I don't know how many here read LEM's columns (I'm guessing a lot of you do). There was a recent mailbag about the incorrectly marked delete keys on the Mac keyboards. When I saw the replies I had to slam my fist down...nobody wrote in to remark that there were at one time backspace keys on the Mac keyboards!
I sent this e-mail to LEM, hoping it would be featured in the next mailbag or something:
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The backspace key was never an issue on the original Macs. The 128K, 512K, 512Ke, and Plus came with the old fashioned keyboard that had a backspace key.
The problem arose with the ADB keyboards. Apple II computers used keys that read "delete", as did the new ADB keyboard for the Apple IIGS in September 1986. When the Mac SE and II came along six months later, they had their own ADB keyboards but the key that had been "backspace" on the earlier Macs became "delete" to provide compatibility with both the Apple II series and the Mac, as well as for Apple II emulation purposes (Apple seemed to have envisioned expansion cards to do this though it would take three years for them to make one for the Mac LC).
This is also what brought the control key, escape key, and open-Apple symbol to the Mac. All have hung on (though with the extended keyboards the control and escape keys would have come anyway).
Apple seemed to be anticipating emulation of the Apple II and MS-DOS on the new Macs (SE and II as well as their successors) with these keyboards (especially the extended) and also seemed to be toying with the idea of keeping the Apple II line going. Books such as AppleDesign seem to support this idea, and if the line had been going they undoubtedly would have used ADB. This theory has one glitch, however. The Apple IIGS already had its own ADB keyboard, a separate entry from the Mac's two options. If they really wanted the Mac to remain consistent, they should have kept the "backspace" designation and if they really wanted to use the "delete" name, should have made it a smaller print on the key, similar to how "alt" is printed on the option key.
Long after the Apple IIGS was discontinued, the open-Apple and "delete" designation remained on ADB keyboards.
When the USB keyboard came out with the first iMac in 1998, Apple should have changed the name of the key. (Keeping open-Apple was almost mandatory as many Mac users began to refer to the command key as such, especially if they had previously been Apple II users). What I believe prevented this was the fact that so much existing software referred to it as the "delete" key despite the fact that Apple was producing exclusively extended keyboards with forward delete keys by this point.
Virtual PC and other PC emulation programs should have provided a good enough reason to rename it. Today, Boot Camp makes it an even better idea, as well as the fact that "delete" is wrong on any other keyboard if placed there.
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Any comments on this?
I sent this e-mail to LEM, hoping it would be featured in the next mailbag or something:
---
The backspace key was never an issue on the original Macs. The 128K, 512K, 512Ke, and Plus came with the old fashioned keyboard that had a backspace key.
The problem arose with the ADB keyboards. Apple II computers used keys that read "delete", as did the new ADB keyboard for the Apple IIGS in September 1986. When the Mac SE and II came along six months later, they had their own ADB keyboards but the key that had been "backspace" on the earlier Macs became "delete" to provide compatibility with both the Apple II series and the Mac, as well as for Apple II emulation purposes (Apple seemed to have envisioned expansion cards to do this though it would take three years for them to make one for the Mac LC).
This is also what brought the control key, escape key, and open-Apple symbol to the Mac. All have hung on (though with the extended keyboards the control and escape keys would have come anyway).
Apple seemed to be anticipating emulation of the Apple II and MS-DOS on the new Macs (SE and II as well as their successors) with these keyboards (especially the extended) and also seemed to be toying with the idea of keeping the Apple II line going. Books such as AppleDesign seem to support this idea, and if the line had been going they undoubtedly would have used ADB. This theory has one glitch, however. The Apple IIGS already had its own ADB keyboard, a separate entry from the Mac's two options. If they really wanted the Mac to remain consistent, they should have kept the "backspace" designation and if they really wanted to use the "delete" name, should have made it a smaller print on the key, similar to how "alt" is printed on the option key.
Long after the Apple IIGS was discontinued, the open-Apple and "delete" designation remained on ADB keyboards.
When the USB keyboard came out with the first iMac in 1998, Apple should have changed the name of the key. (Keeping open-Apple was almost mandatory as many Mac users began to refer to the command key as such, especially if they had previously been Apple II users). What I believe prevented this was the fact that so much existing software referred to it as the "delete" key despite the fact that Apple was producing exclusively extended keyboards with forward delete keys by this point.
Virtual PC and other PC emulation programs should have provided a good enough reason to rename it. Today, Boot Camp makes it an even better idea, as well as the fact that "delete" is wrong on any other keyboard if placed there.
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Any comments on this?
