>P.S.  I recall an old folklore tale, ever wondered if it was true: When 
>(IIRC) Alan's Alto keyboard was broken, it was sent off to repair for a 
>week, and he continued Smalltalking for the entire week by composing stuff 
>from existing bits.
>
>Can the old hats confirm/deny?

I can't confirm/deny that particular one.

However in the early days it often drew a gasp when we would pause half way through a Smalltalk demo -- having already explored and demonstrated numerous nitty-gritty programming facilities -- to point out that we were, for the first time, about to use the keyboard.

Another keyboard story (also true) that you might paricularly appreciate, relates a comment overheard from a corporate observer after one of these demos (remember this is the early 1970's):

	"I never thought a man could type that fast"

And people wonder why technology transfer is hard.

	- D