
The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] - CaliforniaKarl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7wmMZmMinM
======
i0exception
If you're interested in buying one of these, Unicomp
([https://www.pckeyboard.com](https://www.pckeyboard.com)) purchased the
rights to continue making Model M style keyboards once Lexmark removed them
from their line of products.

If you want to buy one of the originals,
[https://clickykeyboards.com](https://clickykeyboards.com) has them.

Also, the Model F
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_F_keyboard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_F_keyboard))
is considered by many as being superior to the Model M. IBM made far fewer
Model Fs compared to the Ms, so if you find one of these in the wild, it'll be
really expensive.
[https://www.modelfkeyboards.com](https://www.modelfkeyboards.com) is trying
to re-create the original Model F.

~~~
elric
While it's true that Unicomp have purchased all the rights and equipment to
make Model M keyboards, the quality doesn't seem to a candle to the original.
I managed to break two in the span of two years. At which point I gave up on
them and simply built my own. This could just have been catastrophically bad
luck. Or like Linus says in the video, maybe it has something to do with their
version being based on the newer, cheaper Lexmark version and not the IBM
original.

Model F was a very interesting keyboard. I was rather fond of the 24 function
keys on mine. And I now regret not having taken mine with me when I moved out
at age 18.

~~~
throw7
Same robustness issues with my unicomp. The alt and spacebar keys don't
register if not pressed a certain way (wonky)... all in about a year of use.

I still have a few model m's, but I got tired of not having a "windows" key,
so I gave it a shot and can't recommend them.

~~~
dlevine
I have a Unicomp, and my roommate spilled water on it once, which caused a
bunch of the keys to not register and required a rebuild (which cost almost as
much as a new keyboard).

------
kpgraham
I am typing this on a Model M. I wrote my first program in 1969 and I have
used every kind of keyboard since. I bought four Model Ms, new in the box,
about 10 years ago for $7 each. I expect them to last for the next 20 years
(if I live that long).

The keys are black from my fingers and some of the letters are partially worn
off.

The model M is the best keyboard that I have ever used.

~~~
mdip
I used to work with a guy who used the original Model M that he had with the
PC he was given in the late 80s/early 90s. It's survived multiple coffee
spills and at least one case where it was repeatedly picked up and bashed
against the desk out of frustration (both key-side down and up). You'll almost
certainly get that 20 years.

If you want to restore the keys -- and to be clear, I can't _honestly_
recommend this approach -- but I used to _bathe_ my Northgate Omnikey and
clean it with dish soap, followed by a trip to the oven on the equivalent of a
"keep warm" setting for a half-day. I was surprised that a lot of the
discoloration on the keys wasn't the usual plastic oxidation but was from the
oil and grime on my fingertips. It always came out shining and like-new --
partly because whatever they did to print the letters on the keys was very
resistant to being worn off. I did it about once every 2 years during the
decade and a half that I owned it and it was sold at an estate sale in perfect
working condition 15 years after that.

At least one person mentioned using a dishwasher. I've never tried it, and
would never do that to a modern keyboard, but I'd imagine the effects would be
similar with a whole lot less effort.

~~~
celestialcheese
LTT did a video testing out different cleaning methods - Surprisingly
keyboards in dishwasher with modern keyboards was safe.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgnF42ZoRSw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgnF42ZoRSw)

------
zevv
I can't help to just keep blatantly reposting this for each and every HN
article about buckle spring keyboards:

[https://github.com/zevv/bucklespring](https://github.com/zevv/bucklespring)

"This project emulates the sound of my old faithful IBM Model-M space saver
bucklespring keyboard while typing on my notebook, mainly for the purpose of
annoying the hell out of my coworkers."

Enjoy!

~~~
macjohnmcc
It would be fun to annoy others with it but the extra width of the keyboard
also comes with the annoyance that your mouse is further to the right as well.
I alternate between using my M and other mechanical keyboards (months between
switching) until my memory of the inconvenience of the mouse being further
away fades.

~~~
zevv
That is where the Model M "space saver" comes in:
[https://tinyurl.com/vcvkf8p](https://tinyurl.com/vcvkf8p)

~~~
ghaff
I have a WASD but same layout. I never used the numeric keyboard and it fits
on my keyboard tray with a big Mac trackpad much better than my previous full-
size mechanical keyboard did.

------
hazeii
To me (and it seems very much a personal opinion) not having an F-key array on
the left - as on the original AT keyboards - was one of the biggest losses
made during keyboard evolution. Depends on the software in use of course, but
being able to hit a modifier (Ctrl, Shift, Alt) and an F-key without
stretching is the reason I still use the old-style layout to this day.

------
mdip
Somewhat topic-adjacent -- I'm looking at getting a new keyboard. In my early
20s, I used this specific keyboard and while I liked it (as my other comment
points out), it's _super loud_.

Does anyone make a heavy mechanical keyboard with F-Keys on the left any
longer? It is a whole lot easier to land on the right F-key without looking
down when they're vertical on the left (just like it's easier to hit all the
numbers accurately on a number-pad vs. the top row). Being able to one-hand
CTRL/ALT+F-keys accurately, without looking, is somewhere between difficult
and impossible on modern keyboard designs.

The keyboard I grew up on, the Northgate Omnikey, was heavy, had left-oriented
F-Keys, and included replacement key caps for CTRL, ALT and CAPS LOCK (along
with a tool to remove the keys!) so that you could put CTRL where CAPS LOCK
typically is and ALT where CTRL typically is. It also had corresponding DIP
switches that controlled whether the keyboard sent CTRL or CAPS LOCK from that
position, so no monkeying around with driver software or OS configuration to
make your keyboard behave the way that the key caps indicated.

Are any of you using a board like this which is either USB or PS/2 and has
been manufactured in the last 5 years (or is still produced, new, today)?

~~~
cptnapalm
Unicomp makes one:
[https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40L5A](https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40L5A)

It will be gloriously clickity clackety.

------
znpy
Uh... I remember I saw that video in advance on Floatplane
([https://www.floatplane.com/](https://www.floatplane.com/)) and decided to
get an EnduraPro (Basically a ModelM + Trackpoint) from Unicomp.

I've used it for a while but then decided to put it away.

Two big problems:

1\. The trackpoint moves the cursor to the left just right, but it hits a key
when moving to the right. Basically it's super fast to move in one direction
and super-slow in the opposite. It got me crazy.

2\. The keys are immensely loud. Duh. I was expecting loud keys, but I didn't
expect that much loud. I am not kidding here: i decided to finally put away
the keyboard when, while typing on an afternoon, I hit the Enter key a bit
harder than usual and somehow I got pain in my right ear. I am not sure if
this was due to some vibration traveling back through my right arm or just
from noise, but man that did not feel good at all.

Oh... did I mention that thing is FU __ING MASSIVE? It 's HEAVY. HEAVY AS F
__K.

One of the Model-M disadvantages (that also affects a lot of mechanical
keyboards, but no one seems to care, apparenly) is that the key plane is
raised from where your palm usually rests, and the angle the key forms is not
negligible. One could probably get some kind of wrist strain by using it all
the day everyday.

And don't even get me started on the mess I had to do to have it shipped to
europe...

I have settled on an IBM SK-8845 keyboard at work and a ThinkPad USB
(x220-style) keyboard at home. They're both quieter, the trackpoint works a
lot better (the sk-8845 even has the touchpad), they're flatter and they both
have a very comfortable palmrest.

In the end, I don't completely regret buying the endura pro but I wouldn't buy
it again.

------
rudolfwinestock
For a moment, I thought that they were talking about this project:

[https://kono.store/products/input-club-symbolic-
keyboard](https://kono.store/products/input-club-symbolic-keyboard)

For those too lazy to click, it's a project to resurrect the Space Cadet
Keyboard. It's still in the planning stages.

------
petilon
To me the greatest keyboard of all time is Acer Future, seen in this picture:
[https://i.imgur.com/KIjOiuQ.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/KIjOiuQ.jpg)

It is great because the trackpad is in the center of the keyboard, which means
you don't have to stretch your arm to use the mouse.

The keys feel nice and it is ergonomic. Sadly they stopped making these long
ago. Nothing like it is available in the market today.

~~~
buster
This looks quite a bit like my kinesis pro keyboard which I bought because of
CTS. I am thinking about putting a touchpad in the middle..

~~~
ianai
I have one there. Works well!

------
YZF
The history in the video doesn't ring quite right. The heritage of the PS/2
keyboard also relate to mainframe terminals (3270 and maybe 5250) which
predate the IBM PC and to the original IBM/AT keyboard which predates the
PS/2\. Presumably some of those have electric typewriter heritage as well. I
also think some of those older keyboards were nicer than the PS/2 IMNHO.

------
myrandomcomment
I still have a Model M attached to an older system that I use for playing with
different Linux distos on. The date stamp on the back says "28Nov88".

Today my is keyboard is a Filco Majestouch 2 Tenkeyless (Japanese). I also
have the Flico "Genuine Wood" wrist rest. I ordered replacement keycaps to
match MacOS vs the default Windows keys (any replaced the Caplocks with Ctrl,
the way God intended it!). I have one on the desk at home and work. The
feeling is not quite as good as the Model M but it works well. Switches are
Cherry Brown (45g). The Model M is 70g IIRC.

If you are looking for a keyboard, Filco is worth trying. If you live in Japan
any of the big tech shops (Bic, etc) will have a ton on display with different
switches you can try out.

When I worked at IBM way back when, keyboards were a "green tagged" part vs. a
"red tagged part". Green = order as many as you want with no accounting/reason
for doing so. Red parts had to be accounted for (the $$$ stuff).

------
sleepybrett
to hell with the M.. my heart still lives with the F.
[https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/](https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/)

------
skocznymroczny
I've been on a mechanical keyboard adventure, and I realized most of them are
not for me. I don't have any nostalgia for the 80s keyboards, and I can't
stand tall keys anymore.

I am using a low-profile mechanical keyboard (Havit KB390L) and it's the only
mechanical keyboard that is usable for me.

However, it's likely my next keyboard will be scissor switch again. I will
probably go for Logitech MX Keys, seems to be the best option for premium
scissor switch keyboards.

~~~
jakear
I agree, it’s very difficult to go from my MBP butterfly keys to a mechanical.
On top of the enormous amount of travel required, I also would be forced to
use a mouse (or external trackpad), which is so much slower than having the
touchpad at my thumbs at all times.

Right now, I type quickly on the keyboard, and any time I need to use the
pointer all that’s required is a slight rotation of my right hand. Compare
that to all the mechanical keyboard folks in my office, who also type quickly,
but every cursor interaction is a movement of their entire arm. I don’t
understand how they’re okay with that.

Anyone know of a nice low profile mechanical with a built in trackpad?

~~~
dlevine
Unicomp makes a version that has a built in trackpoint and mouse buttons.
Haven't used it, though.

~~~
toast0
I've read that the trackpoint in the M13s (including the Unicomps) are one of
the earlier designs, and trackpoint enthusiasts prefer the newer versions.
That's as far as I went down that rabbit hole.

------
heybrandons
Dang, I was hoping for something newer. Model M's today are really hard to
work with. It take's majority of your desk space and then you have to use one
of those weird adapters that you will have to convert again to plug into most
computers. I use the happy hacking boards as they're pretty solid, take up
less space and still feel alright typing. Seeing the video does give me new
inspiration to go back to the model m though... Thanks for sharing!

------
thelazydogsback
On a related note, I just came across this: [https://www.amazon.com/Freewrite-
Distraction-Free-Typewriter...](https://www.amazon.com/Freewrite-Distraction-
Free-Typewriter-Frontlight-Mechanical/dp/B01GGE8CP8/ref=sr_1_54)

Looks like a good TRS-80 Model 100 replacement for writers. Although perhaps a
bit _too_ anachronistic as you can apparently only backspace!

------
jrockway
The model M is an interesting keyboard; the sound and tactility is great.
However, those keyswitches are quite heavy by modern standards and you may
find your fingers getting tired. The layout is also not amazing, and the
controller doesn't lend itself to much customizability.

If you work in an environment where loud keys are acceptable, you should try
the Kailh/Novelkeys "thick clicks": [https://novelkeys.xyz/products/novelkeys-
x-kailh-box-thick-c...](https://novelkeys.xyz/products/novelkeys-x-kailh-box-
thick-clicks) The sound and tactility on these switches is incredible.

I think a lot of people that are interested in mechanical keyboards think the
only options available are Cherry Browns, Cherry Blues, Topre, and buckling
springs... but the reality is that that is the tip of the iceberg. The new
designs in the Cherry form factor are much better than anything Cherry makes
or has ever made; so if you've tried those and didn't like them (I found them
distractingly scratchy and not very tactile; apparently a common complaint),
there are a lot of other options before you have to go to a finger-killing
model M.

I currently use an Ergodox EZ with Thick Clicks (Jade on the pinky keys, Navy
on everything else) and love it. It is the most tactile keyboard I have ever
used, and the sound is amazing. I also have an Ergodox EZ with Healios (silent
linear) switches and love those too. They are the smoothest and quietest
switches I have ever touched; it is almost distracting how smooth and silent
they are.

Anyway, there is a lot of good stuff out there and a lot of keyboards support
swapping switches without soldering now, so you can try them all. I think most
people will like a non-model-M board, simply because we can do so much better
now. If you've ever used Cherry switches and said "this is terrible" and
though that a model M was your only option for tactility; that's just not the
case anymore. There are hundreds of switches between Cherry Brown and buckling
spring now; one of them is likely to be "your thing".

Some switches I've used recently:

\- Hako True - these were designed to feel like Topre switches, but they don't
feel like Topre switches. They feel linear and get very heavy before
activation, so they don't feel good to type on to me. It just feels like
compressing a spring and maybe your key will be typed if you're lucky.

\- Novelkeys Box Royal - these are very tactile, but you can very strongly
feel the activation point and they feel like they want to get stuck there on
the way up. I used these as pinky keys for about a year and they just got
scratchier and scratchier until I felt the need to replace them. (Lube is
probably the correct fix, but I am too lazy to lube keyswitches.) They are
quite tactile, though. Interesting design, worth a try.

\- Hako Royal Clear - these are heavier Box Royals, I think, and I used them
for about a year as the non-pinky keys on the board with Box Royals. Pretty
tactile, but you can definitely feel some clickiness at the activation point
on the way up. They are not particularly quiet, but are a good switch to try
out.

\- Novelkeys Thick Clicks - very very very tactile, maybe the most tactile
switch I've ever used. Super loud. The Jades really do require you to remove
all force from the key to come back up; I notice this but it doesn't bother me
in any way. My favorite switch family by far, if you can live with the noise.
It's not "oh I can hear someone typing", it's "there is an earthquake nearby
we're all going to die" loud. Similar to buckling springs, but not as heavy.
Still on the heavy side, though, so if you like really light switches, they
are not for you. (If you like light switches, I think you are basically dead
with respect to tactile or clickiness, though; the tactile bump is always
going to be heavy.)

\- Healios - smoothest mechanism ever. Touching them makes you think they are
exuding quality. Silent on bottom-out and upstroke. Nobody will know you're
using a mechanical keyboard. They are perfect for gaming, and pretty good for
typing. (I'm using them right now.) They are very very light even though they
are sold as 67g switches. I had avoided linear switches because I thought I
needed the tactility to avoid bottoming out, but I was wrong. Worth a look.

There are also some good switches I haven't personally used; namely the
Zilents.

Anyway, my point is that you don't need to go full model M to get good
keyswitches. There are better boards and good switches around. Get a board
with "hot-swappable" switches and try some out, it's likely you'll be able to
build the perfect keyboard. You won't be stuck with a standard layout as you
are with Realforce or Model M boards, and you'll be able to use a firmware
like QMK to get a perfect layout. (For example, I have ({}) on the home row
activated by a thumb switch on the other hand. Must more comfortable for
coding than groping for all those keys with your pinky.)

~~~
mdip
Thanks for the write-up. I'm going to look into the Healios -- I've been
wanting a heavy, mechanical, keyboard but I'm in an open office environment
and don't want my co-workers to hate me.

On the fatigue side, it might be less of an issue than you expect after you
get used to it. In fact, I noticed that while my fingers are more tired when I
use a "heavy-switch" keyboard, my posture is better and my wrists hurt less. I
suspect that I'm positioning my wrists "more correctly" on the heavier keys
because it's necessary in order to still type at the same speed on them[0].

I think the main thing is to be consistent. I used to play piano and for about
two years after I moved in to my first apartment, I had to switch to a (non-
weighted) electronic keyboard due to budget/space. When I returned to a
regular upright, I couldn't actually _play_ a lot of the music I had learned
on the synth because I wouldn't apply enough pressure to result in a sound.
After about a month of regular practice, I ended up replacing the electronic
keyboard with a much more expensive one with weighted keys and never went
back.

[0] And as much as I try to be _really careful_ ... adjusting my typing
posture, consistently, would be about as difficult as adjusting the way I
walk, consistently. It's second-nature and burned into my brain. I'd only
adjust if I received a consistent reminder, like missing keypresses.

~~~
jrockway
I also find it hard to type on light switches. I feel like heavy switches save
me from a situation where my brain wants to type a letter, but upon feeling
the start of applying force, it thinks "that is not the letter you want". On
light switches, the key is registered before the feedback loop executes
completely. (I'm on a light keyboard right now and probably hit backspace 10
times typing those sentences.)

For me, the biggest thing to make typing feel comfortable was to not use weak
fingers constantly. I touch type, on qwerty, and certainly don't mind using my
pinkies to press qazp;/, because they don't come up very often. But getting
enter, backspace, and programming symbols off the pinkies made a huge
difference for me. That is why I recommend keyboards that use QMK or similar;
you have the power to move keys around and really get what's good for you. (I
also like the Ergodox because of the four extra keys activated by your pointer
finger, and the four big thumb keys for enter, space, and modifiers. Having
said that, I think the Ergodox layout is generally not that great; the small
keys around the big thumb keys are nearly impossible to press. I use them for
arrow keys, insert, delete, pg up, pg down... and never press them. I use
C-n/C-p/C-b/C-f for movement, don't use the delete key, and have a macro for
shift-insert. If those keys were removed from the board I wouldn't be sad at
all. They are just a waste of space and ~$10 worth of keyswitches.)

Edit: one other note, I'm actually using Roselios, not Healios:
[https://zealpc.net/collections/switches/products/roselios_sa...](https://zealpc.net/collections/switches/products/roselios_sakurios)
My understanding is that they are exactly identical except for the color of
the stem. I am not sure why people care about what color their keyswitches
are... I just bought what was in stock ;)

~~~
mdip
> I feel like heavy switches save me from a situation where my brain wants to
> type a letter, but upon feeling the start of applying force, it thinks "that
> is not the letter you want".

I've run into this, myself, but never thought about it being related to the
resistance of the switches. However, I'm convinced that's it after thinking
about it.

Related to this is the most _annoying_ thing I run into with my basic
keyboards is over-stretching for CTRL+V. I _always_ catch myself about 1/4 of
the way into pressing the key and instinctively adjust. On my mechanical with
decent resistance, my finger bounces off the `B`, lands on `V`, and everything
is fine. On my laptop keyboards, which have a varying degrees of "too short of
a distance" between pressed and not pressed (even my Thinkpad), this almost
_always_ results in the CTRL+B being hit immediately before the CTRL+V (lovely
bookmark pane, now _go away_!)

~~~
jrockway
C and V are definitely in weird places on staggered keyboards. Most "touch
typists" even use the wrong finger for C because it's in such a strange place.
You might like an "ortholinear" layout, which puts everything in a finger's
column in an actual column, making it very clear which finger is responsible
for which keys. Typing C/V/B feels a lot better, especially C.

The downside of trying an ortholinear keyboard is that there is some
significant adjustment time. I think it took me a about a month to switch from
a normal staggered 60% keyboard to an Ergodox EZ, and I have a lot of trouble
going back to a non-ortholinear layout. People on Reddit assure me I am an
idiot, though, so maybe it's just me.

I bring it up because the layout really does help with that lower row, and if
you are explicitly noticing mistyped keys there a lot, it might be worth
trying it out. You will never be able to use a laptop again, though, so it
might not be worth the cost.

------
ljm
I love these keyboards (and mechanical keyboards in general; the tactility and
sensitivity is so satisfying). I just wish there was a silent option that
wasn't still loud as fuck.

The main problem is that noise isolating/cancelling cans won't protect you
from the clackety-clack, which for a lot of people can be as infuriating as
listening to someone eating loudly.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Back in the 80s when everyone in the office was using one, no one apparently
cared or noticed the noise. Though we didn't have everyone hiding behind cans
and there was often a bit of a coffee shop lite buzz of background chatter.

I think everyone got over sensitive about it as we all hide behind a playlist.

~~~
bsder
> Back in the 80s when everyone in the office was using one, no one apparently
> cared or noticed the noise.

Remember what the alternative was back then ... a bunch of people using
_typewriters_.

Compared to typewriters these keyboards are a massive improvement in noise.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
True, though I was more thinking of the computing context, where what went
before might have been a VT100 or 52, maybe a Wyse or IBM.

------
Kaibeezy
I miss having the function keys on the left, Word Perfect 1987-style.

ETA: Aha!
[https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40L5A](https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40L5A)

~~~
mdip
Yes, _please_. It's so much easier to hit the right F-Key (without looking
down), especially when combined with ALT/CTRL, when they're on the left. I
wish this was still an option these days.

Thanks for the link. Damn, I haven't seen a 122 key keyboard since the 80s!

~~~
Kaibeezy
Right? Right? It was like playing chords on a piano, or maybe like those rows
of buttons on an accordion. Top row F keys, feh!

------
unixhero
This wacky and fun chemistry PhD reviews keyboards.

His reviews are highly relevant for this thread:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/Chyrosran22](https://www.youtube.com/user/Chyrosran22)

------
seanmcdirmid
I miss my Model M, having gotten rid of it in 2016 because I knew no open
office outside of China would accept me using one. Now I just use a das with
the quieter cherry switches, it feels so inferior.

------
Finnucane
This is making me miss the Northgate Omnikey keyboard I had 30 years ago.

~~~
mdip
I think every one of my comments has mentioned this keyboard. IMO, it's the
best keyboard that was ever made and I'm seriously considering buying one on
ebay (along with all of the stuff required to plug it in to current hardware).

------
ChuckMcM
I have an M13 made in 1994 by Lexmark. It is distinguished by having the track
point built into the keyboard. I do prefer its feel over that of 'modern'
mechanical keyboards.

------
mdip
I just saw one of these on Craigslist. I used one of these for years at my
first "real job" and loved it, but _wow_ is it noisy.

In the 90s, my dad and I built custom (higher-end) PCs for small businesses
and individuals. We carefully weeded out parts that we didn't like and put a
high priority on excellent displays[1], good keyboards and mice[2]. To this
day, I'm surprised at how little thought is paid to such a critical input
device. And it's not that users don't care about it, it's almost like it was
forgotten.

My personal preference, in this category, though was the Northgate Omnikey[0].
It was a multi-platform keyboard that was able to be plugged in to an AT/XT,
Amiga and a few others. The model I had was left-oriented F-keys (I miss
that!) and included extra keys and tools so that you could put the CTRL where
"Caps Lock" was, and "alt" where the left CTRL was, which was how we
configured them ... no more accidental CAPS LOCK hits when aiming for "A".
Unfortunately, my parents sold it in an estate sale a while back. I doubt they
got anywhere near the $100-$200 that these sell for when functional (depending
on condition ... most are _very_ yellow due to the plastic oxidizing but you
can still find some that maintain their gray-white/blue color). Pretty rare to
find a keyboard that resells for about the price they were new (sans
inflation).

I'd put the IBM at a very close second. The Northgate was easily on par as far
as "feel" was concerned, but the IBM keyboards had this _loud_ "ping" sound
that sort-of rang after a key was pressed (springs), which the Omnikey lacked.
I couldn't own a keyboard like that if I wanted to continue programming since,
at the time, most of my programming[4] was done between midnight and 3:00 AM
with fleeting parental approval (fleeting ... if I woke them up).

I feel that keyboard quality is something that manufacturers have missed the
ball on -- especially on notebooks. This Christmas I picked out a Thinkpad for
my parents. They love it. My Dad now wants a new desktop keyboard, though,
because he _really likes_ the Thinkpad keyboard. I was a little puzzled -- his
current board feels _exactly the same_ to my fingers. After thinking about it
for a bit, I'm fairly certain I know where the problem is: despite the same
feel, his desktop keyboard weighs almost nothing. Every time you touch a key,
or even reach out for it, it slides a little. So every few sentences, you're
re-positioning the keyboard. At my typing speed, this means repositioning the
keyboard _constantly_.

It makes me wonder if in all of this effort to make things lighter and more
portable, the industry miscalculated by applying that logic to peripheral
keyboards. I'd prefer my keyboard to weight twice as much as my current
laptop. To me, I'd rather have a keyboard heavier than a notebook PC. Between
the two I use most regularly, one is wired, the other is wireless, both would
move with a reasonable gust of wind. Why do I care if it's convenient to carry
when it _never leaves my desktop_? There's much greater value is in it staying
put while I use it. At my office, several developers I work with have
purchased their own keyboards. Some of it is "cool factor", but one thing I
found consistently about the boards they've chosen -- _All_ of them weigh in
at 3 times the weight of the typical $15 board and most have sticky rubber
feet. About half hadn't realized the difference until I pointed it out. I even
had one co-worker that got upset at the realization -- he'd narrowed the
choice down to 2 keyboards and opted for the lighter one. I made him unhappy
with his decision. Oops!

[0]
[https://deskthority.net/wiki/Northgate_OmniKey/101](https://deskthority.net/wiki/Northgate_OmniKey/101)

[1] I can't remember the brand, but nearly every computer monitor was XGA 14";
we only sold 16+" and went with Trinitron models and models with similar
technology (at the time, I think Sony had an active patent on the technology,
but we had quality issues so we switched to a different brand that I assume
didn't work exactly like the Trinitron, but still had the color clarity).

[2] We never found a mouse worth a damn -- we experimented with an early model
of ball-free mice, but it was trash.

[3] I'm sure there's an intelligent, technical, term for that but I don't care
to search for it.

[4] I was writing a BBS from scratch in Borland/Turbo Pascal after deciding to
toss out the code from my Telegard hack. I've actually tried to revisit that
using SSH as transport (instead of dial-up) but ran out of motivation.

~~~
baylisscg
WRT [1]. Mitsubishi’s Diamondtron was the other one. Pretty much the only way
to get a flat fronted CTR at the time.

~~~
mdip
Those were excellent and I know we used them at one point. I want to say the
brand we settled on in the final years of the business was a Nokia 17" that
used a -tron variant. I'm not positive[0]. I had one of those from the mid-90s
until around 2010 as a second screen. The color quality on this display
spoiled me. I could never find a flat panel that produced such deep blacks and
bright whites. When you'd drag a photo from the CRT to any of the flat-panels,
it looked like you applied a filter to mute all of the colors a bit. It was
completely functional when I recycled it and I'd never had an issue with the
thing in the 12-15 years or so that I owned it.

[0] I tried to find the model with a quick Google Image search, and this looks
familiar: [https://www.recycledgoods.com/nokia-17-crt-monitor-svga-
mode...](https://www.recycledgoods.com/nokia-17-crt-monitor-svga-
model-447l-447l058/)

------
bullen
I feel rick-rolled, please warn about linking to Linus, I only open his videos
in incognito mode!

~~~
logicallee
Why?

~~~
tasssko
His isn’t that interested in the content and doesn’t want his feed to end up
with perpetual LTT recommendations.

~~~
logicallee
oh OK.

