[Coco] CoCo4! 50% done!

[Richard E Crislip]

On Fri, 7 Feb 2014 17:57:44 -0500 (EST)
Steven Hirsch <snhirsch at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 7 Feb 2014, Richard E Crislip wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 6 Feb 2014 20:52:27 -0500 (EST)
> > Steven Hirsch <snhirsch at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, 6 Feb 2014, Aaron Wolfe wrote:
> >>
> >>>> Is PS/2 even still a thing? I haven't seen a system with it in
> >>>> years...?
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> Yep.  Most brand new business line PCs come with PS/2 boths, as do
> >>> most PC enthusiasts motherboards (just put a brand new intel i7
> >>> system together with the latest asus motherboard.. PS/2 ports
> >>> included).
> >>
> >> Great minds must think alike...  I just built a nice i7 system with
> >> one of the ASUS Z87 motherboards - selected specifically because it
> >> had a PS/2 port for my beloved Type M keyboard :-).  Cannot touch
> >> type accurately on anything else.  And, they last forever!  My
> >> fingers are currently tickling a Type M with a 12-Nov-87
> >> manufacturing date.  They do not build them like they used to.
> 
> > Humm.. Ignorance on display... What is a Type M keyboard? TIA
> 
> The canonical IBM keyboard, introduced with the MicroChannel PS/2
> machines circa-1987.  They used a (at the time) proprietary and
> patented buckling spring arrangement to give a feel similar to the
> Selectric typewriter.
> 
> Considered noisy and "clacky" compared to the mush-a-matic keyboards 
> currently in vogue, but much easier for a touch-typist to deal with.
> 
> The manufacturing rights to the Type M went to Lexmark when they were
> spun off from IBM and eventually were bought by Unicomp, who still
> manufacture them:
> 
> http://www.pckeyboard.com/
> 
> To keep up with the times, USB versions are now available.  But since
> I have a dozen of the PS/2 interface versions on a shelf in the
> garage, I stick to computers with that input port style.
> 
> Steve
> 
> 

Thanks Steve. I actually have access to a working PS/2 that still boots
from its 20MB hard drive.