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.

I dunno about audible feedback....

[Starayo]

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. >_>

Don't fall for it!

[Yamamato]

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 [slashdot.org]

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My model M rules

[ericferris]

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?

Re:An audible keyboard is like audible links

[scubamage]

Different strokes for different folks. I love my IBM model M keyboard, and the thing is still going strong though its using an adapter to fit. I like the feel, I like the sound, I like knowing I can pick up my keyboard and whack a sales guy if they really do go one step too far one day - and actually do some damage that'd justify the assault charge.

Obviously the model M is gone, but the keyboard isn't. And judging by the other posts, the keyboard is missed.

Re:I have several of the old ones

[Anonymous Coward]

How much does it weigh after you clean it?

Re:Max Headroom

[MrEricSir]

It's certainly better than the keyboards in Naked Lunch...

Re:Nice

[__aaclcg7560]

What you get when typing away on a typewriter and thinking about the ugly people you had sex with.

Re:Nice

[sgt scrub]

This is /. There isn't even Ugly Sex for some of us. Sigh.

Re:Nice

[Anonymous Coward]

Some?

Model M = LART tool

[Bob A Trollmuncher]

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.

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Re:Nice

[tverbeek]

WTF kind of sentence is that?

It's the kind that uses a metaphor... apparently instead of proper punctuation.

NOT Indestructible

[immel]

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).

Re:An audible keyboard is like audible links

[Arthur Grumbine]

If there had only been an Aramaic layout and an impact printer that accepted stone tablets...

Re:Nice

[dubbreak]

That's why I always type with the lights off.

My fav keyboard of all time - IBM Displaywriter

[rickb928]

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... [ebay.com]

wow.

Re:An audible keyboard is like audible links

[jgtg32a]

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.

Re:Odd that we're seeing this again

[Bobartig]

When you consume 24x your healthy intake of cholesterol, and you have a heart attack, even though you're trim and skinny. That's when. Yes, it happens.

Re:Yes

[Hognoxious]

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!

Re:Nice

[Mordok-DestroyerOfWo]

Wait wait wait, do you mean to tell me there's no hope? Ever!? Where's a suicide booth when you need it?

Re:Nice

[Nefarious Wheel]

I never metaphor I didn't like.

Re:Nice

[geobeck]

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!

Re:I dunno about audible feedback....

[supernova_hq]

Just take some of those cardboard trays that hold 144 eggs and glue them to the ceiling (covered in felt). That will work as a sound insulator and your mother will be able to sleep much more soundly.

Re:Odd that we're seeing this again

[jack2000]

Woah, properly formatted sentences. With indentation no less!

Yeah, yeah...

[jra]

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.

Re:Nice

[Kjella]

Hey, you can't take away hope. You got to leave room for some myths and legends about the slashdotter who got laid once, presumably by a girl too drunk to realize in a disused lavatory with a sign that said "Beware of the Leopard". Of course some got to take it too far and come up with such absurd things as girlfriends and wives, offspring or even girls on slashdot which puts them way into the land of fairies and unicorns. Keep it believable people.