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This really started in the very early 80's.
Authored by: bentley on Feb 22, '02 05:22:51PM

Before the IBM PC 5150 was released in the burgeoning 80's, many, many keyboards on the wide variety of computing systems available at the time, including minis, had the control key where the caps lock typically is today, and the caps lock where the control key typically is today. I think a Hazeltine terminal keyboard had the control key in the lower left corner, and that stuck out because we all hated that.

Then the IBM PC came out with its boat anchor keyboard; the caps lock and the control keys were in new, awful positions. The placement of these keys for the first IBM PC was not arbitrary, it followed the placement of an earlier IBM product (specifically the caps lock key; the control key was an add-on!) but it was not correct. Unfortunately, the standard stuck like glue, and we've been cursed by this configuration for twenty two years. I absolutely dispise the current placement.

It's really bad now that the worlds of Mac and Unix collide in Mac OS X, where some sequences start with the command key, and others start with the control key, the left hand calisthenics are awful.

I haven't dealt with the problem proactively because I deal with a huge number of different keyboards every day; it would do no good for me to solve the problem on some keyboards and not on others.



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