4 ms·
It was awful, but it was still better than the 2016 Macbook keyboard.
by ihatepython 3y ago
It was awful, but it was still better than the 2016 Macbook keyboard.
- retrocryptid 3y agoI would disagree. With an Atari 400, you knew you could upgrade to a real keyboard by buying an 800. But with modern mac laptops, your only option for a real keyboard is an external one, but you have to also carry a usb-c to usb-a adapter around to connect it. And it's hard to use as a laptop with an external keyboard hanging off it. I still prefer the Atari 400 membrane keyboard to the chicklet keys on modern macs.
- ihatepython 3y agoJust for the record, I agree with you. I'm not sure if I worded my response correctly. I also think the keyboard on the Speak & Spell is better than the 2016 Macbook keyboard.
- retrocryptid 3y agoThere's a nostalgia hit! SNS: SPELL MRGHHSHFG. Me: what? SNS: SPELL FHJFRJEBRBDN. Me: what ARE you saying!? Bit of trivia: my uncle was the executive at TI that green-lit the Speak-N-Spell. I was a tad bit older than the target market, but got invited to be in one of the early focus groups they used to gage reaction to it. I thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread and saved my pennies to buy a speech synthesizer for my 99/4 after seeing it. But yes, it had a worse keyboard than even the original 99/4.
- eschneider 3y agoYou could upgrade the atari 400 to a 'real' keyboard, though not a great one. It would just replace the membrane keyboard. And as much as I'm not a fan of the chicklet keyboards, they're 100x better than the atari 400 membrane keyboard. No. Contest.