Re: Inside the World's Greatest Keyboard

[Nathan Sivin nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

I am with Karl Eveli in using the Avant Stellar keyboard, which is a
reincarnation of the Northgate keyboard, the successor to the IBM model
M. They are now $225, but well worth it for any professional writer.
Anyone who touch types knows how much easier life is with F-keys on the
left, which makes it practical to touch type with *them.* It has an
extra row of F-keys along the top. All the F-keys in both sets can be
programmed to do anything you want. You can also reassign the ctrl,
shift, and alt keys to return to the original IBM configuration, also
easier for touch typists.

The Avant Stellar I have now has been in steady, hard use for probably
15 years. They are now for sale in IBM beige *or* black. That and a
pivotable display for writing in portrait mode makes the ideal setup (a
mere 15" display shows a full sheet of paper in original size).


Cheers,

Nathan
--
Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
(215) 242-1596
nsivin@xxxxxxxx
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/