The 10 Worst PC Keyboards of All Time
Missing keys. Misplaced keys. Misshapen keys. These computers made typing confusing and uncomfortable--and sometimes nearly impossible. Aren't you glad you're not using any of them today?
Benj Edwards
2. Commodore PET 2001 (1977)
Computing pioneer Commodore just about invented the crappy keyboard. Everything started with the PET 2001 in 1977, one of the first fully assembled personal computers. For reasons lost to history, Commodore built a horrifyingly terrible keyboard into the original PET, one that looked like something you'd find on a toy calculator. The cramped, unreliable, Chiclet-type keys had no tactile feedback and sat over membrane key switches that wore out quickly, so you couldn't easily tell whether you had pressed a key. It sported a pseudo-QWERTY layout with the keys lined up in perfect rows--instead of offset and staggered, as on a traditional keyboard. And Commodore certainly amused PET users with the always-hilarious "tiny space key instead of a spacebar" routine. Even at launch, people scrambled to replace the PET's built-in atrocity with third-party keyboards, for which there was soon a thriving market. Commodore quickly learned from its mistake and included a full-stroke keyboard in the upgraded PET. While something of an improvement, that keyboard continued Commodore tradition by being bad in different ways.
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