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Old-School Keyboard Makes Comeback of Sorts
CharlotteShma writes "Some old writer once said that in order to keep going, he needed to hear the scratch of the pen on the page. Some self-proclaimed keyboard aficionados would make the same argument for computer keyboards. Is it possible that the old 'clicky' keyboards are making a comeback? Now that we've replaced the old buckling springs with rubber domes, our keyboards are only getting quieter and quieter. According to the people at Unicomp Inc., all keyboards made since the early 1990s are, frankly, no good. They still use and produce vintage IBM Model M keyboards in their small factory in Lexington, Kentucky. The IBM Model M keyboards are ugly, built like tanks, and, most importantly, have a spring under each key which clicks when you press it." Not sure what's ugly about them — most other keyboards are ugly, when you shut your eyes.
Not sure what's ugly about them most other keyboards are ugly, when you shut your eyes.
WTF kind of sentence is that?
But I'm too used to using LCD miscellany on my logitech G15. If I can't see my ethernet traffic when I glance down I get rather confused. >_>
Ezekiel 23:20
Clearly IBM is in a conspiracy with the people attempting to sniff your keystrokes!!! http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/26/1947246
I have my Unicomp and I love it. There's nothing that gives you the same feedback in the fingertips as you type as a nice clicky board. My wife, on the other hand, hates it because - the bedroom is next to my office, and she can hear me at all hours of the night typing away. But... totally worth it.
As a bonus, I honestly feel that I get less cramping and fatigue when I'm typing happily on this rather than the crap you get most times today. Not sure if there's anything to back that up with, but I graduated from a Microsoft ergo keyboard to this and I'm far happier now.
I wish there was a choice that said "Factually Wrong -1" when I mod.
Is this company sponsoring slashdot?
Anyway.. there is definately something about feeling, but it's only really about what you are used to. I prefer a fujitsu 8725, a modern cheap-ass keyboard to more exensive ones, simply because I am used to it.
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Esobofh - Currently drinking fresh mango juice.
Man, I loved that keyboard. :-)
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
I'm unsure of what you're not sure of in most keyboard ugly.
[sic]
;)
Good to here. I was trained as a touch typist, and quiet keyboards have screwed with my accuracy. I know I had an ancient IBM keyboard with the heavier, clicking keys and after a few attempts, I managed to get upwards of about 70wpm (in high school, I topped 80 a few times). On the newer keyboards I think I get stuck around 60wpm, mainly because errors count against you, and old-fashioned typing is as much about *hearing* mistakes as feeling them.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
They suck. I do NOT want to have sounds in my environment if it is not neccesairy. I simply hate the standard behavior of IE to produce audible feedback each time I click a link. I know I clicked the link and I know I pressed the key and I do not need the confirmation in the form of a click. I am not a retard and I do not wish to be treated like one.
The IBM model M is dead, game over and it won't be missed.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
The keyboard I use weighs nearly five pounds. It has a great action and I can type for hours without tiring. When it eventually quits working I have several more waiting to replace it.
No, you can't have one . . . . . . . for any price.
By a coincidence, I just received a new keyboard from them on Monday. It feels much like the IBM Model M I'm typing this on now, but the keys feel 'looser' - there is a little more back and forth wobble on the new Customizer keyboard from Unicomp than there is on my Model M. Too soon to tell yet whether I will find it distracting or not; the new keyboard is on my game machine at home and I don't use it as often as my I use my work machines.
This news is about 12 years old. They have been in Lexington, KY using the same old equipment that IBM used to make the Model M keyboards.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
Frankly this sounds more like neophobia and/or nostalgia than a legitimate concern about keyboard quality.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
(and some older keyboards had as well):
A mechanism to absorb the energy exerted on the keystroke.
Without that the energy ends up being dissipated in the muscles, tendons, and (especially) joints of the hand.
This is one of the factors leading to repetitive stress injuries and perhaps also accelerates arthritis.
I'd like to see a keyboard design that "catches" the key after it's pressed far enough to be detected as a "press" and consumes the energy.
If it does it by making a sound (especially if the sound has a one-to-one correspondence with the detection of the keystroke) it also provides feedback. All the better for typing accuracy.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
The buckling spring Model M can be nice but it is excessively noisy in my opinion. IBM had a hang up for a while of simulating a typewriter keyboard to appease typists. They even had some word processing workstations with a margin bell. I think the usability suffers from this mindset. When I was in college there was a computer lab filled with a hundred or so PCs all with buckling spring keyboards. The racket was almost unbearable when most of the computers were in use.
My preference is the for the older IBM rubber dome PS/2 keyboards with 101 keys. Unicomp makes these too but they can still be found brand new on eBay.
The don't look like fucking ass, or something off a space ship.
Seriously is split keyboard and decent looking that hard to fucking do?
oogly boogly!
But the tactile feedback of buckling springs is absolutely perfect. Also the nigh-invulnerability, the beverage-spill-drainage holes on later models, the resistance to stickage even after spills, the removable/cleanable keycaps, the correctly shaped enter key, lack of extraneous doo-dads, pretty much everything about them. /hugs my Model M. Seriously, I really just did, because I love it so much. I also have one at home that I love. And they don't even mind, because Model Ms are secure in themselves and not prone to jealousy.
The enemies of Democracy are
A co-worker has one, in my department, in the office adjacent to mine.
I think he gets something out of how makes him sound busier by clicking at double his typing rate...and as a programmer, looking busy (vs actually being busy) is of the utmost importance!
His isn't the old IBM style, it's like a wierd hybrid of a ergo and an old flat - it has the split, but it is a flat keyboard.
When it dies, I wonder if I'll miss it...knowing him, he's probably got a spare...lol
Bit of a slashvertisement, but I concur - unicomp's modern day plastic-shell model-m-nearly-clones are second to none (save maybe an original metal-shell model m luckily saved from a dumpster, but that won't have as many keys as a modern keyboard, which can get annoying even in linux/unix - the "windows" keys are now-traditionally the extra "Super" modifier bit under linux/unix, and now fairly widely used for keyboard shortcuts even under linux/unix).
One thing to note is they draw a fair bit more current than a cheap membrane keyboard - best get a real USB interface model from unicomp (or ask _them_ for a PS/2->USB adaptor) if you want a USB keyboard, many of the cheapest asian PS/2->USB adaptors simply don't pass enough current.
I have a Das Keyboard, based on the original Model-M design. Definitely recommended if you're sick of typing into a soggy sponge.
There is something incredibly satisfying about solving a particularly complex problem, and hitting "enter" for a crunchy click. No other keyboard satisfies my lust for tactility the way this one does.
"In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."
I have one of those old IBM keyboards but the AT connector sucks. Its not to often I use a computer old enough to even have an AT connector.
They don't have an egronomic/split style keyboard, which I have used almost exclusively for quite a few years now.
They do have a keyboard with Ctrl in the proper place, to the right of "A" with Caps lock, if it is even on the keyboard, down in a far corner. (The OLPC XO-1 got that part of the keyboard right, but the keys on that keyboard suck)
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
I think the best setup is that depicted in Max Headroom. The ideal keyboard, a typewriter, hooked up through god knows what to 60's era black and white tvs. Or at least that I what I remember. Quite cool.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I've always been fond of the clicky keyboard -- the old IBM PC keyboards with the mechanically switched keys allowed me to type significantly faster than the newer stuff.
I found the Matias Tactile for my Mac a few years ago, and was willing to shell out the $100 for it. Have never regretted it, either.
blog |
I am still using an IBM model M keyboard made in 1985. It doesn't have the Windows key, which is one more reason for me to like it.
You cannot beat the touch of a model M, and the tactile feedback helps me limit the number of fat-finger typos.
One downside of a model M is that the clicky noise might annoy coworkers in open space offices. But I have few complains. Complains are generally going like this:
Cow orker: "Eric, your keyboard is sure loud".
Me; "Yup."
Cow orker: 'Err..."
Me: "Heavy too. All metal. Feel this."
Cow orker: "Wow. At least three pounds".
Me: "Almost five, actually. And reliable, too. You can wield it as a baseball bat, whack someone's head, clean up the brain bits from the bottom, and it's still good for years of service."
Cow orker: (Gulps, retreat hurriedly.)
See why I love it?
Fantasy: http://ferrisfantasy.blogspot.com/
In the 90s, I got used to typing on an NMB mechanical keyboard. Back then, clicky was taken for granted, and "quiet" keyboards were the unusual ones. And then one day, it finally broke and started typing gibberish...
Over the course of many years, I went through a bunch of the sucky membrane keyboards, always buying the least-bad one I could find, but my typing speed and accuracy were never as good as when I was on my old NMB. I just recently came across one, and snagged it, and it's really eye opening how much more pleasant it is to type on this one. The sound is satisfying, a light click instead of the Model M "chunk", but it's the touch that really matters. There's a subtle resistance, and then falling away just as the key makes contact, and then a hesitation and snap loose when it breaks.
I never did get into the Model M (now Unicomp) craze. They're too loud, and the spring pressure is way too high. The NMB mechanism is very light, but very tactile. My fingers feel like they're just brushing over the keys, instead off banging on them.
The only thing I don't like about this one is that the \ is in the wrong place, to the left of the backspace instead of under it. I'd be in heaven if I could find a keyboard with similar touch and an IBM-standard layout. Anyone know of one? Das Keyboard III is looking like a likely contender, but I'm reluctant to drop that kind of money without being able to test drive it first.
I needed to get a new Microsoft Natural Keyboard (I like their hardware much better than their software), because I want to use it with my notebook that does not have PS/2. So I could directly compare the first and original Microsoft Natural Keyboard with the current 4000.
The 4000 has much softer keys and I liked the harder ones better. But I suppose they are more ergonomic. Or is their any other reason? I am already getting used to the softer keys.
Now i might be able to get a respectable keyboard for my Mac, since there were never any USB keyboards worth a damn and a PS/2 to USB on an old IBM model M never did work right.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...the eye of the removable keycap!
RFC2119
I'd been looking for an adapter to use an old IBM keyboard with my Mac. I'd never liked "squishy" keyboards, or ones with short key travel, and Apple keyboards seem to get squishier and shorter as time goes by. Then I found the Unicomp. My fingers are happy now.
The only downside is that you need to do a little prefs-setting and key swapping to put the option and command keys in the right place, but that's no big deal.
Get one. It's 70 bucks well spent.
This is what I have always said! Plus, you can mindlessly tap the keys and your boss will be convinced you are hard at work.
I love my keyboard. It has the clicky keys, but it also has:
- duplicate function keys down the left side. Great for one handed CTRL-F? etc
- NO win-idiot keys (nice wide space bar)
- built-in LCD calculator (top right corner)
When it dies I will be sad. I have tried to find a replacement, but other than a one-off specialty buy...
- - - - - - - - - - -
I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
Am I the only person on Slashdot who hates clicky keyboards? Good fucking riddance. Seriously, anyone who thinks they're a good idea needs to spend a day sitting in an office where everyone has one. Get ready to change your mind.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
WTF kind of sentence is that?
Means that they don't like the sound of other keyboards. "When you shut your eyes"=="sound", "ugly", means, "ugly sound".
This is my sig.
On old style keyboards keys collapsed at the end of the movement, and your finger naturally relaxed. Rubber keyboards resist the pressure all the way, and the most toward the end. Then they push back. Your hands tire much faster that way, and it could contribute to the development of the repetitive stress disorder. In addition, it is very difficult to find a decent ergonomic keyboard these days. They seem to have disappeared. I still use my 12-year old feather-touch Acer Future.
Perhaps if the maker in TFA developed a good split keyboard like that, with light-touch collapsible keys, they could find a real niche. I know I would buy one (USB).
End anonymous moderation and posting on
The original PC keyboard, did, too.
I've got a stash of Sun keyboards, including the Type 5 I'm using now (attached to a name-brand PC) that I hope will last me until you can no longer use a keyboard with a computer.
There's a significant level of idiocy involved in contorting your hands to reach the mis-placed control key on other keyboards, or lifting your hands away from the keyboard to reach it.
If you look at the next article....maybe even louder keyboards aren't such a good idea! ;-)
It's a geek badge of honor. I own a few and I love them like my children (okay not really, maybe like my pets) but part of that comes from the effort I put in to scrounge them and clean them up myself. I do like the feel of typing on a Model M but what I love is the feeling of gravitas (figuratively and literally, it's really heavy).
Vintage hardware is neat but most of it is of no practical use today. Is there any other part of a 20-year-old computer that you could still use for day-to-day tasks? A Model M lets you feel old-school without actually having to live in the bad old days of floppy disks and 300 baud modems.
I type on my wife's Mac keyboard and it's fine. I type on a rubber dome keyboard at work and it does the job too. Maybe I would feel differently if my job required pumping out hundreds of thousands of words very quickly, but for most people (and, I suspect, most Model M owners) that's not the case.
Nostalgia is fun. It's okay to have a "throwback" keyboard if that's what you want. Not every technological choice we make has to be justified by greater efficiency or superior ergonomics. Relax and feel the Model M love.
Never approach a vast undertaking with a half-vast plan.
I used to have an old IBM AT that I ran a BBS on back in the day. Loved the IBM keyboard since it was heavy enough to smack roommates around with. Used the Microsoft split keyboard for well over a decade. These days I'm using the Logitech Classic Keyboard 200 that cost $20 USD. Plain, simple and works well with PCs and Macs.
The only keyboard that I use more than the Logitech keyboard belongs to a Brother GX-6750 electronic typewriter. Not as nice as the typewriters made 20 years ago but good enough.
As a side note, the T60 I am typing this on also has a drain hole that goes between the keyboard and the base of the notebook chassis. (It's essentially a screw standoff for the keyboard with no screw in it.)
SirWired
In your face plastic rubber!
i don't remember exactly, but one of those cherry keyboards was my first (g83 i think) ... i still use it ... and LOVE the way it feels... it's 15 years old but still works like charm ... not like newer keyboards that fail after few years ... /me is one of those people that don't use windows keys ....
SHIFT+F10 FTW !
Postin to say I have a unicomp with the quietkeys, doesn't work well for holding down for FPSes, works excellently for typing.
I use a Northgate Omnikey Evolution. Excellent solid clicky keys, ergonomic design. Great kb.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
All you fucking haters can suck my motherfucking dick.
And we still smokin'. What?
You can't be that "old-school" if you use terms like "haters".
Fucking kids these days....
Ah the classic model M, the only keyboard you could beat a user to death with, then sit down and use it delete their account.
come to the dark side, we have penguins.
I've used one for years, annoyed the hell out of my collegues with it. I'm now using a microsoft natural. Good compromise between typing comfort and noise levels.
I use a Das Keyboard for similar reasons. It feels good, I can bang away on it for hours on end, and the noise is somehow comforting to me.
Plus, it infuriates my cubemates, which is always a plus.
In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
...and I like it. In fact, I like most of Microsoft's peripherals. They're reasonably priced, reliable, feel nice to use, and are just generally a good buy.
The Internet Keyboard is a hefty standard QWERTY keyboard with number pad and a row of special purpose function keys along the top. It's a pretty standard rubber membrane job, but the feel is comfortable and the keys all move the right amount. I've never had the slightest bit of discomfort with it.
Best of all, it's actually designed for maintenance. The keys clip into the top shell, which curves down to meet the table on all sides; undo a couple of screws on the bottom and the entire top shell lifts off. You don't even need to unplug it. You can then unclip all the keys, drop the whole lot in the dishwasher, run it with no powder, and once dry reassemble it for a shiny clean keyboard. The key sockets have a little gutter to stop crud and minor spills getting into the works and the keycap transfers are robust enough that I've gone through several cleaning cycles and they're still not showing any signs of wearing off. The glyph keys are all the same shape, too, so if you're a Dvorak user you can just rearrange them.
The CTRL key is in the wrong place, at the bottom left of the keyboard, but you can't have everything.
The Model M is a fantastic keyboard. Solid, reliable, types well. The problem for me, however, is that it's too noisy and takes far more effort to type on than a modern rubber-dome keyboard. Unix commands and such are great, by try writing a paper (or very long Slashdot comment) sometime and you'll see what I mean.
I would love to have a keyboard with the durability and layout of a model M combined with the comfort and quietness of a modern keyboard. I've spent YEARS searching online and in real life. I would pay any amount of money for that perfect keyboard that is durable, comfortable, relatively quiet, and has the classic 101-key layout.
But nobody makes one. Literally no one.
I have often, and at great length lamented the loss of real honest to goodness tactile keyboards that could take a beating and give some positive feedback. Also, I don't believe repetitive stress injury was much of a problem before the electric typewriter and the computer, was it? I learned to type on a royal manual typewriter and I still miss the action in some ways, but the IBM selectric had the greatest action of all time, this article gives me some hope for the future!
Much to my co-workers' dismay, I have a Model M. To be specific, I have *3* of them (one at work, one at home, one spare). My home one is a rare black one.
I love the clicky, tactile feel. I, too, learned to type on an electric-but-old (IBM Selectric) typewriter, which may have something to do with it.
The downside is that my co-workers can definitely tell when I'm *not* working...
I've always loved the Model M. Several years ago I bought one from Unicomp with the "Linux" layout. It's actually more like Sun's old layout with the Ctrl key on the home row and the Esc key accessable from the home row. I type these keys quite often and my left wrist is grateful for this keyboard.
XJS*C4JDBQADN1.NSBN3*2IDNEN*GTUBE-STANDARD-ANTI-U
I use a black Unicomp space saver 104 with the "Linux" layout model #UB40V46 with the control and escape keys placed where God intended them. I've tried a lot of other keyboards, and none of them have the heft or the solid feedback that the Model M style 'boards have. With this keyboard I can type faster and more accurately than with other keyboards. Also, there is simply nothing better than capping off a line of code than a nice, solid, CLUNK on the enter key. In this respect, the Unicomp's aren't quite as good as the true Model M's, but it's close enough for me.
I love my old keyboards, and not just the Model M's.
I have 4 Model M's, and two of them have the EraserHead/Pointer Nipple dealie built-in like a Thinkpad. I have one classic Chicony AT with similar bucking springs inside. And I have 5 First-Generation Apple Extended Keyboards (model M0115) which I use with modern computers with an ADB-USB Converter from Griffin. As a professional writer, I've come to learn that a great-feeling keyboard actually adds the the writing experience, and makes the time pass by much more quickly.
That said, when I work in a cubicle farm (which happens from time to time as a tech writer), my Model M's are a problem. Their "clickety-clackety" machine-gun staccato usually irritates the hell out of everyone in earshot, and it doesn't take more than a hour or so for someone to ask me to use another keyboard. So do consider asking your office neighbors about it before shelling out big bucks for one.
On top of that, and this sounds like something right out of Office Space, but a Model M destroys the illusion of "constant productivity." Good managers know that you can't be typing for 8 hours straight, but Pointy Haired Bosses have no clue, and soon start to figure out when you're typing and when you're browsing Slashdot when you use a Model M. Quiet keyboards don't give your down-time away.
A good Apple M0115 (now nearly 20 years old) is a good combination between great key action and relative quiet, (it just goes "tappetty-tap") and as a bonus, it still works on your old Apple IIGS!
. . . well, that's at least my opinion, after three decades of touch typing. I learned to type back in my teens in the 70's on my mom's Underwood mechanical portable. It was a model that you see international corresponds and sports reporters lugging around in old movies. It had a light touch, but you got a certain feel for full motion of the stroke. It just felt right. Like when I do a full motion backhand in tennis, and I just know that I hit it right.
My high school had an IBM punch card machine, electric, of course, which I used to type out FORTRAN II programs. It had a small footprint, and the keys didn't have much motion at all. It just didn't feel right.
On the other hand, those Teletypes, for the time sharing BASIC system, with the round keys, and the crisp, light touch, and just the right amount of motion were great.
In the meantime, I have typed on all types of varmints and critters, whether I had a choice or not. I don't care about the noise, for me, it's the feel. And I believe that's because of that good old Underwood portable.
Oh, and to disappoint typewriter aficionados, I was never really impressed with the IBM Selectric.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I'm currently searching for a new keyboard. In the past I've used the Microsoft Natural (don't remember the exact model, it had 2 usb ports and they don't sell it anymore). I was decided to buy one from Unicomp, but just today I found out of the existance of the "IBM Model M15"... the same feeling of the M model, but split in two halves. I'd really like to buy one of those now!
Despite popular belief, IBM did not design the Model M as a melee weapon with keyboard functionality. Rather, it is a keyboard with melee weapon functionality, as required by their DoD contract .
Also, although legendary for their durability, they are not indestructible. A few well-placed armor piercing rounds from an anti-material rifle or a single high explosive antitank charge are often sufficient to disable one.
-Proud owner of a 1986 IBM Model M (pulled from a pile of keyboards scheduled to be scrapped).
10 Bits= $.25
100 Bits= $.50
110 Bits= $.75
1000 Bits= 1 byte
I got a BenQ A122 keyboard for $20. Keys click with short travel. The layout is completely standard. Best keyboard I've ever owned.
haha finally replaced my BTC keyboard from 1992.
I bought a new Model M (Lexmark) from clickeykeyboards.com last November and I love it. My mom used my keyboard and commented on how nice it was. She used to be a secretary and used typewriters, so she appreciates the tactile feedback. So I bought her a Unicomp Customizer for Christmas since they are smaller and a black model isn't ridiculously expensive.
Hey, my Logitech Dinovo Edge is frackin' sweet! And the keys are wonderful to type on. Then there's the Steelkeys keyboards. A friend of mine has one of those. A dream come true with gold plated keys. So there are some awesome keyboards, I mean.
This is what I would have if I had money to burn.
Where's the Kaboom?
There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom.
Best by far. The key modules were almost 2 inches tall not counting the cap. Second only perhaps to the OS/6, the system with the inkjet that would tattoo you!
Sadly, running MS-DOS 2.11 on an 8-inch floppy wasn't very practical... And having the 5215 Selectric printer going off next you isn't pleasant either.
And there is actually one for sale...
wow.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
I despise the clicking of the model M type keyboards, but the tactile response beats any membrane keyboard I've used. If Unicomp (or any company) could make a silent model M, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. They do offer a "quiet" model, for suitably broad definitions of "quiet" - it's still too noisy for my taste. Hopefully someone at Unicomp is reading this to check on their slashvertisement...
- T
What comeback? I never stopped using buckling spring keyboards. The defective non-tactile feedback keyboards that come with most computers go straight into the recycle bin in my office.
And ugly? I think whoever wrote that left a "to me" off the end of the sentence. They do not seem ugly to me. To me they look pretty much like any other keyboard, a flat thing with lots of little rectangular keys.
They ride just fine, until someone sees you on it
I've bought two of the Unicomp keyboards and I appreciate them mightily. I got one for work and one for home. They are noisier than the plastic kiddie-keyboards but they make up for the noise by being superb keyboards. My accuracy and speed increased, my physical effort decreased, and my hands and wrists appreciate the key action.
And at a pinch, I can pick these massive keyboards up and use them as a deadly weapon.
If you didn't have a piece of crap "legacy free" computer, you'd be able to use their PS/2 version.
I've got an AT-type FK2000, and another AT-type FK2001. I've bought AT-PS/2 adapters because at the time I upgraded from AT to ATX computers, I couldn't find anywhere to get Focus keyboards.
So I'm now typing on the keyboard I bought with my first computer in 1993, and it's still the best keyboard I've ever used.
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
I have a beloved IBM Model M at work, where I spend all day typing.
Modern keyboards tend not to have the proper spacing or feel for accurate typing. I'm never sure with modern ones if I have actually made a complete keypress, so there are missing characters.
At home I have a Cherry G80 that is clicky too. Is high quality, but lighter and the keyboard noise is not quite as much. Good compromise.
They don't cause physical pain, per se, but I do have to type more slowly, the keys feel more resistant, and my fingers can start to ache if I type for prolonged periods on them. I feel like when I use them I have to stab the keyboard repeatedly with my fingers as opposed to "typing" on it, in order to get the keys to do what I want.
The Fuijitsu FKB4700 series of keyboards (Still my favorite) work on a system similar to the model M, both of which I find refreshing to type on.
The Fujitsu's are still made, but quite a pain to find in the US, so I've finally switched over to Das Keyboard.
Das Keyboard is an interesting alternative, it uses cherry switches instead of catch-spring (If I understand this correctly). It's layout isn't quite as nice as the Fujitsu but it's quite close...and the feel is a significant improvement over the mushy keyboard alternatives.
It is however, even louder than most other audible keyboards.
They have a model with a trackball. Talking about old school, I still don't understand why almost everybody all of a sudden started to use mice :) Now what I would like to see is an infrared keyboard with a big trackball right of the numpad. And a powerful slate (with top graphics card and huge HD - I don't care about weight) to go with that - such a setup would replace all my laptop and desktop needs with just two items to carry around.
Finally! I can have the best of both worlds: A black keyboard that clicks! :-D
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Rotary phones, some older people won't give them up either.
Don't get me wrong, I had a Model M once upon a time. But then again I also had a 80-pound CRT monitor and a 45-pound steel XT case to go with it. Nowadays I don't find it necessary to cover half my desk with a gigantic click-clacking keyboard.
I have them on all my workstations and they just don't wear out... most of mine are early 1990's vintage and have been in continuous use since then.
I can't touch type on anything else.. and I'm am happy in the knowledge that Unicomp is still making them.
Long live the buckling key.
When I started working at my present company, they had an old Unicomp keyboard lying around that no one else wanted to use. I was happy to give it try. I love the way it feels to my fingers and it definitely improved my typing speed and accuracy. I'm a heavy emacs user, and I appreciate that the Ctrl key is as solid and responsive today as it was months ago. This is the first keyboard I've had that could stand up to heavy coding and writing.
The noise made me feel a little self conscious at first but my neighbors are used to it, and the guy in the next cube tried mine out and ordered his own. He's as happy with his as I am with mine, but he ordered the Mac caps to switch out.
I run an Iogear USB/DVI and switch between three Linux boxes, a Mac Pro and a Windows XP box and all work great with the Unicomp as well.
[-- Trust the Monkey --]
'real' *computer* keyboard made anymore (at least that I've been able to find)
http://www.cvtinc.com/products/keyboards/stellar.htm
Look to the left of the 'a' key. If you see some sort of 'shift-lock' nonsense there, you have a 'typewriter' keyboard. Computer keyboards have the Control key there, where Steve Jobs and God intended, dammit!
aah... the 'click click click' that goes with posting on slashdot...
...That's *IF* I decide to be generous, and don't have it buried with me...
The day I can't connect my genuine 1980s Model M to my PC is the day I give up PCs.
Of course, this will never happen: In 300 years time, my great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren will be squabbling with each other over who gets the great family heirloom - the indestructible and still fully functional Model M. The family Jet will collect dust and the collection of sportscars will go unnoticed as all fight singlemindedly for custody of the great Model M.
The Model M is the greatest keyboard ever, and no other keyboard could ever possibly live up to it. Simple fact, case closed. If you disagree, it means you're not qualified to make a judgement.
It's great to see that someone is still producing them - perhaps the 5 Model M's I've been hoarding as spares are superfluous...
Actually, they *are* superfluous; not because Unicomp is still making them, but because they are Utterly, totally, completely indestructible. This is a keyboard which can easily be used as a murder weapon. This is a keyboard of such impressive durability that when you throw your keyboard at the wall in a fit of rage, the wall gives way rather than the keyboard. If NASA had the sense to use Model M keyboards as heat shielding for the space shuttle, we'd still have Columbia. In the distant future, archeologists will only be able to speculate on the possible function of most of man's inventions, because they'll have trouble reverse-engineering the heavily-decayed skeletons of cars, planes, computers, and other artifacts. The Model M won't suffer this problem, because they'll just dig them out of the ancient ruins and plug them in.
An alternative theory of mine is that they won't have to speculate on the nature of the Model M, because it'll be their religion.
I have spilt coke, coffee, orange juice, cigarette ash, tomato sauce, sweat, blood, and tears into my model M. You don't even have to stop typing to turn the keyboard upside down and shake the liquid out - you just keep typing, firm in the knowledge that the coffee will dry up sooner or later, and that will happen long before it will do any kind of damage to your Model M.
Model M keyboard owners do not fear burglary by armed intruders, or even raids by SWAT teams, because they know that a thrown Model M is far more deadly than an armalite ar-10 carbine gas powered semi-automatic weapon, and far more bulletproof than that piddly body armour those soldiers wear.
I have a model-M (original.. got it at an ANTIQUE store of all places!) it feels better to use the model-M, but after awhile my wrists hurt and I have to switch back to this crummy generic keyboard.
I never saw them as ugly! hardly! the model-M is, IMO, one of the sharper keyboards around! the only "nicer" keyboards I've seen were for mainframe terminals with a whole fleet of function keys down the sides. (wish I had one of those)
Only real beef I have is.. what idiot decided an "L" shaped enter key was a good idea? You want to pipe the output of one command into another?
Ooops! | is ^M on those %!@$% L-shaped "oh so great" keyboards...
Personally I always liked the feel of the Sun Type 5 keyboards. They then went with the crappy Type 6s for a while, but the Type 7s are basically the 5s with a USB connection. Haven't had a chance to try a Type 7 yet (mostly deal with Sun servers now, and haven't had a desktop / workstation for a while).
Might take a bit to find them, as they have three different switches: linear, soft click and hard click. The hard click is not quite a model M, but comes close. I have used one for 7 years now and it is still in good shape.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I don't think that's quite what they mean by "great for bash".
I keeps it real-ah, cause I'm all about my scrilla The ladies love me cause I'm a million dolla hitta
That said, I dont think snoop dogg's lay low counts as oldschool as hell. But I admit I love that 'but we still smokin', what?' line.
:x
Focus' were nice.
But nothing like the old Northgate keyboards.
I finally retired mine. The 'e' key spring went mushy.
Using a Unicomp now. Next best thing.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Tactile feedback is very nice, but I hate audible clicks.
A couple of decades ago I worked for Wang Laboratories and extensively used their "workstations" (basically smart terminals with a proprietary interface). Wang was the king of word processing when the professional world was just switching over from their Selectric typewriters.
To make these users feel more at home, the workstations included a mechanical solenoid that would trigger on every keystroke. This not only produced a loud, typewriter-like click, but also yielded a a tactile, typewriter-like thud.
I'm sure some engineer worked very hard on that solenoid to make the workstation sound and feel just like a Selectric, but I hated the noise and implemented a hardware solution: I clipped a solenoid wire with a pair of cutters and regained blessed silence. Many of my co-workers asked me to perform this simple service for them as well.
Later workstation models would mimic the key click by playing a sound through the speaker, but I could turn that off with an option.
I've had my Model-M for about 9 years, but it was made in *checks label* 1994, which makes it the same age as my step-son. I find it hugely more comfortable to type on than my nasty work keyboard. Wouldn't be without it.
Yup. I've worked with all kinds of keyboards, springy-clicky (I still have it), rubber (current), and even foam (threw it away after a week), and I must say that the tactile feedback of modern keyboards is actually much better than that of the old ones. Now, personally the clicky-clicky sounds drive me crazy, the ideal keyboard would be one that is as silent as possible, especially in a work environment where everyone is typing, but if you really insist that you need the sound, you can run a utility that uses a Windows hook to play a clicky sound over the speakers every time you press a key. You can even experiment with other sounds, just to piss of the wife and kids.
Part No 1391401
ID No 1670863
Date 18AUG89
Plt No J1 Model M
Made in the USA
In use: 20 yrs.
All letters intact despite many cleanings. Survived 7 moves. Lovely PROPERLY shaded keys. At risk of being kidnapped 3x. Clickety-clack.
My baby :)
I have a friend who swore by clicky keyboards and collected old ones people were tossing out. She had arthritis from an early age and found that with the feedback from those keyboards, she needed less force and it caused less pain.
I use one of these Cherry mechanical switch compact keyboards. It's not really pretty, but it's done wonders for my typing accuracy. Wish my laptop keyboard was half as good.
I type this from my G15 at home. At the office I have an old-enough-to-drink Model M. Annoys the crap out of my officemate, but then again, he's so hard of hearing he projects loud enough for his phone conversations to be picked up by my noise-cancelling headset and heard by people at the other end of my call. *sigh* Wouldn't trade the M in for anything else. It's in dire need of a cleaning though. I don't want to clean it and break something :(
This thing actually has the same clicky mechanism, but it's not loud like the old ones. Same feel I hear. So, for anybody willing to spend $150 on a keyboard, you can own one too!
I bought one of these Unicopies about 8 months ago. I had torn through 4 cheapie-dell keyboards, their $14.00 variety, in the preceding few months. Crap. They felt great for about a week, then, bleh. Rubber.
The sound from these M-clones is amazing. It really lets my coworkers know that I mean business. It also lets them know that their shitty typing skills could use some improvement. I wear noise-canceling headphones, so the Click-Boom is muffled, if not totally eliminated for me. The poor bastards to my left and right can suck it down, get some Bose or Sennys.
Coming home from work, I end up on my Thinkpad. It's a difficult transition, from loud to quiet.
The thinkpad has a great keyboard, similar, I think, to the M. There's a definite resistance on the keys. I buy thinkpads solely because of the Kb & trackpoint.
I think people tagged it as slashvertising should get a fast course about the size of slashdot and its parent company before thinking a small company in Kentucky can buy (!) stories.
I am glad that keyboard made news since I remember reading all about it on Wiki etc. and almost have purchased one ready to pay all the ridicolous post and packaging costs.
I have to admit my favourite keyboad is Apples current aluminium full wired keyboard.
The keyboard chassis does not flex or creak like a plastic one, it is slim, so is really only as big as it needs to be, and I find the fact it is so flat means I don't have to arch my fingers so much and the keys don't require much effort to push them, but enough travel that accidental presses are rare.
It's also easier to clean than a regular keyboard, simple wipe down with an antistatic cloth with a little LCD screen cleaner on the cloth takes care of marks and finger grease of the keys very easily.
Also having no Windows key appeals to me. "clover-leaf symbol" is much more OS agnostic 8) and tons of Funtion keys that are easily mapped to useful things.
I just wish the USB ports were powered or USB2 8( or the wireless option included the full key layout with the number pad etc.
If you're really hard core, you use a Das keyboard. None of the keys are marked, which keeps mates off the computer. Its spring loaded of course, but also features gold played contacts. But the real selling point, of course, is the lack of key markings.
Unicomp does not produce "vintage model M keyboards". They produce a line of keyboards that are quite similar, but the key action isn't exactly the same, and their M13-alike is totally wrong; the nub is bigger, and squishy, and doesn't move the same at all. Since Trackpoint is honestly much more important to me than "clicky" action, and since real M13s are super rare and expensive, I've moved on top non-clicky Trackpoint-II boards like the 3923 that are easier to find used.
Oh gods I hate those clicky keyboards, anyone who wants one must be half deaf.
Seriously. The only feedback I want from the keyboard is a very light noise, and even that could go completely away and as long as there is a tactile "you pressed the key" feeling, that's fine.
But oh god these people with the full sized keys and the loud clicking keyboards are extremely freaking loud. When I worked at the last place, this girl beside me had such a damned loud keyboard that I had my mp3 player louder on days she was in. She types angrily.
Northgate Omnikey Evolution. To my knowledge, one of only a very few ergonomic clicky keyboards (at least among the original generation); there was also a Model M15 ergonomic keyboard, I think.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
The key spring for the numeric cluster is a bit sticky, probably from me picking up the keyboard and using it like a baseball bat on the desk in order to shake out the dandruff.
I'll get a blacksmith to look at it when I have the time. I hear that Model M springs are easy to rework.
I've worn out the G key plunger slightly, but I swapped it with "Scroll lock".
I've had it for six years. Not bad for a 1984-vintage keyboard for which I paid 3NZD at Supashed.
Those plsticky keyboards that come with computers, though, last about 7-10 days before my typing destroys their flimsy excuses for switches.
Funnily enough, I never have RSI/OOS problems.
Blancmange
I did some field service work at the IBM factory in Lexington back in the 80's. They were still making the clicky style keyboards, but they were transitioning from double-shot molded keys to the new iron-on kind.
The engineers there were the old guys from the 60's who worked on the original Selectric design. Each engineer had a display in his office of the parts that he designed.
Its good to know that the gear to make those keyboards is still in use.
That machine, if could be connected to a network or even serial communication port (to TCP/IP) which I am sure there would be a way, could prove one thing. UNIX was the right idea all along.
Did you see the real DEC VT 100 which we all emulate by default? Compared to that machine, that Professor's machine is brand new.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT100
Also therotically, Windows Vista should be able to run his application. Isn't it the idea which MS keeps saying and torturing users for?
That is one mysterious thing nobody can explain. Keyboard and mouse are the most used parts which are in direct contact with the user and yet the User would never want to pay extra for quality. It is also similar in monitors, ask any Sony CRT or whatever current good quality LCD monitor owner.
I am almost sure the $5 Keyboard owners also have 512 MB Graphics cards with DirectX 10.1 support.
Another thing is beds which people spend 8 hours of day in their entire life, try to sell them a Tempur (or any good quality, not luxury) bed. They would pay 5x the price for the stuff carrying the actual thing just because it looks better but not the real thing.
I don't even use Model M keyboards (generic and Dell brands), and boss, coworkers, and my friends think I type way too loud like a machine gun! I hate those soft keyboards. I like hearing my key reactions and the sounds! I even made a poll and a few comments about it. Clicky keyboards FTW! ;)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Oops, I meant http://aqfl.net/?q=node/5825 ... :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I have no idea how good the Day Keyboard is, having never used it, but it's often mentioned in these posts.
I could sure use a USB version of that!
I learned to type on a manual typewriter, and later an equally heavy VT-100. I wore out more than a few keyboards when DEC made the key action lighter and smoother with the LK-201. Nostalgia factor aside, the key location was awesome and the action was perfect.
Back in the mainframe days, DEC was to IBM what Apple is now to Microsoft -- the "other" technology that people prefer once they try it. The keyboard was part of the deal. The LK-201 was slim and stylish, while the IBM keyboards were beefy, much like comparing a sports car to a school bus.
Yeah, but it suffers from an ergonomic oversight. Unless you have delicate, sensitive fingers of a surgeon, you can't feel the home-row position. But other than that, it is decent.
Seriously, either put the numpad on the left or get rid of it completely. My keyboard doesn't have a numpad and it's so much nicer for using a mouse, trackball, or whatever because I don't have to reach for it. Keeps the keyboard and mouse right in front of the screen(s) too.
Loud keyboards suck also. I don't mind using them myself too much but when other people use them I get stabby.
Not very good for gaming, though. I always lose the arrow keys in the heat of combat. Even the keys on this logitech keyboard aren't that much higher and I can feel them tons better than the Mac keyboard's arrows. Also, Mac kb doesn't have as much travel, which doesn't feel right either.
Five miles. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways.
I have a Model M on my office desk, and one here at home -- S/N 3111818, dated Jul 87.
They're nice to type on -- I type much more faster and more accurately on one than on any other type of keyboard -- and they're also handy if someone breaks into your house. They deflect bullets up to a .38, and you can commit homicide with one, if necessary.
I really liked the Focus 2001, it's still on my parents computer thanks to a PS/2 -> AT keyboard adapter. On my computer now is a Dell branded Model M keyboard, it's at least 12 years old, and the only keyboard I like better than the Focus. Of course, in order to use the Model M, I need to use a PS/2 -> USB adapter.
... if that's your best, your best won't do... - Twisted Sister
I've been hoarding these 101 key keyboards since 1990 or so, and my coworkers complain, because I type fast and loud, but I will never give up my type M. I can't imagine how anybody manages without them.
I posted this story 2 months ago. Thanks for allowing it in when it was actually a current story at NPR, rather than posting this submission months later. I feel great, thanks.
...::----::...
I am in no way affiliated with this sig.
/me Is typing this on a spray painted Model M.
Anybody know of a ergonomic keyboard with the same tactile feedback as an "M"?
Hi. I'm Hordeking, and I'm an IBM Model-M Keybaholic.
I thought this was rather funny a story. A few years ago, I cobbled together a computer for a friend using spare parts and a TinyXP image (this was a really underpowered old pc for a dude who didn't have any pc). Anyway, about a year or two later, I decided I wanted a clicky old-style keyboard. Well, it turns out the keyboard I had given him was exactly what I wanted (and I didn't realise it). The next time I was at his apartment, I was poking at the now-retired cobble-box, and realised! It! Was! An! I!B!M! keyboard! Halleulah! Cue the chorus!
Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
The keyboard that I'm typing on now is an IBM model M from 1984. That's right; 25 years of very hard use & abuse, and it's still doing fine.
I've slaughtered lesser keyboards provided to me by employers. Now I have a model M at the office (much newer; it's only twenty years old) and doing fine.
$70 for a brand new one with a USB connection and the extra "Windows" keys is a steal.
Who uses them? I just remap my joystick.
It's all history, man. -anon
I've been hoarding these from work when they get tossed on the scrap pile because someone got a new one.
My feeling is that if you can't bludgeon someone to death with it and still use it, it isn't a real keyboard.
Plus there's the added bonus of snap off keycaps for pranking.
Seriously, I get an extra 10 words per minute on these keyboards and my hands don't get tired. Maybe it's because I learned to type on manual and electric typewriters so I'm used to the keys fighting back.
Long live the Model M!
If you really want sound on your keyboard, try KeyClick. Sophisticated one for Mac OS X at http://www.sustworks.com/site/prod_keyclick_overview.html (not tried this; it is very old) Windows at http://www.personalmicrocosms.com/Pages/keyclick.aspx
My favorite keyboard of all time was an IBM, I remember that much, but it was not an IBM PC keyboard. It was much clickier and crisper and there were more keys than a PC. I used it in a university lab room sometime between 1988 and 1992. It reminded me of similar terminal keyboards from the early 80s so it probably didn't change much. It was probably connected to a terminal or mini computer of some kind. *That* was my all time favorite keyboard - it felt way nicer than the IBM PC keyboard, which I assume this article is about.
I took one of those apart once, there wasn't any difference between other keyboards I had seen aside from the fact that it had a large steel plate in it for heft, to give the impression that it was really sturdy. I guess its good if you plan on assaulting people with your keyboard.
My rule for input devices - If I can't kill someone with it, it doesn't belong on my desk.
-R
I think it was an AS/400 keyboard but I am not 100% sure. Can I connect that to a PC somehow?
Some posters have expressed confusion as to why this kind of article was even posted on /., but I have my own theory. The editors sometimes like to force memes down the readership's collective throats and this is one of those times, although the meme in question here is a little obscure.
People here in the past have tried to argue that Kentucky in general is stuck a decade or two behind the rest of the country... And pointing out the fact that old-school IBM keyboards are still manufactured here (just a few blocks away from a large and progressive research university, which I currently attend) is trying to stoke that stupid preconception.
How many times do we need to explain to the rest of you that we are wearing shoes and we can read and are using the latest technology at the same time.
I love my Type 7s, finally replaced my last type 6 and am much better off. The type 6s break quickly due to the weird way the manufacture the membrane, the type 7s have been much longer lasting for me.
I use them on linux and macosx systems. OSX complains that it doesn't know what kind of keyboard it is when you first plug it in, but after you get past the pop up dialog it is happy with it. Even the up/down volume keys, power and help key work as expected. The row of special function keys on the left don't seem well supported on anything but Solaris but otherwise it's a fine keyboard.
If only I could get the layout in a buckling spring design.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
You can buy a PS/2 to USB adapter for 5-10 bucks online, 15 at Wal-Mart. There is no excuse for a crappy keyboard.
Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
My IBM keyboard was born April 5 1986. Every birthday I take it apart and clean all keys one by one. It has never failed me despite being severely punished when I fail to beat my own tetris-bsd. I eventually had to retire it because my girlfriend complained she couldn't sleep because of the noise. Sad sad day...
I actually have about a dozen varied Model M keyboards from the PS/2 and Microchannel era. I love the removable keycaps and stuff. You could easily reconfigure the keyboard for dvorak if you wanted to. I have all sorts of different revisions, some with removable cords, some without, a couple different types of IBM logos, but all basically the same. They're HUGE though.
I later bought an IBM 'Model M' Japanese keyboard...it was smaller, but no click. Which is a shame because I love clicky keyboards. Nowadays, I'm basically crippled by an endless stream of ergonomic keyboards, to the point that I can no longer use regular keyboards with any decent speed or accuracy. :(
I want a Black, Ergonomic, Clicky, Japanese keyboard. Shit, I'm probably going to have to make my own, aren't I? :<
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
I have a fancy ergonomic keyboard. It makes a soft click sound as soon as the key is HALF pressed. This is a sort of bio-feedback training to avoid hitting the key hard to feel the mechanical click when the key hits bottom. A keyboard where you need to put strength in each keypress to feel the click (the only way to be sure the keypress was registered) trains you to slam on your keys, and that's not going to do you hands/wrists/arms any good in the long run.
Maybe noisy, clicky keyboards went away because the clickity clackity racket would drive all of the cubilcle dwelling techies INSANE!! I much prefer the quiet keyboards of today...even though I finally have an office.
I don't care for the M type IBM keyboards; they're just a little too bulky for me. I've been using my IBM keyboard since 95 it probably a model or two newer than the M type. It's just so well designed. I've spilled coffee in it, dropped it etc. and it still works great. I've taken it apart several times and cleaned the coffee out ;) It's like driving a fine automobile, it just oozes quality.
I've been using an Avant Stellar for years. It's a clone of the old Northgate keyboards, except that the key reprogramming feature actually works.
My speed goes up and my errors go down when I'm using that keyboard. Plus it will outlast a bunch of the modern keyboards. I kill those on average once every 10 months. My Stellar is 10 years old and going strong.
My login isn't working. Must be because I haven't logged in for so long.
I like the feel of the Model M keyboard, and of the Das Keyboard, but I have RSI issues. Right now I use a Logitech, the one that's sloped with a small split in the center.
Does anyone make a high-quality tactile keyboard in any kind of ergonomic layout? I'd buy it in a second.
The most important issue people overlook when they say how much they like these keyboards is:
a. you are more likely to get carpal tunnel on a click keyboard
b. the carpal tunnel you do get will be more severe than the type you would get on today's traditional keyboards
The further and harder you have to push the keys, the more stress is being done to your knuckles and wrist.
Ergonomics 101 people, seriously
But can you buy an AT-USB adapter?
These keyboards came with a 486 system that I bought in 1993, and a friend's 486 that they bought at the same shop, which later got donated to me when they upgraded.
I'm already running an AT-PS/2 adapter. I don't particularly want a PS/2-USB adapter as well.
Besides that....I hate USB keyboards. How do you fix problems with Windows USB device recognition when you've got a USB keyboard and mouse? PS/2 ports, on the other hand, are pretty much bulletproof. I've only ever seen a PS/2 keyboard stop working once in Windows when it wasn't a hardware problem. And it was just a matter of resetting the BIOS to defaults, and it was fine.
USB, on the other hand, is way too unreliable for a required input device.
It's fine if you've still got the PS/2 ports, and you can just plug another keyboard in, but the legacy free idea is the stupidest thing ever to come out of a major PC manufacturer, if you ask me....
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
Desktop keyboards are no problem at all, IMO. My good old Logitech Media Keyboard Elite ($25 or so back a few years ago) has halfway decent tactile feedback and I can type pretty fast on it. Model M style clickety keyboards don't help me much in that area...
But have you seen the keyboards they put on netbooks/laptops lately? Holy shite, these things are horrible. Right now I'm typing this on an Eee PC 1000H, and the tactile feedback is horrible... not to mention the need to enable filterkeys just to get rid of the magic "two-letters-from-one-keypress" syndrome...
Give me a tiny screen with low resolution, give me the crappiest integrated graphics money can buy, give me a sound card that has a signal to noise ratio of approximately -5dB and a kick in the ass while you're at it - just don't give me a keyboard that fricken types on its own...
I used to type on a Model M and I used to love it, although I noticed that working on my laptop, once it's newness had warn off and I was used to it's key layout, I could type a bit faster... Then one day when I was at a previous company about 7 years ago, they when through this phase where they bought the cheapest everything, so when the crappy dell keyboard I had there died (spongy keys should be against the law!) they replaced it with a Logitech UltraX. My typing speeds went through the roof. From 75 wpm to well over 105 wpm. It just works. There's tactile feedback, the keys aren't spongy and you don't have to lift your fingers up a mile in the air to hit the row above, or into a pit for the row below, it's like a (good) laptop as far as distance and pressure required, but the keys and layout are 100% normal sized. I got so used to it I had to by one for home use afterwords as going home and back to an M was such a downgrade. Best of all, these things are around $20 for either a USB or PS2.
-=JML=-
IBM (or those who manufacture for it) has made the absolute best keyboards for the touch typist since before the Selectric typewriter, and for computers the Model M is the boss (IMHO)! When my old Dell M clone PS/2 keyboard died last year, my local computer gear provider who built my newest workstation for me had some he picked up surplus - I bought a brand new one, in the box, for $15 USD! I'm typing this on it now - love at first 'click'! :-)
Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real-time.
EVER!
The original Apple Extended Keyboard. Real key switches, SUPERB "feel", modest audio feedback.
I'm typing this on an Apple Extended Keyboard that was made in 1986. Works just as well today as it did when it came off the assembly line 23 years ago.
The current Apple Aluminum keyboard is absolute crap. It cannot be repaired and, like every other "modern" comes with the computer/cheap replacement keyboard, typing on it feels like I'm poking at a slab of Silly Putty.
Instead of buying a crap rubber dome USB keyboard to use with my Dual Processor G4 MDD/FW800 Mac, I spent the money to buy the Griffin ADB t0 USB interface, in order to continue using my Apple Extended Keyboard.
If/when I get an iMac or MacPro, I'll be using this Extended Keyboard with it, and sell the crap Aluminum keyboard on Craigslist or eBay to some sucker who doesn't know any better.
Guaranteed! This comment 100% Anthrax free!
I hate the flat, quiet keys on my laptop. I guess I just need that feedback. Makes it sound like I'm doing something more productive than replying to posts on slashdot XP
Most all Americans simply want the cheapest, then want to complain. Walmart has $9 keyboards. And that probably is all most people really need.
Among others, I have a $200 Keytronic Keyboard at my desk. The keyboard is programmable in such that I can record macros, which they keyboard plays back as keystrokes - not software on the PC. I can map any key to anything. It has many, many function keys. It is very heavy, and it clicks.
Most people here have $5 mice. I have a Logitech gaming mouse with many programmable buttons, which I've paid for.
There are $1000 keyboard/mice combo's out there if you look for them. Everything built since 1990 hasn't been crap. It's just that is what people buy. Free market, eh?
I've used every keyboard since the Apple ][+, and I have to say there are two favorites:
The first is the Compaq Keyboard (Spare Part Number: 269513-006). Relatively rugged, and I've never seen one fail. They are super easy to take apart and if you remove the controller, you can put them through the dishwasher if you want/need to.
The second (current favorite) is the Targus AKB0404. USB, Half height, half travel, sleep key, volume control, music control, and 11 application keys, all in a standard size layout. http://www.targus.com/US/product_details.asp?sku=AKB04US You can get them for $25 at any reasonably astute computer store. I've got three of these.
The primary differentiator on any modern keyboard though, in my opinion, is if the |\ key is above the enter key. If it has one of those monstrously larget enter keys, it's junk. And the Lenovo keyboards where the Fn key is in the exact spot Ctrl should be? Yeah, those are junk too.
Does yours shock you first thing in the morning too?
I find that my Aluminum iMac with the Aluminum slim KB is a static electricity magnet. Other than that, I love it. I'm very used to the key layout now and it feels right to my fingers.
Call me strange, but I have a Sun Model 6 (one of the newer USB ones) and it's the best keyboard I've ever owned. I've been clocked at 145 wpm and my fingers never feel tired.
Said it before & it's worth repeating;
You will have to take my model M from my cold, dead hands.
((((DO SOMETHING!) SMALL) USEFUL)NOW!)
when you come to my estate sale. 1130805 10Jul87 & 8596235 14Dec92. You can keep your Selectric. I saw one on a free pile at a church rummage sale. I'm only going to carry one home if it is a model 2 wide carriage with a box full of golfballs, red/black ribbons, and corrective ribbons. And then only if it is free, without scratches, and proven to work perfectly. I mean it about the Model M.
All your database are belong to U.S.
To make one compatible with usb requires adding a dropping resistor.
All your database are belong to U.S.
there was a comment about converting one to usb. A dropping resistor is required because the Model M draws too much power. You can buy mine at my estate sale.
All your database are belong to U.S.
Funny how the model M keyboard is mentioned here as "old school" because I STILL have one and I am currently using it. It used to belong to my brother back when he got his pentium 90 (yeah, that's how old it is) but now I use it on on my modern gaming PC. It's really durable, responsive, and evidently built to last for several years. For games which are VERY demanding on keyboards (especially the WASD keys), it's been perfect to have (no sticky or unresponsive keys at all).
We've got MAC people and PC people ...
PC people swear with the original IBM Model M keyboard;
MAC people seem to be swearing for the original Apple keyboard.
So .... What's the difference ?
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
I type Dvorak. The Northgates are nice because they have the Dvorak switch and the ALPS keys but the Model M is superior because it has a curved backplane. That means you can re-arrange the key caps without a cat drug in look, i.e. more like a green and less like a rough. Also there is a business that repairs Northgates. And ya I had a Focus with a built in calculator and a macro switch that no-one could explain. It did not survive my most recent move, something about a ten keyboard limit.
All your database are belong to U.S.
clicky keyboards are the shit. I buy them up at goodwill and let my friends borrow them. I have yet to get one back.
I used to be a big fan of the clicky M keyboards. Something about the tactile feel of actually pressing down on a key, yadda yadda, see the previous 500 posts for plenty of click love.
However, I'm a convert. Born-again, if you will. I love laptop-style keyboards now. After a few years of laptop ownership, I bought myself a nice flat EluminX keyboard and haven't looked back since. The keys are easier to press, they have less "travel" so you spend less time mashing buttons down and more time making words appear on the screen. Ergonomics aside, it's simply no contest. I'm a decent touch typist and can push 100wpm on a good day. A familiar short-stroke keyboard only improves my speed.
Plus, think about it. Flat keyboard are just way more futuristic. On Star Trek, you don't see the Data banging away on a Model M making all sorts of comforting klangy noises. No way Jose. He's got a big friggin iPod touch screen in front of him, totally flat, and he can make that thing scream. Wesley, too. Wil Wheaton don't use no klacky keyboards.
My personal favorite is Keytronic.
Anyone remember those?
I think they may have made keyboards for IBM, but not 100% sure.
Keytronic boards are built like battleships. I have one that's almost 14 years old, has at least 9 years of daily office use on it, and works better than anything else. One of those pieces of equipment that you know will never die.
The most awesome thing about it, though, is the ridiculous surplus of keys. Standard 101 layout, plus 12 extra programmable F-keys (above the main F keys), plus 10 macro keys (left of Tab/CapsLock/etc), plus a calculator (using the space above the keypad), plus a detachable trackball module. Holy crap. And of course, metal casing, clicky feel, drainage holes, the works.
Too bad they don't seem to offer these "loaded" boards anymore. Dammit.
Turns out Goodwill and the Salvation Army have stacks of old used IBM Model Ms. Many techs (or their wives) donate their Model M keyboards. I think Model M owners clickety click by themselves... Either they are single or their IBM Model M is in a soundproof room or a room that is far away from the family bedroom. Clickety keys at 1AM will cause your signigicant other to give you an ultimatum: "It's me or the Model M" http://www.goodwill.org/ http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/
N00bs on my slashdot? Real gamers don't use arrow keys.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
Clicky feel, silent, 24 function keys across the top, ten down the left, dozens of spare and sometimes strange keycaps, half inch thick, manual, a programmers dream, but I like the noise of the Model M.
All your database are belong to U.S.
on the other hand I like. Personal preference of course. The IntelliMouse Explorer 4.0 with the tilt wheel is really nice. What I really want back is the IntelliMouse Trackball.
All your database are belong to U.S.
Actually, all of my PCs have PS/2 ports. I was just whining. :-)
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
Initially dust did seem to seem sucked into the plastic underside like a vacuum cleaner, but is better now. My desk is wooden so I would guess I don't get too much static build-up. You might find your air is very dry, which can lead to static build-up on metal surfaces.
Yes, we know the Model M and buckling spring keyboards are the best, but can Unicomp please make their web site not suck? I always point people to their web site and have to attach the disclaimer "their web site sucks, but their keyboards absolutely rock."