new Sun type-4 keyboards

[Stephen Gildea]

The keyboard that Sun started shipping with the 386i and now ships with
all machines, the type-4 keyboard, is a step backwards for an engineering
workstation.  The Delete key, which I use constantly, is way out in right
field, where only the longest of pinkys can reach it.  The Meta key,
another one that gets full-time use, has shrunk.  The | and \ key has also
been moved to an unreachable position.  A bit of good news: the Caps Lock
is still out of the way so you are unlikely to hit it by accident.

I recognize that good keyboard layout is difficult.  Look at the mess DEC
made of the VT220, for example.  However, the desirable features have been
understood for a long time.  Symbolics has had a very nice design for
about eight years.

Why did Sun do this?  If it wants to woo the IBM PC market by making a
PC-style keyboard, Sun should offer a choice of keyboards (say, "IBM PC
layout" and "engineering style") so as not to alienate the engineers,
their existing user base.

 < Stephen