XPost: comp.os.linux.advocacy   
   From: recscuba_google@huntzinger.com   
      
   On 12/16/25 21:27, rbowman wrote:   
   > On Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:09:09 -0500, -hh wrote:   
   >   
   >> Clearly, you never had to use a Timex-Sinclair keyboard! ;-)  Apple has   
   >> been more solidly built, and they also have a better dealership network   
   >> for providing customer support (which isn't free), long before they   
   >> started their own retail stores.   
   >   
   > I bought the kit form of the ZX-80 to see what you got for $100. That   
   > keyboard is something I'd rather commit to the memory hole.   
      
   Sorry about that!  I recall a friend buying one which got shown around   
   and I found it to be designed for hunt-n-peck, not touch-typing.  The   
   next batch of cheap PCs we saw were a VIC20 & C64, both of which had   
   more civilized keyboards; comparable to the Apple ][ systems of the era.   
      
   > Between that   
   > and the TV video adapter it was a good example of you get what you pay   
   > for,   
      
   Yup, its selling point was that it was profoundly cheap.  I suspect that   
   they didn't get used for more than a few hours before being set aside.   
      
   A few years later I learned that a couple of coworkers went in on   
   another relic of the past, the Ti/99.  At least one of them bought like   
   3 or 4 of them when they were on fire sale clearance.  I still have no   
   idea why...same guy also had like four old Corvettes, none of which were   
   in good enough condition for them to be able to drive it to work.  They   
   were just collecting dust in rented garages ($$), as they weren't even   
   making any effort to get them back into running condition.   
      
   -hh   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)