Older keyboards have Control key right besides the A, then Microsoft fscked it up.
This is false. In fact, the first IBM PC's had the Ctrl key to the left of the A. Later on, IBM released the IBM PC/AT with a Caps Lock favored keyboard. Other people blame Microsoft because they pushed all those other useless keys on the world.
There is also a bit of a myth that the old mainframe keyboards were consistent in putting the Ctrl key to the left of the A. Actually, the original PC keyboards were the anomaly. Prior to the PC most printing and display terminals had the Caps Lock in the position where it is today. This includes classics such as the DEC VT52 and VT100 terminals; IBM data display terminals such as the IBM2741 and IBM5253. Many of IBM's early small computers that predate the IBM PC had a mix of keyboard styles. Many non-PC personal computers of the time had the Caps Lock to the left of the A: TRS-80, BBC Micro, Osborne 1, Commodore Vic-20, and Commodore C=64. The Apple II series had the Ctrl key in the proper location to the left of the A key, but sadly, the original Macintosh did not — it was afflicted with the Caps Lock (and this was before the IBM PC/AT went to the Enhanced keyboard). The Atari computers had the proper Ctrl key, but their keyboards were horrible membrane things. The BeBox had Caps Lock; Next had Ctrl.
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by “noahspurrier”, , from a comment on The Idiocy of the Happy Hacking Keyboard.
IBM 2741 printing terminal, 1965.
The IBM 2741 was a printing computer terminal introduced in 1965. Compared to the teletypewriter machines that were commonly used as printing terminals at the time, the 2741 offered slightly higher speed, much higher quality printing, interchangeable type fonts, and both upper and lower case alphabets. It was used primarily with the IBM System/360 series of computers and was influential in the development and popularity of the APL programming language.
〔☛ How to Create a APL or Math Symbols Keyboard Layout〕
Digital Equipment DEC VT52 Terminal, 1975.
VT100, 1978, and variant VT102.
Here, we see that both Caps Lock and Ctrl are in the same row, with Caps Lock closer to A.
All Macintosh series (started in 1984) has Caps Lock besides A, possibly except the first 1 or 2 models.
For more, see: Space-cadet Keyboard and Lisp Machine Keyboards.
{IBM PC XT (1983), 83 keys} and {IBM PC AT (1987), 84 keys} both had Ctrl besides A. But after that, all has Caps Lock.
IBM Personal Computer ◇ PC keyboard
After IBM AT, vast majority of keyboards are PC compatible keyboard as we know today, and Caps Lock is where it is today. There are only a few exceptions: The Sun Microsystem Type 6 Keyboard and Happy Hacking Keyboard and many other Ergonomic Keyboards have their own arrangement (such as moving Ctrl to the thumb position.)
todo