Why were old keyboards white/gray?

[Frindis]

Inspired by https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/gaming-keyboards.142645/page-2

Edit: Don't go for the white version though, dirt shows realy clearly so you have to like clean it with a toothbrush every day

It made me think about why old keyboards most of the time had white or dark grey/grey colors. I guess it made sense since the rest of the components were in the same color scheme, but other than that, would it be that much cheaper to make? Maybe people back then didn't know the colors of the rainbow. I dunno.. I do remember that iMac came with a whole lot of different colors, so it's not like it was totally frowned upon either.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Everything was beige in the 80s and nineties. My first 3 PC's were fully beige including peripherals. I think it was just what people expected then.

 

[JarlBSoD]

Inspired by https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/gaming-keyboards.142645/page-2

It made me think about why old keyboards most of the time had white or dark grey/grey colors. I guess it made sense since the rest of the components were in the same color scheme, but other than that, would it be that much cheaper to make? Maybe people back then didn't know the colors of the rainbow. I dunno.. I do remember that Mac came with a whole lot of different colors, so it's not like it was totally frowned upon either.

Problem on this one is the brushed bright aluminium.
And they made old stuff Beige because... offices need Beige and everything data has to be Beige

 

[ZedClampet]

Inspired by https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/gaming-keyboards.142645/page-2

It made me think about why old keyboards most of the time had white or dark grey/grey colors. I guess it made sense since the rest of the components were in the same color scheme, but other than that, would it be that much cheaper to make? Maybe people back then didn't know the colors of the rainbow. I dunno.. I do remember that Mac came with a whole lot of different colors, so it's not like it was totally frowned upon either.

It's just a neutral color. People don't care about that anymore, at least not for PCs. But if you are selling your house, everything is supposed to be either white or beige.

 

[Colif]

I saw one reason not mentioned
it hid nicotine stains

This is it. Most people now don't realize that so much **** in the 80s and 90s was beige and tan, or shades of yellow, specifically because it was going to turn that color anyway since most buildings were tobacco hotboxes.

link
still makes me wonder why no black though I am sure there were some... my keyboard search history somewhat broken from last week.

 

[Brian Boru]

PCs weren't a living room thing back then, so function triumphed over form—as in, form just didn't come into the equation at all.

would it be that much cheaper to make?

Probably. One place I worked made plastic parts and housings for goods, and there were significant price differences between the various raw plastic colors. PCs were so expensive in 80s-90s that I assume any saving was jumped on.

 

[JarlBSoD]

I saw one reason not mentioned
it hid nicotine stains

link
still makes me wonder why no black though I am sure there were some... my keyboard search history somewhat broken from last week.

There were black PCs, we had Spectrum ZX for example, though not an IBM pc was pc as in personal computor. Many laptops in the 80s for example allso black, the question is why though, i have no idea

 

[Colif]

my keyboard has black and white keycaps, and has a pre yellowed space bar... maybe I should take up smoking.

 

[JarlBSoD]

my keyboard has black and white keycaps, and has a pre yellowed space bar... maybe I should take up smoking.

Well if you want to spare your loungs you can allways leave it outside in the sun for a coupple of weeks