4 ms·
For ASCII encoding the MSB isn't going to get much action so technically they could have gotten away with 7 bits/switches instead of 8 bits/switches. Although
by VLM 4y ago
For ASCII encoding the MSB isn't going to get much action so technically they could have gotten away with 7 bits/switches instead of 8 bits/switches.
Although with 8 bits they could input UTF-8 unicode which is nice.
"Back in the day" large (formerly automotive-style) paddle switches were far nicer on the fingertips than submini toggles.
- IHLayman 4y agoBut it’s probably not ASCII but rather scancodes, which definitely use the MSB for special keys such as function keys, scroll lock, caps lock, and other chorded combinations. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scancode https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scancode
- tyingq 4y agoIt would also be faster to send a lot of punctuation characters, math operators, etc. Since the keypad area scancodes have those available without setting shift first.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- grishka 4y agoThere are many 8-bit encodings that use the 8th bit for non-Latin characters, like Windows-1251 for Cyrillic. Imagine not having to switch your keyboard layout, ever!