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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.
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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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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.
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(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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
Good thing Windows doesn't make a clicking sound every time you press a key. This is more like the physical click of a mouse button.
I don't think most folks want the click for the sake of the click. Mostly we want the feel given by buckling spring switches. If I were deaf, I'd still prefer my Model M to spongy quiet keyboards.
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Newfangled? I used to have an Apricot computer (which shipped with Windows 1.04) which had a small LCD (40 columns, 2 lines) on the keyboard and ran a calculator, a notes program, and a few other things. The notes program, as I recall, allowed you to store notes in the keyboard and then send them as a stream of characters to the currently-running program. I can't remember the exact specs of the computer, but I'm fairly sure it was an 8086 with no hard drive and probably no more than 640KB of RAM. Certainly not what you'd call 'modern'.
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Have to say, I really like my Logitech G15 v1, it's so much better compared to the orange looking v2 that has different keys which don't type nearly as well.
Not to mention the LCD, which is great as well.
I have a Unicomp as well. There is nothing like it. They also make a quiet version, which has the same curved keyboard typing area and all the keys in the right places, but doesn't make the ka-klang when typing. This is good for when you don't have an office or have kids next door at home.
My typing WPM goes way up on the ka-klang style Type M clones because the feedback is exacting, there is a pressure-release feel when the button is actuated and a sound for feedback.
I'm not saying cheap Chicony style or freebie Dell style are horrible, but the ka-klanging boards and that layout for keys seem optimal and if you happen to have very large hands, the pitch between keys is ideal for a lot more than the dainty handed typers.
For the longest time I was loyal to IBM for Thinkpads largely due to the adherence to a proper properly pitched keyboard with proper tactile feedback.
Also, IBM made a "compacted" Type M. It was black, has all the nice features but has a much smaller footprint. I think I have the FRU somewhere.
IBM Black compact 104 clickey with curvature: FRU 37L0814 FCC ID: E8HKB-5323 MODEL: KB-3923
Dell also gave for some time with the Dell 1550 machines and machines from that era a ka-klanger keyboard that was excellent. Its much larger like the Type M, its black and it ka-klangs.
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