For British kids of a certain age, their first experience of a computer was very likely to have been in front of a Sinclair ZX81.I was banned from using the school ZX81 for, and I quote, “not treating the computer with respect”. I was trying to get the damned keyboard to work...
From the «mmmmembrane» department:
Feed: Hackaday
Title: One Of The Worst Keyboards Ever, Now An Arduino Peripheral
Author: Jenny List
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2022 01:00:20 -0400
Link: https://hackaday.com/2022/10/24/one-of-the-worst-keyboards-ever-now-an-arduino-peripheral/
[image 1]
For British kids of a certain age, their first experience of a computer was very
likely to have been in front of a Sinclair ZX81. The lesser-known predecessor to
the wildly-successful ZX Spectrum, it came in at under £100 and sported a Z80
processor and a whopping 1k of memory. In the long tradition of Sinclair products it had a few compromises to achieve that price point, the most obvious
of which was a 40-key membrane keyboard. Those who learned to code on its frustrating lack of tactile feedback may be surprised to see an Arduino project
presenting it as the perfect way to easily hook up a keyboard to an Arduino[2].
Like many retrocomputing parts, the ZX81 ‘board has been re-manufactured, to the
joy of many a Sinclair enthusiast. It’s thus readily available and relatively
cheap (we think they can be found for less than the stated 20 euros!), so surprisingly it’s a reasonable choice for an Arduino project. The task of trying
to define by touch the imperceptible difference in thickness of a ZX81 key will
bring a true retrocomputing experience to a new generation. Perhaps if it can be
done on an Mbed[3] then someone might even make a ZX81 emulator on the Arduino.
We’re great fans of the ZX81 here at Hackaday[4], for some of us it was that
first computer. Long may it continue to delight its fans!
Links:
[1]: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/zxkeys-arduino-featured.jpg?w=800 (image)
[2]: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/sl001/read-a-zx81-keyboard-with-arduinos-and-build-things-with-it-0189bd (link)
[3]: https://hackaday.com/2014/12/22/zx81-emulated-on-an-mbed/ (link)
[4]: https://hackaday.com/2020/04/01/accurate-dispensing-of-toilet-paper-will-get-us-through-the-crisis/ (link)
On 25-Oct-22 11:30 pm, Retrograde wrote:
From the mmmmembrane department:Anything would be better than the "keyboard" of a smart-phone.
Feed: Hackaday
Title: One Of The Worst Keyboards Ever, Now An Arduino Peripheral
Author: Jenny List
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2022 01:00:20 -0400
Link: https://hackaday.com/2022/10/24/one-of-the-worst-keyboards-ever-now-an-arduino-peripheral/
[image 1]
Like many retrocomputing parts, the ZX81 ?board has been
re-manufactured, to the joy of many a Sinclair enthusiast. It?s
thus readily available and relatively cheap (we think they can be
found for less than the stated 20 euros!), so surprisingly it?s a
reasonable choice for an Arduino project. The task of trying to
define by touch the imperceptible difference in thickness of a ZX81
key will bring a true retrocomputing experience to a new generation.
Perhaps if it can be done on an Mbed[3] then someone might even make
a ZX81 emulator on the Arduino.
Anything would be better than the "keyboard" of a smart-phone.
Well, if one had ever used a ZX81 keyboard, it just might rank as
'worse' (not by a lot, but yes, worse) than a smartphone keyboard.
The membrane keys needed rather significant pressure to even activate,
and even then, many times it took more than one try to get the key to register as having been pressed if I recall correctly.
On 30 Oct 2022, Rich wrote
(in article <tjlsd7$5om0$2@dont-email.me>):
Anything would be better than the "keyboard" of a smart-phone.
Well, if one had ever used a ZX81 keyboard, it just might rank as
'worse' (not by a lot, but yes, worse) than a smartphone keyboard.
The membrane keys needed rather significant pressure to even activate,
and even then, many times it took more than one try to get the key to
register as having been pressed if I recall correctly.
It was -way- worse than a smart phone. Massively so. More like the keyboard of a pocket calculator than what you?d think of as a computer today.
A few other micros did it, the Atari...err..400? from memory. (Might be 600, can?t recall).
But even those monstrosities were ahead of the ZX81. But then, they
cost a lot more too. The ZX81 was a serious enabler of home
computing and ushered in the UK revolution really. Its predecessor,
the ZX80, came in kit form only and needed to be built.
The ZX81 was effectively a fully assembled ZX80.
Sylvia Else <sylvia@email.invalid> wrote:
On 25-Oct-22 11:30 pm, Retrograde wrote:
From the «mmmmembrane» department:Anything would be better than the "keyboard" of a smart-phone.
Feed: Hackaday
Title: One Of The Worst Keyboards Ever, Now An Arduino Peripheral
Author: Jenny List
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2022 01:00:20 -0400
Link: https://hackaday.com/2022/10/24/one-of-the-worst-keyboards-ever-now-an-arduino-peripheral/
[image 1]
Like many retrocomputing parts, the ZX81 ?board has been
re-manufactured, to the joy of many a Sinclair enthusiast. It?s
thus readily available and relatively cheap (we think they can be
found for less than the stated 20 euros!), so surprisingly it?s a
reasonable choice for an Arduino project. The task of trying to
define by touch the imperceptible difference in thickness of a ZX81
key will bring a true retrocomputing experience to a new generation.
Perhaps if it can be done on an Mbed[3] then someone might even make
a ZX81 emulator on the Arduino.
Well, if one had ever used a ZX81 keyboard, it just might rank as
'worse' (not by a lot, but yes, worse) than a smartphone keyboard.
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