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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.
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 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/
Obviously the model M is gone, but the keyboard isn't. And judging by the other posts, the keyboard is missed.
What you get when typing away on a typewriter and thinking about the ugly people you had sex with.
This is /. There isn't even Ugly Sex for some of us. Sigh.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Some?
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.
You forgot to mention the most important part, after you hit the salesman the keyboard will still work.
Actually I've heard that after those M keyboards get the blood of salesmen they actually make you type faster.
But it's not his fault. The evil capitalist bastards put the bastard keys in the wrong place to ensure the net bastard present value of their evil future profit bastard streams. The evil bastardingly evil doing bastards!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I never metaphor I didn't like.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
You young whippersnappers and your Selectrics! When I was your age, my 'laptop' was a 40-pound Remington on which I could only type 45 words per minute without jamming the hammers. My 42 nano-baud 'modem' was an envelope and a stamp which the mailman walked uphill through eight feet of snow to deliver.
But boy oh boy, that keyboard had sound! You always knew when everyone in the office was typing up a storm; you had to shout a conversation, which cut down on unnecessary chit-chat. And you couldn't be a lightweight either. Five days a week on a Remington gave us all forearms like Popeye and a grip that would make a longshoreman wince.
So get yer new-fangled Selectric offa my lawn, kiddies!
Find environmentally and socially responsible products on http://buy-right.net
Woah, properly formatted sentences. With indentation no less!
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.