Great/Interesting Finds

[fohat]

got to wonder what foolishness my NIB SSK would go for.

My NIB SSK (from Cindy) nevertheless had over half of its rivets broken. I'm just saying ....

[Muirium]

Let me play kbdfr for a second: Model Ms are awful and everyone who pays good money for them is a fool. We should all close our Chyros review windows, clear our heads of the Beast, and use MX black like real secretarial staff have done for generations and quit getting beyond ourselves.

Channelling me again Of course its rivets are iffy, it's a Model M!

It barely rattles when picked up and shaken, as I recall, so it's actually pretty good, considering.

[depletedvespene]

Let me play kbdfr for a second: Model Ms are awful and everyone who pays good money for them is a fool. We should all close our Chyros review windows, clear our heads of the Beast, and use MX black like real secretarial staff have done for generations and quit getting beyond ourselves.

Channelling me again Of course its rivets are iffy, it's a Model M!

It barely rattles when picked up and shaken, as I recall, so it's actually pretty good, considering.

Who are you, and what did you do to the real Muirium?

[Muirium]

I've always been ruined on Model M: I had an XT first. Model M is the misbegotten, cost-cut, crappy successor to the One True Buckling Spring, which alas gets all the 'popular' glory. When I first tried a Model M—"the greatest keyboard ever made"—I was bitterly disappointed. Pure trash compared to my goofball XT. Definitely not a fan of membrane BS.

Still love the SSK layout, though.

[Bjerrk]

Never understood the negativity around the Model M, I always thought it was great, if a bit too stiff.
Sure, it's no Model F, but that's like saying a two star Michelin isn't worth it because some restaurant has three

[Muirium]

It's the overblown reputation thing. You really do hear "Model M is The Greatest Keyboard Ever Made" occasionally doing the rounds out there. Pure baloney.

I don't pour scorn on Model M2, btw. I quite like my M2. It's a very 90s take on the 80s Model M, and the feel isn't definitively worse either. Best of all: absolutely no one ever says the M2 is The Greatest Ever Ma…

Searching DT for pics, I can't find any of my M2 so I'll add that to my photography list. It's a decent looking keyboard. Not my favourite era but quite proud to be what it reckons it is.

[Bjerrk]

It's the overblown reputation thing. You really do hear "Model M is The Greatest Keyboard Ever Made" occasionally doing the rounds out there. Pure baloney.

Fair point. That it ain't. Model F122, perhaps

[mmm]

I had a friend over last week who got disappointed in the Model M and found it "weird" after trying an F. I was a bit surprised. I thought that kind of keyboard snobbery had to be acquired over time.

[Bjerrk]

I had a friend over last week who got disappointed in the Model M and found it "weird" after trying an F. I was a bit surprised. I thought that kind of keyboard snobbery had to be acquired over time.

I am not sure what this is, but it came up as soon as I googled "instant snob". What I'm seeing is a guy who savours the lingering switch feel after some discerning typing.

snob.jpg (843.48 KiB) Viewed 12157 times

[depletedvespene]

I've always been ruined on Model M: I had an XT first. Model M is the misbegotten, cost-cut, crappy successor to the One True Buckling Spring, which alas gets all the 'popular' glory. When I first tried a Model M—"the greatest keyboard ever made"—I was bitterly disappointed. Pure trash compared to my goofball XT. Definitely not a fan of membrane BS.

Still love the SSK layout, though.

I also used an XT first, way before ever touching a Model M. Even then, I could see the XT's layout was bad.

Now, we can argue for hours on whether or not the switches this and that, but it needs to be remembered that the Enhanced layout was introduced with the Model M, and it was the Enhanced layout itself what "broke" everything that had come beforehand. I've said this numerous times: F switches are better than M switches, but not enough so to prefer an F AT layout or an F XT layout over the Enhanced layout (... and this is why the F122 is so coveted).

[Muirium]

Don't forget those broken rivets and necessary screw/bolt mods. Kbdfr's quite right about that. Cherry keyboards are superior for not disintegrating like IBM's.

Just a shame they mostly feel shite, but.

[Bjerrk]

Cherry keyboards are superior for not disintegrating like IBM's.

To be fair, I guess we should compare MX with capacitive BS and MY with membrane BS.

[depletedvespene]

Cherry keyboards are superior for not disintegrating like IBM's.

To be fair, I guess we should compare MX with capacitive BS and MY with membrane BS.

Now, that is the fairest of the fair comparisons, indeed.


(what do we do with ML?)

[Muirium]

I did think of M is to F as MY is to MX. But even that works out badly for IBM, as at least Cherry didn't discontinue MX when they introduced MY. MY was never MX's replacement. Just imagine if it had been!

[Bjerrk]

'Tis better to have loved and lost ...

[Muirium]

…and collected, while you had the chance…

[depletedvespene]

…and collected, while you had the chance…

I didn't get a chance to collect an Unsaver.

(but I do have an F107 to avoid weeping over)

[Bjerrk]

Lest you be left with another literary conundrum. To beam or not to beam ...

I'll see myself out.

[depletedvespene]

Lest you be left with another literary conundrum. To beam or not to beam ...

Ellipse better not dissapoint and better not "forget" proper ISO support.

[Muirium]

I have a beam!

[depletedvespene]

"ANSI and ISO together". Careful there, Mister... that's a BAE Enter.

[mmm]

Speaking of inferior SSKs and superior cherry boards, I came across this one on geekhack:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=117754.0
IC for Model M cherry-edition from vortexgear. It's an aluminium TKL using gasket mount. Not the kind of stuff I am interested in usually, but I think the design is gorgeous, especially with the low typing angle.

[Muirium]

Ooh la-la!



Nothing actually seems to be printed on that badge, which is a shame, but overall a commendable piece of work. Doesn't include caps though, really needs those Cherry profile WoBs!

Gives you a good view of exactly what Cherry achieved in implementing a very IBM like profile but on a flat backplate with contoured keys. Looks a lot nicer than I'd expect!

[Bjerrk]

Cool indeed!
Speaking of typing angle, it seems they opted for a separate PCB for the top row - perhaps goes a way to explain the nice profile they've achieved.

[guidemetothelight]

This quirky Platinum Sound mechanical Keyboard with built in amps & speakers. Location: Germany
Gerade bei #eBayKleinanzeigen gefunden. Wie findest du das?
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... nt=app_ios

[hellothere]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125407696084
Olivetti Keyboard 2 - ANK 2462. Has a link to a video.
Olivetti dome with slider

Really pretty keyboard. $69 without shipping.

[Muirium]

Olivetti sure made them pretty. Wouldn’t mind that one myself. Checks location… Cairo!?! Mamma Mia!

[thefarside]

IBM Model F50:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234620955185
Any guesses how high it’ll go?

[fohat]

I have no idea about the quality of this, or whether it is even legit, but here is something:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255631156631?_ ... %3A2047675

[mmm]

IBM Model F50:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234620955185
Any guesses how high it’ll go?

At some point a year ago I had a strong desire to get one of these. I guess the final price will be able to finally kill my desire completely.

I asked the seller whether they could ship to Denmark, and they replied that eBay wouldn't let them activate international shipping for this item.