Left vs. right side arithmetic keys

[Steve Simpkin]

I recently ran across a blog post by Steve Leibson which has the following quote from Tom Osborne regarding the arithmetic key placement choices on the early HP hand held models.

"One last thing. We placed the four basic arithmetic functions on the left side of the keyboard so that right-handed people would not cover up the keys with their hand. Also, the + key is in line with the center row of numeric keys because it is the most frequently used arithmetic key and that placement is the easiest to access by someone who enters data by touch, i.e. not hunt-and-peck.

I think HP went awry when they moved the keys to the other side. Convention is safe, but often wrong. Convention is often the process of propagating a bad idea."

More from Tom Osborne on the Design of the HP65