Author Topic: IBM Model M - Second plate label?  (Read 1364 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline goneriah

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 2
IBM Model M - Second plate label?
« on: Mon, 20 March 2017, 10:44:14 »
Hey everyone. New here and hoping I'm posting this in the right spot.

Can anyone help me figure out what this second label is on the plate? It looks like it may be a quality control thing but I have no idea. Any help would be appreciated as google has lead me nowhere.


Offline Tactile

  • Posts: 1434
  • Location: Portland, OR
Re: IBM Model M - Second plate label?
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 20 March 2017, 11:19:58 »
I think it's a label from a refurb company. There were/are companies which would refurb malfunctioning IBM keyboards for companies which had a lot of them. I worked for a company which had a lot of IBM terminals - I'd guess somewhere around 150. There was a constant rotation of both M and F 122 key keyboards as they would malfunction (most common on the shop floor) and be replaced. The bad boards would go on the pile 'till it got so high, then they would all be sent out to a refurb company. We'd get them back refreshed, cleaned, shrink-wrapped, and ready to go back into service.

I think your mysterious second label is from one of those outfits.
REΛLFORCE

Offline goneriah

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 2
Re: IBM Model M - Second plate label?
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 20 March 2017, 11:37:57 »
I think it's a label from a refurb company. There were/are companies which would refurb malfunctioning IBM keyboards for companies which had a lot of them. I worked for a company which had a lot of IBM terminals - I'd guess somewhere around 150. There was a constant rotation of both M and F 122 key keyboards as they would malfunction (most common on the shop floor) and be replaced. The bad boards would go on the pile 'till it got so high, then they would all be sent out to a refurb company. We'd get them back refreshed, cleaned, shrink-wrapped, and ready to go back into service.

I think your mysterious second label is from one of those outfits.

The only reason I'm suspicious of that is because this was an old lady's personal computer. I got the whole Model 25 system with peripherals and it was all in incredibly good condition. Maybe she got it from the company she worked for after it was used a few years. I wonder when companies decided to swap out systems back then. Regardless, I'm intrigued.

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: IBM Model M - Second plate label?
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 07 June 2017, 22:55:07 »
A refurb sticker sounds plausible.

Model M hails from the time when people would repair a broken keyboard instead of throwing it out and buying a new one.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ