Museum

Computers: "Apple II Plus, close-up"

Close-up of the Apple II Plus keyboard (the same as used on the original Apple II). Notice the word "BELL" on the "G" key; this was consistent with the teletype keyboards that were in common use at the time the Apple II first was produced. The concept of "word-processing" had not yet appeared, and with printers expensive and available only on a limited basis, it was not likely that the Apple II would be used as a substitute for the much-less-expensive typewriter. Thus, the keyboard and built-in display was designed for upper-case characters only, and the shift key simply shifted the keys that actually had two characters printed on them.

Notice the "RESET" key in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard. This was a major source of frustration when typing in programs. It was quite easy to accidently hit RESET when going for the RETURN key or the dash/equals sign. Also notice the "REPT" key; this was to be held down if you wanted to have a series of the same key to be entered. Auto-repeating keyboards were not in common use for several years, and it was not until the Apple IIe and IIc came out that any Apple II had this feature available.