Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Anyone else haunted by the Commodore keyboard?

  1. #1
    Banned

    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    6,165
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default Anyone else haunted by the Commodore keyboard?

    To this day I sometimes press SHIFT+2 for quotation marks.

  2. #2
    Ladd Spencer (Level 17)
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    9,238
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Scooterb23

    Default

    I still look for the asterisk key
    gamesandgrub.blogspot.com - My blog about boardgames, and sometimes food.
    roomwithaviewmaster.tumblr.com - My blog about Viewmaster collecting

  3. #3
    Flawless Rawkality Flack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    OKC, OK
    Posts
    14,273
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4
    Thanked in
    3 Posts

    Default

    What's worse is trying to use some of the C64 emulators on the PC, so you have to remember where the keys USED to be.

  4. #4
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Midwest
    Posts
    65
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Something about seeing that blue screen (not to be confused with the Blue Screen of Death) makes my fingers automatically go to the right keys (or at least hit shift-2 for quotes--probably because we used them so dang much). I guess that's the same instinct that makes me want to type Unix commands when I'm telnetted or SSH'ed into a computer running VMS. Funny thing is, whenever one of my old Commodore buddies fires up an emulator on a PC, he does the same thing.

    I never could type as well on a Commodore keyboard as I could on a PC keyboard, but I think that was because of the feel. The Commodore keyboards always felt soft to me.

    But it's been so long since I used a Commodore 8-bit every day that I don't find myself hitting shift-2 on anything else. The ghost only comes around when I need it, I guess.

  5. #5
    Chaos Knight
    Mayhem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    London, England
    Posts
    8,916
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Mayhem64

    Default Re: Anyone else haunted by the Commodore keyboard?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kid Ice
    To this day I sometimes press SHIFT+2 for quotation marks.
    Isn't a problem in the UK as PC keyboards for us have quotes above 2

  6. #6
    ServBot (Level 11) badinsults's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Somewhere on planet Earth / #vbender
    Posts
    3,986
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    I learned to type on a Commadore 64. Anyone ever use Paws?
    <Evan_G> i keep my games in an inaccessable crate where i can't play them

  7. #7
    Alex (Level 15) boatofcar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Hurricane, WV
    Posts
    7,749
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post
    Xbox LIVE
    boatofcar

    Default

    For a long time when I got my first modern computer (Dell in 1996), I always hit shift 7 for apostrophaes, as was the case on my Atari 1200XL. Was it the same on the Commodore?

  8. #8
    Crono (Level 14) Pantechnicon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Alburquerque
    Posts
    6,711
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Zeno2112

    Default Re: Anyone else haunted by the Commodore keyboard?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mayhem
    Quote Originally Posted by Kid Ice
    To this day I sometimes press SHIFT+2 for quotation marks.
    Isn't a problem in the UK as PC keyboards for us have quotes above 2
    That explains the Timex-Sinclair keyboard, then. Because of this machine's keyboard I too had trouble adjusting to the regular U.S. layout.

  9. #9
    I like Fezzes. Fezzes are cool. ubikuberalles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Albuquerque, New Mexico
    Posts
    5,240
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    2
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    My Atari 8-bit computers have the quote mark above the "2" key and so it's not simply a US vs. UK thing. In fact my old manual typewriter has the quote mark above the "2" key. However, when I used to type tax returns for my dad in the 1980's, his electric typewriters had the quote mark on a separate key. Confusing, to say the least.

    Does the C64 keyboard haunt me? Not really but that's because I was an Atari 8-bit user back in the 1980's. The TS1000 keyboard haunts me more than the C64. Typing BASIC programs into the Timex Sinclair was a major chore as I had to constantly look at the keyboard to figure out what key to press. (Which key do I press for the LPRINT command? How do I insert a GOTO statement? ARRRGH!). It was a major mind F*&% because, when I wasn't working on my TS1000 at home, I would work on UNIX systems at school and VMS systems at my job. I remember trying to write code at work and my typing would be screwed up because I was coding on my TS1000 the previous night at home.

    Apparantely the old TS1000 keyboard layout has been completely erased from my brain. Recently I powered up a TS1000 emulator and I had to display a diagram of the TS1000 keyboard in order to figure out how to type on the bloody thing. Dang it's frustrating to type on the TS1000! :/

    (Pronounced: OO-bik-OO-ber-ALL-ess)
    Reality is false and decaying. Ubik restores form and substance.

  10. #10
    Banned

    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    6,165
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by boatofcar
    For a long time when I got my first modern computer (Dell in 1996), I always hit shift 7 for apostrophaes, as was the case on my Atari 1200XL. Was it the same on the Commodore?
    Yep. That key isn't commonly used though...shift 2 is used a lot because it is part of the load command (load "whatever",8)

  11. #11
    Strawberry (Level 2) Saabmeister's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Lurking in the Ebay Shadows
    Posts
    486
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    I use shift 2 constantly. Sometimes I'll also reach for * in the wrong place too.

Similar Threads

  1. WTB: KEYBOARD MANIA KEYBOARD for PlayStation 2
    By DreamTR in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 01-31-2007, 02:30 PM
  2. Haunted NES now haunted stuffed animal.
    By yuppicide in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 03-27-2005, 02:55 AM
  3. Sick of 'Haunted' items? Haunted rating: '0'
    By garethamiga in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 04-04-2004, 01:21 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •