Apple Extended Keyboard Lives Again

An anonymous reader writes "For all of you that have wanted a firm keyboard (like in the old days with mechanical keyswitches) Matias has released the tactilepro keyboard. This keyboard uses the same mechanical keyswitches used in the Apple Extended Keyboard. Alps was going to scrap the keyswitches, so he had to commit to buy 1 million of them. Here's a great review by Adam Engst." It looks absolutely great, and it's only $100 (though apparently backordered until late April).

Comments

Looks just like the Apple Pro Keyboard

[amichalo]

From the photos, this looks just like an Apple Pro Keyboard without the Apple symbol on the COMMAND keys.

How am I supposed to make a buying decision?

If the difference is in the engineering, perhaps they need to show some examples of this premium key switch versus some others. I need a way of understanding what the heck is so great about this keyboard.

I would most easy part with my money if they produced a "dust free" keyboard. Don't look too closely!

Re:Looks just like the Apple Pro Keyboard

[phatmatt]

The problem is that the difference is all in the feel. The fact that they last so long doesn't really matter.

They assume that the people buying the keyboard had (or at least typed on) one of the old ADB keyboards and remember how much they liked them.

Re:Think: NORTHGATE!

[h3]

If you've got a KVM to switch between PC and Mac, now's the time to finally use a Mac keyboard instead of a PC one.

I have Linux, Windows, and Mac OSX on one (Mac-targetted) keyboard and I have to say it sucks because of the option/alt mapping. On my my Mac, I want the 3rd key from the bottom left to act as command (it does since it's a Mac keyboard), but under Linux/Windows I want it to map to Alt (which it doesn't; the 2nd key does).

On Linux, the interplay between X and my window manager makes for a mess of an xmodmap file that kinda works for some of the uses of alt. On Windows, I have no idea how to remap keys. I don't use it much so I deal with the awkwardness.

On a Mac, just get uControl and click a couple of buttons, and you can remap easily.

So, I would recommend a PC-oriented keyboard in a multi-OS setting. It's just easier to make a Mac deal with it than it is the other way around.

-h3

Awesome, indeed!

[Chief Typist]

I have one of these keyboards -- the feel is awesome and it lets me type VERY quickly with few errors. The only downside is the noise. I sometimes have to mute audio iChat while typing because the clackity-clack makes conversation impossible.

I had a problem with the keyboard about a month after the purchase -- it had a "5" and an "a" key that would sometimes double-up or not fire. Like Adam says in his review, this isn't uncommon at the beginning of the product's life. And the customer service at Matias didn't ask any questions and provided an RMA quickly.

In fact, using the Apple Pro keyboard while it's out for an exchange, is really hard now. It feels INCREDIBLY soft.

So, in spite of some problem keys, I highly recommend this product.

And to those cheap bastards who are saying: "$100 WTF?" -- ask yourself these questions: "How much time in a year do you spend at this keyboard? Is it worth a quarter a day to have a nice input device?" A comfy chair and keyboard are essential to my work environment.

-ch

Need Ergonomic Saratoga

[drok]

I am still a fan of the venerable Saratoga Apple keyboard.

Unfortunately a muscle condition requires that I use an ergonomic keyboard (or suffer in pain). I really wish this company, or Apple, would make a good, inexpensive ergonomic keyboard.

I *really* *really* wish they would use that extra room in the 17" powerbook to put in an ergonomic keyboard... (I'll live with just the slant, and do without the tilt...)

-Robert

Re:Need Ergonomic Saratoga

[eggboard]

What killed ergonomic keyboards? Lawyers, sort of. Our U.S. legal system makes the fact that you sell a product that is "safer" (for some people) a factor in litigation against the "dangerous" old keyboards. So my understanding is that many companies, even those successfully selling ergonomic keyboards, were convinced to stop to avoid huge trolling lawsuits from users of older or simultaneous non-ergonomic keyboards.

Re:Evolution of Apple's Three-Finger-Salute sequen

[cpt kangarooski]

Ah yes, the open- and closed-apple keys. Introduced on the Apple IIe

Ah! I'm shocked that people would forget that the apple keys were introduced on the Apple III. The IIe came later.

Morphed into Command and Option on the Apple IIgs

This is _sort_ of correct, but skims over some things.

The option key was introduced on the Apple Lisa (which had a closed apple key as well). The Macintosh then kept the option key, but since Steve was concerned that the apple symbol was seen too often (it was used in Lisa menus to denote shortcuts) the apple key became the command key, with its distinctive glyph (_and_ the apple glyph).

However, the Lisa and Macintosh keyboards both had closed apple symbols. It wasn't until the ADB keyboards came along that the apple changed to an open-apple. This was basically due the new industrial design that Apple adopted at the time, and which could be seen in the IIc, IIgs, Mac SE, and Mac II. So as you say, and IIRC, the IIgs was the first to have both an open apple and option key, but it was in no small part due to the fact that the open apple symbol looked better to Cupertino.

Of course, an annoying side effect was that the positions of the two apple keys on the IIgs were reversed. Since a lot of games expected them to be as they had been before (open closed, l to r) this was very annoying.