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.

Comments

Odd that we're seeing this again

[esobofh]

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.

Re:Odd that we're seeing this again

[JWSmythe]

    I was wondering that too. What do you have to do for that kind of advertising? Actually, it was NRP who did it first, but still, either they dumb lucked into a lot of advertising, or they paid some decent money to advertise that they make ancient keyboards.

    They've been making keyboards quieter because they used to be very loud and hard on your fingers. Then again, I learned to type on a mechanical typewriter, so for the first several years that I used PC's, I pounded on the keys, and went through a keyboard about every 6 months. If I start typing really fast (I'm usually somewhere just above 100wpm), I start pounding like I'm on the mechanical typewriter again. People usually laugh at me, and then I have to stop and ask why they're laughing.

    Lately, I've been nice to my keyboards. The lettering wears off before the keyboard fails. Who needs lettering anyways? I've thrown a few away because the alignment marks on "F" and "J" have worn off. It's hard to touch type with a mouse, when you have to look to realign. :)

 

On thing mechanical typewriters had

[Ungrounded Lightning]

(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.

Admitted keyboard snob here

[subreality]

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.

The Model M is much more than a keyboard

[szquirrel]

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.