[HN Gopher] Commodore PET Keys - Series 2001 Edition
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Commodore PET Keys - Series 2001 Edition
Author : masswerk
Score : 40 points
Date : 2023-08-08 08:43 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.masswerk.at)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.masswerk.at)
| proleisuretour wrote:
| Man, I miss those tape drives and a good game of Snake!
| lisper wrote:
| The original PET keyboard was a PITA to use, but it was
| nonetheless tremendously cool in its day mainly because of all
| the graphics symbols. It was the emoji keyboard of the time,
| except that the PET's symbols were composable in two dimensions
| to make awesome-looking (by the standards of the day) pictures.
| The integrated B&W CRT display was crisp and clean, because it
| was a direct connect and didn't have an RF modulator (which you
| needed to connect most computers of the day to a TV set). It
| resembled the Macintosh more than is commonly acknowledged.
|
| Life was simpler then. Sometimes I miss those days.
| jmull wrote:
| Man, I hated those chiclet monstrosities. Fortunately, I had the
| 2001-N, with the real keyboard and green screen.
| __mharrison__ wrote:
| Non staggered keyboard layout was ahead of it's time. Too bad it
| didn't stick around.
| taskforcegemini wrote:
| it still is around or is coming back. I recently saw a laptop
| with that kind of layout and was confused. it wasn't a niche
| shop either.
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| What is the benefit to that?
| rgoulter wrote:
| Do you recall which?
|
| The only thing which comes to mind with "laptop" and
| "ortholinear" is MNT Pocket Reform.
| https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2022-06-20-introducing-
| mnt...
| dannyobrien wrote:
| A gloriously chicletty physical keyboard, up there with the "dead
| men's fingers" feel of the ZX Spectrum. Just typing on it made
| you feel like you were in some brutally-constructed space
| pirate's navigation pod.
|
| https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Commodore_PET_keyb...
| yodon wrote:
| Everyone remembers the PET for its iconic industrial design and
| chiclet keyboards but mustn't forget the integrated "mass
| storage" cassette tape player and recorder visible in the other
| images on that page.
|
| I had a whole supply of cassette tapes that I bought somewhere
| with just 6 minutes of tape on the spools, for saving and
| loading of programs for the PET.
| mdtancsa wrote:
| TBH, my heart fluttered a bit when I saw the 2001 keyboard
| pictures. It was magic when I discovered the PET in the 80s.... I
| was a typical disengaged teen at school up until that point, and
| by next summer I _PAID_ money out of my own pocket to take a
| course on 6502 Assembler taught by Steve Punter on the other side
| of Toronto in a public library basement. Awww, exciting nostalgia
| shooting directly into my veins :)
| reaperducer wrote:
| _Steve Punter_
|
| One of the under-sung heroes of Commodore's salad days.
|
| Not Butterfield-grade. But still not widely appreciated for his
| contribution to Commodore telecommunications.
| mdtancsa wrote:
| From what I remember, he was a really good teacher too!
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