Can anyone identify the keyboards in this 1982 Bell Labs video?

pixelatedvolume

16 Oct 2018, 01:56

Hello friends, first post here.

Today I watched this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvDZLjaCJuw and I was struck by the keyboards -- they look awesome and super sturdy (as most terminal keyboards do), plus there's some typing in the video and it sounds SO GOOD.

Anyway I was just wondering if anyone knew for sure what keyboards are being used in the video, especially at 6:20. I'm guessing by the sound of some of them there are some beam springs in the video, but the keyboard at 6:20 sounds deeper and thockier than the beam springs.

There's also something that sounds excellent at 14:17 if anyone has guesses about that one.

Thanks in advance.

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vometia
irritant

16 Oct 2018, 04:19

First one (that you don't hear) is the ubiquitous DEC VT100 (or similar). Most of the others seem to be HP terminals of some description and probably the odd Tektronix, though it would be nice if someone could identify them a little more positively than I can!

Edit: I would also hazard a guess that a lot of the sounds you're hearing are courtesy of Hi-Teks based on what the handy wiki suggests might be the case, though I suspect a lot of classic terminals aren't too well documented. They sound like they could be, as much as it's possible to tell.

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vometia
irritant

16 Oct 2018, 05:24

Oh, yeah, and to answer your specific question (sorry, half awake as it's the middle of the night and I can't sleep) I suspect Mr Kernighan is using an HP 262x of some sort. See also the Deskthority Wiki.

I assume that Melinda is using a Tektronix 4014 or similar, no idea what type of keys it has though.

pixelatedvolume

19 Oct 2018, 05:02

Thanks for your help :)

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