad for RSI. modifiers belong on the space bar row and should be pressed with the forefinger (and the actual key with the other hand).

Millions of UNIX geeks NOT currently suffering from RSI might disagree.  

[andb]

I think one of the best features of the Colemak keyboard layout is putting a backspace in that position. So I prefer (need?) the CTRL in the spacebar row.

[lam47]

I tried mapping backspace to caps lock but my stupid hand would still jump up to the top right.

[Chloe]

Datalux keyboards have Control and Caps Lock swapped.

[itlnstln]

I tried mapping backspace to caps lock but my stupid hand would still jump up to the top right.

This type of thing was always a struggle for me on my Evolution.  Since the page navigation cluster and the arrows are in the middle of the 'board, I would always get thrown off by the positioning and press the "0" key on the numpad.

[xsphat]

In Mac I never use Ctrl at home so it's out of the way (in Mac, Command is the Control in Windows and Linux). At work, in Indesign and NewsEditPro Ique, I use Ctrl all the time, but I still map it to the left of A. I like it that way. The most important thing for me, and this is going back a few years, is to get rid of the stupid CapsLock key. Who needs that aside from grandmothers?

[bigpook]

Some Of Still Like To Shout When We Type : )

[bhtooefr]

YOU NEED IT IF YOU WANT TO TURN ON CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.

I mean, how can you be cool if you don't type in all caps? And cruise control just means you're badass.

[xsphat]

haha

[secularzarathustra]

It's not a current board, but the Northgate OmniKey 101 has Caps Lock where whoever intended, with dip switches to hard remap the modifier combinations, and many many many other nifty tricks.

[Therac-25]

My left pinky actually rests in a weird bent position (I can thank my brother for slamming it in a door when I was a kid), so I actually much prefer the bottom corner position.

[bigpook]

I remap all of my keyboards to have the cntrl key next to 'a'. In ubuntu, you even have a gui menu to do it which makes it even easier.
I am sure in the past there was a good reason to have caps lock where it is, but nowadays it just seems like a waste of prime real estate.

[itlnstln]

I wish there were no key in that space.  I tend to press the Caps Lock key instead of the Shift key by accident.  I would even like a Shift key in an "L" shape a la some Enter keys on the left side.

[bigpook]

I don't know about that. For me it is the perfect place for the cntrl key.  The "normal" location for the cntrl key is down low on the left hand side. That location makes it more difficult for me to use. Not having a key in that space would be a waste of space, no?

[lowpoly]

I am sure in the past there was a good reason to have caps lock where it is

Typewriter mechanics.

[bigpook]

typewriter mechanics?

[lowpoly]

typewriter mechanics?

The caps lock lever is a small lever on top of the shift lever:



Shift is more south because it is used more often and gets better leverage there. Less strain on the pinky.

[bigpook]

The caps lock lever is a small lever on top of the shift lever:

Show Image

Shift is more south because it is used more often and gets better leverage there. Less strain on the pinky.

wow, no  kidding. to think the old designs/implementations don't die out but just get reimplemented as time goes on.

[cmr]

i use caps lock frequently. also i press ctrl with my pinky finger or my thumb. but do whatever you want with that, it's not important enough for a holy war.


but backspace/backslash/enter IS.

this is the ONLY correct layout of backspace/backslash/enter.
all other arrangements are WRONG! all three keys MUST be EXACTLY like this!

[lowpoly]

all three keys MUST be EXACTLY like this!

Looks like the tiny keyboard in your sig has a vertical enter.

[cmr]

yeah... well... that depends on your font.

in DejaVu Sans it also has only 24 letter keys...

[dougy]

Nice photo of that old typewriter. Its even older than what I learned on....

Remember that the migration to electric (electronic) entry was a very gradual process and its also important that using any data entry was a lower class job. When journalists/writers were using typewriters their job was still considered blue collar. An author would work longhand (the professional by dictaphone) and then pass on the draft to a typist. Then the teletype came along with its need for control characters. The only place left to put a new key was beside the space bar. First time I saw one there was no clue what that strange key was for.

[xsphat]

An author would work longhand (the professional by dictaphone) and then pass on the draft to a typist.

Plenty of authors wrote on typewriters. Kerouac, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Hunter S. Thompson all did. They span from the early part to the middle of the last century. In fact, some modern authors still type their first drafts on typewriters. I Had an old Remington typewriter back in the day and I could not imagine going back to it. I'm not calling you out or anything, just saying.

[wellington1869]

a lot of the most successful authors today write their books in long hand on legalpads. Gore vidal does, also a bunch of the historians they interviewed on c-span's booknotes recently all said they write longhand. I think only one of them used a computer.

Apparently j.k. rowling doesnt even do that, she lies on a couch and narrates her books to a secretary who writes them down in shorthand. lol.

[D-EJ915]

a lot of the most successful authors today write their books in long hand on legalpads. Gore vidal does, also a bunch of the historians they interviewed on c-span's booknotes recently all said they write longhand. I think only one of them used a computer.

Apparently j.k. rowling doesnt even do that, she lies on a couch and narrates her books to a secretary who writes them down in shorthand. lol.

heh, with all that money she can afford to do it

[wellington1869]

heh, with all that money she can afford to do it

i know, I'd love to have a freaking secretary.

i wonder if anyone has come up with an e-secretary service yet (with simple editing and shopping chores done remotely by someone in china or india, lol).

[Therac-25]

Not sure where this fits in the discussion:

"If you are a professional writer - i.e. if someone else is getting paid to worry about how your words are formatted and printed - emacs outshines all other editing software in approximately the same way that the noonday sun does the stars." -- Neal Stephenson

[xsphat]

Yeah writers are a strange bunch and I fit right in with them — trust me. The truth is the vast majority of writers use a text editor or word processor. I bet more poets use a notebook than a computer, and reporters use both.

I outline my longer works on 3x5 cards but I only write on my MacBook.

[wellington1869]

I outline my longer works on 3x5 cards but I only write on my MacBook.

I did that until recently. I looked around for a computer substitute for that outlining process and had a hard time finding one. These days I type up notes, print them up, take a scissors and cut them up, and then rearrange those on my bed (like with the 3x5 cards). I guess the only difference is not having to use a pen anymore.

i know, I'd love to have a freaking secretary.

At one point about five of my grad student friends got together and tried to figure out how much it would cost them to collectively hire and share a part time secretary/personal assistant. It was suprisingly affordable if you split the cost five ways. I dont think they did it though.  Too bad, I think they would have benefited.

[dougy]

Plenty of authors wrote on typewriters. Kerouac, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Hunter S. Thompson all did. They span from the early part to the middle of the last century. In fact, some modern authors still type their first drafts on typewriters. I Had an old Remington typewriter back in the day and I could not imagine going back to it. I'm not calling you out or anything, just saying.

Good point there, I tend to ignore literature. Was thinking more on the lines of business, technical, legal, educational books. Was trying to make the point of profession vs craft, literature kind of falls outside that as (presumably) the writer is an artist. I still know a few professionals who deem any use of a keyboard as beneath them.

[dougy]

All the talk about control keys has me wondering where the escape key should be placed. Any thoughts on frequency of use or placement?

[bigpook]

All the talk about control keys has me wondering where the escape key should be placed. Any thoughts on frequency of use or placement?

I use escape often enough. So I remap the tilde key with the escape key. This gets the escape to sit next to the '1' key.

[dougy]

I use escape often enough. So I remap the tilde key with the escape key. This gets the escape to sit next to the '1' key.

I like that for the tilde, but still need the grav accent. Has anyone seen an escape on the far right of the board, say just to the right of the backslash?

[xyzzy]

I like that for the tilde, but still need the grav accent. Has anyone seen an escape on the far right of the board, say just to the right of the backslash?

Like... this one?