General Information

Serial #

5690

Part Number

4

Total Parts

12

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Predominantly synthetic keyboard with metal components and power connector.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

47.5 cm

Width

21.0 cm

Height

5.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Norpak

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Kanata

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1980'S

Canada

Part of Norpak Information Provider System (IPS)-2 designed, developed & built in Canada as part of the Telidon system. The Telidon program began on August 15, 1978 and ended on March 31, 1985. The Information Provider System 2 (IPS-2) systems were purchased by service providers, like Informart, and made available to professional artists use to create content for Telidon field trails. This example was used by the National Museum of Science and Technology.

Function

This Norpak KB5.3 keyboard was sed to input data into PDP 11/03 computer to create Telidon graphic images as part of an Information Provider System 2 (IPS-2) system.

Technical

The images created for the Telidon System needed to be transmitted via a 1200 baud modem over narrow bandwidth telephone line. Accordingly, it was important for designers to make sure the system used a very small amount of data. The was especially the case as research conducted by Communications Research Center psychologists had determined that the system needed to be able to load images in about under 20 seconds as, otherwise, users would lose patience. Designers therefore worked to create a fairly efficient encoding and to get the number of bytes per page down, their target being the 1 to 2 kilobyte range. The system used a PDP 11 computer, a decoder and a floppy disk drive. The PDP 11 computer was an early version of the smallest of the mini computers, and contributed to the IPS-2 high cost. A professional artist would use the station, including this keyboard, to create a graphical image, which software then converted into picture description instructions that could be uploaded to a central database, transmitted via a network, received and converted into something displayable on a home television screen by a decoder. While the IPS-2 system was very expensive, according to Douglas O'Brien, it did a great job at creating images for the Telidon system. In 1983, the North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS) graphics language develop from the Canadian Telidon system was formalized, ratified and adopted as a world standard for graphics transmission by computer.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

.4 STICKER ON BOTTOM READS: ‘norpak Canada/ Model KB5.3/ Serial 5690'/ STANDARD KEYBOARD, WITH TOP ROW READING: ‘CL DEL/ T2/ T1/ T4 T3/ TD TS/ BK WH/ G1 BL/ G2 RD/ G3 GR/ G4 PR/ G5 YE/ COP MOV/ MOD ERA/ EO EE/ D1 DONE'/ SIDE KEYBOARD READS: ‘ENTER/ FAST/ UP MENU/ DOWN NAMES/ ACCEPT HELP/ [SERIES OF KEYS WITH VARIOUS ARROWS]'.

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

VARIOUS SHADES OF GREY PLUS BLACK WITH BLACK & WHITE PRINTING & TRIM.

Decoration

N/A