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Adi Robertson writes at The Verge that next year, IBM's Model M keyboard turns 30 but to many people, it’s still the only keyboard worth using. Introduced in 1985 as part of the IBM 3161 terminal, the Model M was initially called the "IBM Enhanced Keyboard." A PC-compatible version appeared the following spring, and it officially became standard with the IBM Personal System / 2 in 1987. The layout of the Model M has been around so long that today it’s simply taken for granted but the keyboard’s descendents have jettisoned one of the Model M’s most iconic features—"buckling springs," designed to provide auditory and tactile feedback to the keyboard operator. "Model M owners sometimes ruefully post stories of spouses and coworkers who can’t stand the incessant chatter. But fans say the springs’ resistance and their audible "click" make it clear when a keypress is registered, reducing errors," writes Robertson. "Maybe more importantly, typing on the Model M is a special, tangible experience. Much like on a typewriter, the sharp click gives every letter a physical presence."
According to Robertson, the Model M is an artifact from a time when high-end computing was still the province of industry, not pleasure. But while today's manufacturers have long since abandoned the concept of durability and longevity, refurbished Model M's are still available from aficionados like Brandon Ermita, a Princeton University IT manager who recovers them from supply depots and recycling centers and sells them through his site, ClickyKeyboards. "For the very few that still appreciate the tactile feel of a typewriter-based computer keyboard and can still appreciate the simplicity of black letters on white keys, one can still seek out and own an original IBM model M keyboard—a little piece of early computing history," says Ermita. As one Reddit user recently commented, "Those bastards are the ORIGINAL gaming keyboards. No matter how much you abuse it, you’ll die before it does."
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Tuesday October 14 2014, @04:44AM
Has anyone dared to pop off all the keys and clean under there? I have and couldn't believe the keyboard worked without a hitch with all that crud there.
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Tuesday October 14 2014, @08:33AM
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday October 14 2014, @10:28AM
I lost the key cap to my left Ctrl key and ended up having to replace it with one that was a bit smaller. It's scary under there.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday October 14 2014, @12:05PM
Yes I do that every couple years and to all new keyboards because they're usually filthy.
There's a whole strategy WRT you take a paper clip and needle nose pliers and make a maybe 1/16th inch hook on the end and thats about right to pop the caps off and then the caps go in a peanut butter jar (back when those were glass) with dishwashing detergent and water and shake for a few seconds every couple minutes for like an hour, then rinse rinse rinse and dump out on dish towel to dry before reassembly. Try not to F up and swap two of the weirder keycaps like scroll lock vs pause/break.
Apparently I'm quite a bit older than everyone else because my Model Ms occasionally came as a package deal with an old PS/2. You know, the PS/2 was a computer model line, a legendarily bad one, before it became known as a connector standard. This is an aspect of the model M that isn't often discussed that people would get a PS/2 because "its IBM and nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" and realize they sucked, but OMG the keyboard was amazing compared to the POS they'd get with the replacement computer, so the rare person who knew what they were doing would keep the good keyboard and the legend of the model M was born.
I've had the same model M on my desk since .... honestly I donno. Early 90s at least.
Its been like 25 years and I still don't understand the noise complaints. If you work in a shitty open plan office, the experience is by definition going to be shitty and distracting and annoying and you're going to have to wear headphones and maybe blinders to keep your sanity, so who cares how loud something is you can't hear over your headphones. And if you work in decent conditions or at home, its practically silent compared to a dot matrix printer or daisy wheel printer or old fashioned electric typewriter or a TV or a radio blasting music or the lawnmower outside or the screaming little kids in their back yard or ... again I'm just not seeing it. I worked in networking at a factory that had an air compressor so loud it was unsafe unless you wore earplugs and earmuffs. But there's an ignorant journalist fixation on pointlessly bringing up that the sound of a M is pretty quiet, but it is probably the loudest commonly used keyboard in the modern era, but that doesn't matter...
If you work inside an anechoic chamber at a Zen monastery then I could see the noise being offensive.
I find the beep from my KVM when it switches much more annoying than the sound of the keyboard itself.
Currently my desk has a PS/2 style KVM and everything either speaks PS/2 or if its something like the PI I have a converter box (not just an adapter, but a converter) that changes PS/2 to USB. So I have one keyboard, three monitors, three machines, and three trackballs one per machine. Eventually I'll probably upgrade to converting the model M to USB and then doing a USB KVM with six monitors and some number of machines between 3 and 6 but I still haven't gotten around to it. The only thing better for productivity than multiple monitors is multiple computers so I probably won't multi-monitor.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Reziac on Tuesday October 14 2014, @01:17PM
Try liquid laundry detergent instead, preferably Cheer or Tide. It will soak off the peanut butter as well as the crud. I don't buy dishwashing liquid anymore. (Tho Ajax is almost as good, but it doesn't work in cold water the way laundry detergent does.)
And you can have my share of the IBM keyboards. For me, silent and light touch makes me a better typist.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday October 14 2014, @08:52PM
As soon as you find the proper screwdrivers to open the case a model-m is very easy to clean and reassemble; I tend to clean my keyboards by simply disassembling them, cleaning all electronics and metal with pressurised air and all the plastic with a quick (couple of minutes) soak in water and detergent (for washing dishes) followed by toweldrying all the parts (and giving slight elbow-grease to get rid of grime).. after that I usually allow it to dry overnight before reassembling it again.
Only drawback with this method is that the label on the backside doesn't like it (easily fixed with a piece of plastic sheet cut to size and then taped over it (make sure that the tape seals shut against the plastic of the case).
If you don't feel like disassembling the keyboard completly (or just want a quick clean) then a screwdriver to pop off the keytops, pressurised air, tweezers and a dedicated toothbrush does the job very well.