3 ms·

I rather liked the MZ-80K, having spent a bit of time with it as a kid in the early 80s. I was attending a prep boarding school, for kids from 8 through 13 (can

I rather liked the MZ-80K, having spent a bit of time with it as a kid in the early 80s. I was attending a prep boarding school, for kids from 8 through 13 (can't imagine anyone sending their kids to boarding school aged 8 any more! How times have changed) and one of the pupils had this machine. We spent quite some time playing Towering Inferno on it... I seem to remember the MZ-80A having a better keyboard. I don't know if I ever used one, or just saw pictures in computer magazines of the time.

masswerk 3y ago
Yes, there was also a later version of the MZ-80, the MZ-80C, which featured a more conventional keyboard. But, I think, the original one is quite beautiful (while, admittedly, not that usable) and it reminds of a time, when it wasn't all that clear that consumer computers should have typing keyboards. (Mind that not everybody was trained in touch typing, and this was pretty much a new beginning.) BTW, I see that the machine in the video has kanji legends on the keyboard, which isn't found on the models that were sold in Europe. The latter feature upper and lower-case characters, which is switched by a special "SML/CAP" key (not the SHIFT key, which is for graphics characters!), a key that shows kanji markings on the domestic model. (So, I guess, the original, domestic model was Latin upper-case/kanji without lower-case?) Does anyone know more about this?
- opan 3y ago
  >I think, the original one is quite beautiful (while, admittedly, not that usable) https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/userdata/images/large/53/66/product-105366.jpg https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/userdata/images/large/53... Is this the keyboard we're discussing? What I see is ortholinear, and with a spacebar that's a more reasonable size. If anything, we've largely regressed. Only keyboard enthusiasts have keyboards like this nowadays. Anything off the shelf has the same crap layout more or less now. Laptop and UMPC manufacturers don't care to innovate with the keyboard. (Except for the MNT Pocket Reform)
  - masswerk 3y ago
    Here are some more detailed images (mind the clear key caps with inlays): https://www.retromobe.com/2019/10/sharp-mz-80k-1979.html https://www.retromobe.com/2019/10/sharp-mz-80k-1979.html The keys can be a bit "squeaky", though, and, at times, I find the cursor keys annoying (which is due to training and muscle memory from other keyboards). I once wanted to quickly edit a Christmas themed image, using all those fancy graphics characters, and kept failing over the cursor keys all the time… :-) But, yes, it could have been a fresh start all over. There were even a few alphabetically ordered ortholinear keyboards (especially on the pocket computer variety, since you wouldn't touch type on those anyway), as manufacturers thought this may be more accessible and mechanical constraints didn't apply anymore. Also, worth a visit, the entire article at oldcomputr.com, showing the assembly with all the various components: https://www.oldcomputr.com/sharp-mz-80k-1978/ https://www.oldcomputr.com/sharp-mz-80k-1978/ ! (This also mentions, "It’s a bit hard to get used to the keyboard." :-) )

masswerk 3y ago

Yes, there was also a later version of the MZ-80, the MZ-80C, which featured a more conventional keyboard. But, I think, the original one is quite beautiful (while, admittedly, not that usable) and it reminds of a time, when it wasn't all that clear that consumer computers should have typing keyboards. (Mind that not everybody was trained in touch typing, and this was pretty much a new beginning.) BTW, I see that the machine in the video has kanji legends on the keyboard, which isn't found on the models that were sold in Europe. The latter feature upper and lower-case characters, which is switched by a special "SML/CAP" key (not the SHIFT key, which is for graphics characters!), a key that shows kanji markings on the domestic model. (So, I guess, the original, domestic model was Latin upper-case/kanji without lower-case?) Does anyone know more about this?

opan 3y ago
>I think, the original one is quite beautiful (while, admittedly, not that usable) https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/userdata/images/large/53/66/product-105366.jpg https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/userdata/images/large/53... Is this the keyboard we're discussing? What I see is ortholinear, and with a spacebar that's a more reasonable size. If anything, we've largely regressed. Only keyboard enthusiasts have keyboards like this nowadays. Anything off the shelf has the same crap layout more or less now. Laptop and UMPC manufacturers don't care to innovate with the keyboard. (Except for the MNT Pocket Reform)
- masswerk 3y ago
  Here are some more detailed images (mind the clear key caps with inlays): https://www.retromobe.com/2019/10/sharp-mz-80k-1979.html https://www.retromobe.com/2019/10/sharp-mz-80k-1979.html The keys can be a bit "squeaky", though, and, at times, I find the cursor keys annoying (which is due to training and muscle memory from other keyboards). I once wanted to quickly edit a Christmas themed image, using all those fancy graphics characters, and kept failing over the cursor keys all the time… :-) But, yes, it could have been a fresh start all over. There were even a few alphabetically ordered ortholinear keyboards (especially on the pocket computer variety, since you wouldn't touch type on those anyway), as manufacturers thought this may be more accessible and mechanical constraints didn't apply anymore. Also, worth a visit, the entire article at oldcomputr.com, showing the assembly with all the various components: https://www.oldcomputr.com/sharp-mz-80k-1978/ https://www.oldcomputr.com/sharp-mz-80k-1978/ ! (This also mentions, "It’s a bit hard to get used to the keyboard." :-) )