Listings of available products
Contents
- Overview
- Manual Input Devices, 1965
- Terminal State-of-the-Art Survey, 1969
- Users’ choice is name of keyboard game, 1969
Overview
This page presents tables of keyboards on the market from historical publications. These tables give an insight into what product types existed and when. All spelling and punctuation is as in the original. Use the CPI Inflation Calculator to convert the prices to today’s money. To give an idea, $1 in December 1969 is worth $6.94 in January 2021; $1 in December 1965 is over $8.
Manual Input Devices, 1965
The following table was included in Manual Input Devices, Computer Design Vol. 4 No. 12, December 1965, pp. 28–40 (CD1965-MID):
| Mfgr. | Model | Technique | Keys | Code | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burroughs Corp. | 410 | Electromech. | 13, 16 | Direct | — |
| Conn. Tech. Corp. | KB-100 | Electromech. | 70 | 8 bits | High-Speed unit |
| Invac Corp. | PK-144 | Photoelectric | 46 | 8 bits | Other codes |
| PK-164 | Photoelectric | 64 | 8 bits | Available | |
| Navcor | 1050 | Electronic | 50 | 8 bits | Pulse, buffered, timing outputs |
| 1050N | Electronic | 16 | 8 bits | ||
| Soroban Engineering | FK | Electromech. | up to 64 | 8 bits | Up to 16 bits available on order |
| Teletype Corp. | — | Electromech. | 52 | Direct | Special purpose keys |
| Ultronic Systems Corp. | 500 | Electromech. | Unlimited | 5 bits | Visual display |
| 600 | Electromech. | Unlimited | Unlimited | Visual display |
Terminal State-of-the-Art Survey, 1969
Some series or models are listed specifically, while in other cases only the brand name is given. This table is shown on page A-2 (PDF page 91) of Central Bibliographic System Terminal Requirements Study, Task II Report, Terminal State-of-the-Art Survey by Hobbs Associates, Inc., November 1969.
Appendix A also notes the following:
Since there are upwards of 100 manufacturers making keyboard equipments of one kind or another, this study did not compare all of the specific keyboard products from various manufacturers. Instead, different technologies or techniques for implementing keyboards were analyzed. A few selected keyboard units that are representative of the different technologies are shown in Table A-1.
| Manufacturer | No. of Keys | Keyboard Technique | Encoding in Key Module | Special Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clare-Pendar | 88 | Solid State (reed switch & MOS) |
No | Encoding flexibility up to four levels, Modular |
| Controls Research Corp. | 58 | Electronic (reed switch & diodes) |
Yes | Modular |
| Digitronics PK-275 | 75 | Photo-electric | No | Maximum of 75 keys |
| George Risk Industries -573 | 73 | Electronic (reed switch & diodes) |
No | -- |
| IKOR | 66 | Capacitive | Yes | No mechanical switching Modular |
| Licon-550 | 73 | Electronic (magnetic cores) |
Yes | Modular |
| Mechanical Enterprises Inc. | 55 | Electromechanical (mercury switch & diodes) |
Yes | -- |
| Microswitch | 63 | Solid State (Hall effect & MOS) |
No | Encoding flexibility up to four levels, Modular |
| NAVCOR-1050 | 50 | Electronic (reed switches & diodes) |
No | Buffered outputs |
| Synergistics | 65 | Electromechanical | Yes | Maximum of 160 keys |
Users’ choice is name of keyboard game, 1969
This table was included in the article Users’ choice is name of keyboard game, Electronics Vol. 42, No. 23, 10th November 1969 pp. 145–150 (E1969-UCNKG).
| Company | Keying Mech. | Logic | Max. Bits Per Key | Quantity Price | In Lots Of | Unit Price | Keys Per Board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Risk | reed switch | diode matrix | 9 | $190 | 1000 | $500 | 73 |
| KDI-Navcor | reed switch | diode matrix | 14 | $125 | 1000 | $350 | 67 |
| Killian | reed switch | diode matrix | 8 | $150 | 1000 | $500* | 50 |
| Synergistics | mechanical spring loaded | diodes in key¹ | 9 | $50 | 1000 | $125 | 50 |
| Mechanical Enterprises | sealed mercury movement | diodes in key | 10 | $75 | 1000 | $235 | 50 |
| Datanetics | diaphragm switch | diode matrix | 8 | $150 | 500 | $350 | 60 |
| Micro Switch-Honeywell | Hall effect device | DTL | 8 | $100 | 2500 | $250 | 50 |
| Ikor | capacitive coupling | TTL | 12 | $140 | 1000 | $375 | 67 |
| Transducer Systems | proximity transducer | TTL | 8 | $150 | 5000 | $500* | 67 |
| Digitronics | photo cell | photocell & op amp | 14 | $325 | 1000 | $650 | 64 |
To give an indication of how much these keyboards cost, a $50 keyboard in December 1969 would cost (taking into account inflation) $346.93 in January 2021, while a more typical $150 keyboard would be $1,040.78.
* Plus non-recurring charge
Notes
- Dubious, as the actual encoding is done with multiple contacts per key and insulating mats; likely a mix-up with Mechanical Enterprises Mercutronic which does have in-key diodes