29 Jul
2013
29 Jul
'13
8:26 a.m.
On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 11:17:07AM -0300, Alexandre Souza wrote:
[...]
- Timex Sinclair 2068 (Sinclair, US)
According to Wikipedia, that's a tarted-up ZX Spectrum for the US market.
Compared to the original hardware, its keyboard looks rather good!
The real ZX Spectrum had a "dead flesh" rubber keyboard which squidged in a
somewhat unpleasant manner, and sometimes squidged sideways without registering
a keypress. The actual keymap was on crack and made it even more of an arse to
type on, although bizarre and infuriating layouts weren't exactly rare on early
1980s kit.
Even so, the ZX Spectrum keyboard was amazing compared to that of its
predecessor, the ZX81. To avoid the expense of keys, they did away with them
and just used a pressure-sensitive plastic membrane that was slightly lumpy
where the "keys" were.
IMO, the ZX81 was clearly the worst keyboard in the world for over a quarter of
a century, from its launch in 1981 until 2007. Why 2007? Because that's when
the iPhone came out.