> The Unix-Haters Handbook has the following theory:
>
> ,----
> | Those of us who used early 70s I/O devices suspect the degeneracy stems
> | from the speed, reliability, and, most importantly, the keyboard of the
> | ASR-33 Teletype, the common input/output device in those days. Unlike
> | today’s keyboards, where the distance keys travel is based on feedback
> | principles, and the only force necessary is that needed to close a
> | microswitch, keys on the Teletype (at least in memory) needed to travel
> | over half an inch, and take the force necessary to run a small electric gener-
> | ator such as those found on bicycles. You could break your knuckles touch
> | typing on those beasts.
> |
> | If Dennis and Ken had a Selectric instead of a Teletype, we’d probably be
> | typing “copy” and “remove” instead of “cp” and “rm.” Proof again that
> | technology limits our choices as often as it expands them.
Who knows what really caused that "inconvenience",
but I think it is not there anymore to stop us bring a solution.