Any keyboard you like

For a programmer, the most important aspect of a computer may be the keyboard. It is through the keyboard that we write code, that we control the text editor (or IDE), and issue most commands.

Being of a certain age, my first experience with keyboards was not with a computer but with a typewriter. It was my parents' portable, manual typewriter; I have forgotten the brand. It was hard to use and it smelled of ink and machine oil. Yet it was a fun introduction to the keyboard.

Typewriters were fun, and computers were more fun. The keyboards were more modern, and had more keys (some of which made little sense to me).

I have used several keyboards, and the most enjoyable were the DEC keyboards. DEC keyboards were sleek and sophisticated compared to the other keyboards (Teletype ASR-33, Lear-Siegler ADM-3A, and IBM 3270). I also enjoyed the Zenith Z-100 keyboard (sculpted like an IBM Selectric typewriter) and the IBM Type M keyboard.

Typing on a good keyboard is a joy. Typing on a mediocre keyboard is not.

Sadly, today's PCs cannot use these venerable keyboards. Desktop PCs want to talk to a keyboard through USB, and tablets want bluetooth.

Yet all is not lost. Virtual keyboards may help.

Not the on-screen virtual keyboards of smart phones and tablets, but a different form of virtual keyboard. A keyboard that is drawn (usually with lasers) on a surface, with an accompanying scanner to detect "keypresses".

It strikes me that these keyboards can be used on a variety of surfaces. I'm hoping that some will be programmable (or at least configurable) so that I can create my own layout. (For example, I want the "Control" key on the ASDF home row.) I also have preferences for the arrow, HOME, and END keys. A virtual keyboard should allow for re-positioning of the keys.

Re-positioning the keys is nice, but it doesn't let me use the old keyboard. The surface is still a flat, unyielding surface with no feedback.

But do scanners really care about a flat surface? Can they be used on a lumpy surface? (I'm sure that some are quite fussy, and require a flat surface. But perhaps some are less fussy.)

If a virtual keyboard can be used on a flat surface, and I can re-program the key layouts... then perhaps I can configure the virtual keyboard to emulate an old-style keyboard (say, the DEC VT-52). And perhaps I can use the virtual keyboard on a lumpy surface... say, a DEC VT-52 keyboard.

Such an arrangement would let me use any keyboard I wanted with my computer. The virtual keyboard would do the work, and wouldn't care that I happened to rest my fingers on an old, outdated keyboard.

I would like that arrangement. It would give me the layout and feel of the keyboard of my choice. I wouldn't have to compromise with the current set of keyboards. All I need is a programmable virtual keyboard and a real keyboard that I enjoy.

Now, where is that old Zenith Z-100?