The History of Cursor Keys 

I feel like David can talk for 30 minutes about why all toothbrushes aren’t blue and I’d still watch the whole thing

You missed the ADM-3A, which is the reason why vi(m) uses hjkl as cursor keys. That was so influential that many modern software still supports those (from memory: Gmail is a good example, where you can use j/k to go up and down your emails)

There's a fantastic book called "Shift Happens" that I highly recommend that goes into the history of the earliest typewriters to modern keyboards, it's fascinating even for people that don't care about keyboards.

What I love about the straight 4 bit is, there’s only twelve possible arrangements of those keys, and they managed to use *seven.* (There’s actually 24 but half of them have left and right the wrong way around.) The only ones missing are the interleaved ones (LURD, LDRU, ULRD and DLRU) and LUDR.

These types of niche topics are my absolute favourite bits of history, and I think that's part of what draws me to classic computers and computer history. Just so much of so many companies throwing whatever they could think of at the wall to see what stuck. It's so cool to dig into the hows and whys of little things we just accept as commonplace nowadays

Fun fact: there are 24 ways to arrange four keys on a single row. 12, if you are going to keep left on the left and right on the right. Finding examples of 7 out of the 12 possible ways is impressive.

12:13 Many traditional dungeon-crawler roguelikes also let you use eight-way keys to move around. Since these games are turn-based, moving diagonally is very important, and you'll do it all the time. It's cool to see that a lot of other classic games used that configuration as well!

I grew up using a C64 for years! I have to admit that I didn't have any problems with their weird cursor-key system at all. And even when I come across an 8-bit Commodore today, I still am able to navigate using the cursor keys like if I was using a Commodore yesterday. I guess muscle-memory goes a long way if you have been using weird systems for long enough.

IBM also made a ridiculously large 122 key layout with the Home key in the middle of the arrow keys, and *twenty four* function keys at the top of the keyboard instead of the usual 12. My local library had this layout on their public catalogue terminals and it was awesome! With all those keys it felt like being in control of something really important.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the HJKL (left, down, up, right) configuration that VIM uses since it was a popular cursor configuration for remote terminals (that didn't have arrow keys). they actually gets a lot of use outside of VIM today as hotkeys for next/previous in a lot of web apps (gmail if you enable shortcuts, Trello, etc.) since the arrow keys are already being used for browser scrolling.

3:01 that’s not a horrible arrangement! All 4 keys in a row means you can plant your hand on them with a dedicated finger for each, and fly through any task that requires lots of cursoring! I still have the muscle memory for that and miss it, though I haven’t had a usable keyboard with that arrangement for at least 15 years. (I still have an ADB keyboard that I love in the closet, but haven’t had an ADB computer for a long time, and don’t care badly enough to rig up a connector.)

Another interesting "arrow keys" tid-bit: With DOOM, you use the arrow keys for movement and the mouse for turning and shooting. But most modern games opt for the "WASD" arrangement instead. This actually relates to John Romero - he's left handed. He's a South paw. So, for him, it's actually intuitive to have your right hand on the arrow keys and then the mouse to the left of the keyboard. Being a leftie, that's perfectly natural to him, so he used the arrow keys. But most people are right-handed. And if you're right-handed, this means that your left hand is crossing over the keyboard to reach the arrow keys, while your right-hand uses the mouse to the right of the keyboard. This can actually be a little cramped. So other developers moved to "WASD" as it's more natural - for right-handers, which is the majority - to have their left-hand on WASD - on the left of the keyboard - and the right-hand on the mouse. Your arms are not crossing over in an unnatural position, so it feels nicer. Although, the best games are clever and support "WASD" or arrow keys, to let the player choose, based on their left- or right-handedness. Or, you know, just always include a "configure keys" option in the menu, and let the user sort it out for themselves. p.s. comment edited: It was John Romero, not John Carmack. I recalled incorrectly, but it's changed to be "the right John" now.

Being born after the IBM model M keyboard meant that I only knew the Inverted T cursor keys. It wasn't until I discovered this channel and classic computers, did I finally see keys that aren't the standard arraingment. Hearing about where they became the norm, and where PC cursor keys were like prior to to keyboards like DEC's LK201 personally is a very fascinating video in my opinion. Thanks for the history lesson!

I find the C64 layout to be actually surprisingly decent, possibly the best you can do with only two keys. As a kid, I couldn't get used to them until I figured out the thought behind the arrangement: By default, you progress along the screen, with the key off to the side moving the cursor sideways and the other vertically; hold shift for reverse. That's how I explained it to myself at least, and once that clicked, I could comfortably use the cursor keys without thinking, it felt completely intuitive and natural.

As a keyb lover and mech keybs collector and maker, I am delighted with this episode. Thanks a lot, 8 bit Guy!!

After decades of playing DDR, the LDUR arrangement is cemented as my 4-in-line default

I spent a lot of years with the IBM numlock style cursor keys, and I always used my thumb for down instead of my middle finger which would stay on the up key. Even now, I still find myself continuing this habit on the inverted T keys, and even when playing games with WASD if I'm in an area where I don't need to jump I'll find my left thumb moving from the spacebar to the S key for down.

The apple key layout at 10:30 is still used today on medical equipment; GE ultrasound machines being the ones I'm personally most familiar with.

Also, on the Amstrad (Shneider) CPC 6128 (1985), the cursors keys were of the inverted T type. The previous CPC models had a cross type arrangement with the copy key in the middle.

Once again I am in awe and admiration for your extreme nerdery. Keep it coming man.

An innovation of the Amiga keyboard is that the cursor keys would also function as mouse movement keys. It was a two-hand operation, though, requiring that the Amiga key be held down while you used the cursor keys for mouse motion. It wasn't ever a major feature, but if your mouse died, you would not be dead in the water.

Various MSX machines had some funky cursor keys styles!

I really like the various MSX computers that used a modified Inverted "T" layout where the Left and Right Cursor keys were double size with the Up and Down Cursor keys sandwiched between them. Sony's HitBit F1XD in the MSX2 line is one that stands out to me in particular with this layout.

I still have a BBC Microsystem tucked away somewhere and I was pleased to see this featured at 4:12. I remembered the cursor keys being in that arrangement, but also that its games often opted instead to use letter keys such as 'W', 'A', 'S' and 'D' making it easier - if left-handed - to control the on-screen action.

Whoa, very cool to the see Centurion on the list! It should be noted that the Centurion branded terminal is actually just an ADDS Regent 40, so even within ADDS own lineup, the cursor keys were all over the board.

The MSX computers had a crazy amount of cursor key styles too. And every one different from the other. My first computer was a Brazilian "Gradiente Expert MSX" and it's style was very good for gaming.

MSX was famous for their different cursor keys. I had a Gradiente MSSX 1.1, and the cursor keys were a rectangle, with diagonal lines dividing the 4 arrow keys.

Good stuff! I never even thought about cursor keys!! I also grew up with Commodore computers but never really gave the cursor arrangement much thought. Thanks for the video.

You managed to make discussing the layout of arrow keys fascinating, maybe because it's something that we take for granted these days.

In 1983 ATARI with the ill-fated 1200XL (in-market for 4 months) added 4 extra function keys F1-F4 which in normal mode were the same layout of the main keyboard (Up, Down, Left, Right), plus SHIFT and CTRL functions. Later in Fall '83 the cost reduced 800XL and 600XL were released for Xmas but dropped extra keys. However, functions were kept in the XL/XE OS. I found in an ATARI magazine of the time (Analog, Antic, or Compute!) an article how to add the function keys back by adding four buttons. I recently posted my 600XL internals pictures and how to wire the keyboard matrix to get them to work. I have a git-hub page under craigb-spinner that shows my 'Atari XL/XE function keys' article along with Arcade Spinner, Trackball, and Dual joystick boxes for the Retro game of MAME. I don't really remember using the cursor functions but using the special CTRL function to speed-up number calcs.

Good episode. This is the kind of stuff I enjoy seeing on this channel.

Hello, The 8-bit guy I have been watching your videos ever since "The I-Book Guy" on several old RU-vid accounts. Your content is like no other, in a good way! I could watch your videos on days on end! In fact, I have. I had no interest in computers, be it Commodore, Tandy, Apple, Texas Instruments, Sinclair and your other videos; speech synthesizers, 108 bizarre media types, the plug-and-play games, the I-phone 2G. I just want to thank you for all your years on RU-vid! Please don't stop making videos of any type. Thank you so much for your service, David! Edit: I forgot to mention the Commodore history series too!

Yay, "new 8-Bit Guy" video is always a neat surprise! Hope things are going well in the new studio, etc. :D

14:19, the 4 key has 'Beg' on it. I wondered if that was an arcane programming term (like the program is begging for input), but then realized it probably stands for 'Begin.' Very informative video!

Thank you so much David,finally someone has satiated my curiosity, for years and years I have asked why cursor keys are sorted like this and why not before

Wow, I didn't expect a video about the history of cursor keys to be so interesting and entertaining. Thank you!

It’s interesting watching this and seeing the whole journey to find the optimal layout of inverted T cursor keys, and nowadays we have laptop manufacturers and keyboard aesthetic enthusiasts going back to weird cursor key layouts or removing the cursor keys completely.

I’m a simple man. I see an 8-Bit Guy video, I click. wait a minute mice weren’t really a thing in the 8-bit era

I can’t believe I’m watching a video about cursor keys for 20 odd minutes, but I am and I love it 🤷🏼‍♂️

The History of Cursor Keys. The video we didn't know we wanted until now. Great video!

The early Ultima games on the Commodore 64 opted to use a diamond pattern, the @ for up, the / for down, : for left, and ; for right. See 8:20 for the key layout if interested. It was a little awkward, but less so then the requirement of using a shift modifier button. These four keys were then more commonly used for these types of games on the C64 going forward. But others, like The Bard's Tale, opted for an inverted T, using I, J, K, and L.

The Gateway Anykey keyboard (shipped with 1992-era PCs) had true diagonal arrow keys, which worked by quickly pressing Left/Right for a split second, then Up/Down. A space bar key was in the middle. They worked well with text editors, but not so well with Civilization (which only saw the first par of the keypress).

The story about DEC and the inverted-T layout on the LK201 keyboard which appeared in 1982 is interesting. I was an engineer at DEC from 1978 to 1992 and this my recollection of it. It wasn't the first time DEC used the layout (as far as I can tell that was on the VT71-T typesetting terminal that dates from 1976) but it had used several different layouts for cursor keys on its video terminals. The first was the VT05 (1971) which has 4 keys in a 2x2 square layout with up and down on the top row and left and right on the bottom row (IBM used the same layout on its 3270 series terminals). The later VT5x series (1975) had a vertical row of 4 keys which top to bottom were up, down left and right. Following on from that the VT100 series (1978) had a horizontal row of 4 keys which left to right were up, down, left and right. Although an internal standard for terminal keyboards had been produced in January 1980 it didn't standardise the cursor keys. In late 1980 development work was starting on several personal computers and a decision was made to have a common keyboard for all of them. It was seen that text editing tasks from word processing equipment would see the heaviest use of the cursor keys and much research and testing was carried out (I think it was done in the word processing group) on cursor key layouts. Many of the tests involved having people perform various timed text editing tasks with different cursor key layouts. Those tests showed that down and right was the most frequently used sequence and that the inverted-T layout was the most efficient and that is why it was adopted for the keyboard.

Love this breakdown! Would have loved to see you include the MSX and NEC computer keyboard layouts. The PC98 is probably among the few alternatives that at least is useable, due to the size of the keys

Its crazy how arrows were the traditional movement on keyboard and then WASD became more popular

Fascinating how you collected all of these different types of keyboards layouts and even get them ready to run to demonstrate the variety of the keys and the user’s comfortability of use. Thank you 😊

Seriously a great topic! I feel the same about the "c64"- and "inverted T"-layout. Thanks for the video

I've seen, back in the day, people play using the IBM configuration with their thumb on the 2/down key. I also missed the MSX cursor keys, which had an arrangement like the IBM, but in a square fashion (and were also often played by using the thumb on the down key).

A bit surprising you didn't mention the MSX computers, as their keyboards had a big emphasis on including the kursor keys in a diamond arrangement - and the SVI 318 (almost MSX) even had a joystick-cursor key hybrid.

It's always good to look back and remember how much time & effort it can take to make things more intuitive and convenient.

Thanks for the video, this is my favorite content you make.

Truly fascinating piece of computer history. Thanks for the video!

After watching I just think it's fascinating how many of these computers I got to play with growing up. My Dad loved computers and programming, he loves math. He would often buy computers used from friends whom upgraded. We had a ton of different computers at home to play with. Litterally stacks of them. I played with most models mentioned at one point or another. I think his passion for technology rubber off because computers is how I make money now. Programming is a passion that is just fascinating to me and has launched me into the field and payed well at the same time. This was a trip through my teenage years. From Texis interment through apple, and IBM with everything in between like commodore, Sinclair, Atari etc. Thanks for the memories.

The Amstrads also had decent inverted T cursor keys. They never get a mention, but also are really fascinating home computers of the era.

The MSX seems to be missing. Although the MSX was not a single computer, but rather a standard shared over multiple manufacturers. My school back in the eighties had a Philips MSX1 VG-8020, with very characteristic cursor keys arranged in a large square.

I love these videos, I always learn some things I would never have thought of!

Very nice to see a so interesting video about a so trivial thing such as cursor keys in a keyboard. 8 Bit Guy is really the guy!

How about the “WordStar Diamond”? Trivia: Since the Franklin 1200 (the Apple II plus clone) was basically purpose-built to run WordStar on it’s included CPM card, the numbers pad could be switched to cursor control and when in this mode, pressing the arrow keys on it actually sent the Control-E, Control-S, Control-D, and Control-Z key codes to move the cursor around in WordStar.

An enjoyable wander through life. I remember my father taking me to see a man at his works whose main job was designing keyboards. Not for computers, they were still on paper tape input and output, but for typesetting machines. An amazing and enthralling visit.

All MSX computers (1983) had dedicated cursor keys that were very useful for text editing and even for gaming ! I had a Sony HB-501 and I wouldn't have figure, as a young teenager, that not all computers had such an equipment.

I remember in the 90s the standard for gaming was to NumLock off the numpad, and use the numlock cursor keys for games. And in the 2000s, it was to use the cursor keys for games, with the keys in the 6-key block above it, along with shift, right ctrl, return and backspace for other game functionalities. I didn't use WASD until the 2010s.

Very interesting overview - I like the remarks on how the C128 layout is not that different from the inverted-t! The Amstrad home computers went through a keyboard evolution that ended in the inverted-t, too, with the CPC 6128. Before that, the 464 and 664 models used a cross (with a special key in the middle) that was in a bad location (above the numpad). I had (and still have) a 6128 back in the day, and I liked the keyboard layout a lot. Switching to a PC felt natural, too.

I don't know what I was expecting when I started to watch this episode, but I'm sure glad I did anyway. Very informative and entertaining!

The DEC VT100 terminal was introduced in 1978. Four cursor keys in a straight configuration, like the VT105 you showed. It was heavily used in cross-development and I was still working with them in the 90s! They were the typical choice for connecting to the serial port of a target computer in a VME rack, for instance.

I started on an XT clone that was a joint venture between Toshiba, Xerox, and Microsoft using an 88-key Xerox keyboard (and a made in Japan MS RJ-11 mouse that connected to the keyboard). I always have my thumb on the down arrow, plus I can always reach home, pgup, etc. fast. Being trained to edit text and draw PrtintMaster graphics at such a young age was always a benefit to me to the point where I can still easily outpace my long time vi expert coworkers. The inverted T was always just a total waste of space to me.

The coolest cursor keys are the ones in the hitbit mezzo MSX and other similar machines, the mezzo not only has a + shaped cursor key configuration but there's even a little "joystick" that attaches in the middle

Great comparison you did among different keyboards! 💯🌟👍

Good episode ! And the music rocks !

missing mentions: - the already quoted in the comments about the MSX constellation and its 1000's combinations of cursor keys (msx is rare in US and 8bg tends to "forget" non-US systems frequently) - the original amstrad CPC is another example of "crossed" cursor keys, with the "copy" key in the center of the 4 CK's and an odd placement in top of the numpad. PCW also uses a similar arrangement, crammed into the numpad. changed later in the 6128 in favor of inverted T arrangement (crammed with the "function" keys in a numpad layout) - the modern tendency to use WASD for "cursor" keys, to use with the left hand for movement, and combine with mouse with the right hand for view and rotation, most predominantly in games.... and its ultimate tradeoff of, decades later, start selling again PC keyboards that are not "extended" ones, but cruched ones, which some of them not only does not have "numpads", even some of them dont have inverted T cursor keys! - in many games in 8bit systems (essentially in the zx spectrum, but also in others) using OPQA, or some other combination like AZNM, for ortogonal movement. nice recap video. :)

It's a shame you didn't discuss modern laptops. I think there's an annoying trend there recently where manufacturers are designing keys to be visually pleasing rather than tactile. A lot more use full size left and right cursor keys, but half size up and down. As a developer it drives me crazy as I use the cursor keys a lot, and my fingers struggle to find where they are without having to look if I can't differentiate between them because they're all the same shape rather than the traditional inverted T. I wish more people would mention the keyboard layout when reviewing laptops. It's the single most annoying issue that can make an otherwise great laptop almost useless to me 😢

I grew up playing games on both an Apple Extended Keyboard and a PowerBook with the sideways arrow keys, and from an early age I understood that the inverted-T keyboard configuration made more sense. Great video!

LHX Attack chopper.... a memorable childhood memory has been unlocked. thanks for that.... also, amazing review, loved it!

Fascinating to see the history and comparison of cursor keys on the 8-bit systems of the era. Can't overstate how key they've been to gaming (no pun intended)!

I'm surprised you didn't mention WASD once in this video. Those are the intuitive letters to choose for a D-pad, and for some odd reason many keyboards would not allow you to input two cursors at once and another key, such as up, right, and zero on the number pad to jump and run or shoot. However, the software would allow W, D, and the zero to be pressed together.

Interesting history of the direction keys on the keyboard, thank you for sharing

I don't know what it is about your videos--sir--but they soothe me. They calm my inner AD, I guess.

Its interesting to see the older layouts of the cursor keys. I always wondered why vim used the layout it does, but this video makes it pretty clear it's a historical relic (which would have been my guess, but it's neat to know.)

Now this makes me wonder how long-time PET/VIC-20/C64 users reacted to their first PC(-compatible) having inverted-T cursor keys; I'm only 2 minutes into the video but it looks promising so far. By the way, did you find another way to let people add non-English subtitles on your videos? As YT pretty much killed off the feature... Greetings from Belgium ☕

Once in a while you can remember things from the dark recesses of one's mind. About 20 years ago I was playing with on online Commodore 64 emulator after not touching a C64 in over ten years, where I typed up a one line PRINT statement… and my fingers automatically went to SHIFT-2 to type the double quotations marks. I was dumbstruck at how I got back into the zone like that. I'm surprised you didn't mention the mini-inverted-T arrow key layouts that have been on Apple's laptops for a while now. Simply brilliant.

my dad had two Minolta PCW1's for his office, they came with an interesting keyboard the arrow keys were very close to the inverted T, had a nice extra bit of raised plastic between the arrow keys so it was easier to feel which button you were pressing from the ridge, he really did like those as he could type directly to the attached printer if he wanted to, made cheque creation a lot easier, kept one around in his office until the early 2000's as nothing beat it for cheque templates

It's amazing how that muscle memory laid down in younger years sticks around deep inside the brain; I'd spent hours coding on the Atari 800XL back then and so when I picked up the retro bug all these years later, it was effortless and I hadn't given it a thought, not till this video!

Nice video again! I really missed the MSX computers though! I feel they don't get enough love 😢

this was insanely interesting man, i never thought there was so much history behind the arrow keys of a computer.

This is very 8-bit guy thing to make a video about. I love it.

videos like this are so great cuz we don't know we wanted to know until the info is presented. I find it surprisingly intriguing. most of us have weird random questions that keep us up at night and we're not sure where to look to get all the info we could want in an entertaining way. that's where david comes in :)

you missed the Amstrad CPC... it has its own area for cursors in a + arrangement ..with a copy key in the middle...it also has split cursors something you dont see on many computers

Watched this whole video and then looked down at my number pad and I was blown away: I never noticed the directional arrows on the 2, 4, 6 & 8 before! They're still there! That's delightful.

man I love this channel so much, I love old computers and most people on my 3rd world country didn't have one before late 90s so I don't have anyone to talk about them with

Seeing the Centurion in an 8-Bit Guy video is for me the most amazing crossover I've seen in years! And even more so now, when I am coming here right after the new Usagi Electric video :)

Great topic and glad y'all went with the inverted-T for the X16. I'm slightly annoyed with most laptops keyboard's design choices around cursor keys, including Apples. Most are shrinking them to get them to fit or leaving the left and right full height while smashing the up and down keys together. Also, I'm unsure if someone else already commented, but VIM and other applications use hjkl for cursor movements because of the ADM-3A layout.

I'm glad you shared some pointers on this subject.

Our 1992 Gateway 2000 PC had a nice IBM clone keyboard that had a full set of 8 direction keys (with diagonals like a numpad) next to the numpad and the center was a duplicate space key. This was really convenient for gaming as the spacebar was generally the fire key so you could play a lot of games with just one hand freeing up the other one for the mouse for games that supported that. It also had a second set of F keys on the left side of the keyboard and onboard programmable macros. This was awesome for games as I could have a quick 24 hotkeys.

The inverted T setup and the IBM numpad setup was always my favourite. In fact, the numpad setup was even a bit more preferred in my case since it offered up more keys. And many times I remapped keys to fit that layout. Now I run generally the WASD layout like most. Though, ESDF is generally superior since it offers more keys that are easy to access. I am just too lazy to remap these days.

I can't believe there no examples in this era of a "wide cross" layout with the up and down stacked vertically close together and the left/right separated on either side... this seems to be common on "compact" laptop keyboards today (Microsoft Surface) with the up/down together the height of a single row -- though I hate it with a passion ;) Thanks for the history lesson!

There's basically two things I think you forgot to mention about the inverted T. Firstly the most important one is that it wasn't really popularized by the IBM Model M on any sort of PC, but rather it's use on the IBM RT PC. IBM had previously experimented with different variations of the Model F they finally got the IBM 4704 F77 which turned out to be the basis for the Model M on the RT PC which was later lent to the IBM PC AT and later on to the PS/2. Secondly, even though the RT wasn't that successful, it forced SUN to move from it's Type 4 keyboard which was PC-esque, to the Type 5 which is the biggest keyboards I've ever used. Silicon Graphics stuck with a Model M type, which was the reason Apple went forward with that same design for it's extended Keyboard ADB keyboard. Even NeXT on 1989 offered a similar keyboard, albeit without all the function keys which looks remarkable similar to the Mode M. So why did the Model M modeled the UNIX world? Well you said it yourself. Most workstations were trying to extend the VT220 which had the 8 region design (9 if you consider the lonely Esc key on the left side). The PS/2 was really a confirmation that the RT was right and everyone needed 12 function keys and a separate block for the inverted T and the cursor control (Begin End, Pg Up Pg Down) thing. For me the 101 keyboard has always been the RT keyboard and it was on the RS/6000 that I got to use it extensively. Ironically, the big RS/6000 were accessed using a terminal and the one of choice was the elegant ASCII Display Station IBM 3151 which had a Model M. www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/4805/IBM-RS-6000-Model-550L/

Some old DOS driving games used the greater than and less than keys < > for left and right steering. I still play Geoff Crammond's F1 Grand Prix from 1991 (via DOSBOX) which uses < > for left and right and the A key for accelerate and Z for brake :)

Oh man, this settled something that comes back again and again to me. I played Formula One GP from MicroProse for DOS when I was a kid. The standard key layout was: A forward, Z backward, < left and > right, instead of the regular cursor keys. Looking at some early keyboard layouts this makes sense because these keys are close to where they were in opposing side layouts.

Yay, The CoCo 1,2,and 3 get a mention! That was my computer, both the CoCo1 and CoCo3. I never did get much practice on the Commodore. Thanks!

You forgot the modern mobile keyboards. The Up key moved down. Up/down have half hight, so all cursof keys are in one row and hard to hit. Wasn't there an MSX computer with a small joystick instead of cursor keys? The history of Esc and ctrl may be interesting, too :)

Fun fact, I still use original IBM-PC layout for cursor keys even today, since my first home computer I started with was IBM PC-XT with same layout. And all modern PCs still support it as long as I turn off NumLock key. As extra bonus Pg Up/Down and Home/End are all on convenient places, and as long as I pick up any keyboard or laptop with numpad I can use the same layout I learned over 35 years ago, as a kid.