Well, I think I was just being dramatic. I'd just gotten the KB—and having seen so many original Model M's, and how sharp they looked, I was just disappointed that Unicomp's Model M's weren't made with the same attention to their appearance.
But again, it's just their
appearance. Mechanically, Unicomps are as cool to type on as any IBM—just as solid, fast 'n' clicky.
I don't know why Unicomp moved to a different key font. As they bought IBM/Lexmark's original assembly equipment, you'd think their design would be the same down to that detail. But IBM has always been very picky about how their products look, and the original Model M's look is very distinctive. Maybe they gave Unicomp a hard time about making KBs that looked just like IBMs. Or maybe Unicomp worried IBM would do that. Or maybe they just wanted to make KBs that looked different, because they were a different company.
No matter why they did it, it doesn't look like they had the talent onhand to do it more capably. Product typography is very specialized. Judging from Unicomp's emphasis on physical quality rather than esthetics (
their website is another example), I imagine most of their people are engineers and technicians, not artists.
So they must've just looked at some fonts and found one similar to IBMs, but different enough that it couldn't be mistaken for it. Then when they tried dyeing with it, its line weight turned out to be too light—so rather than finding another font whose roman (normal) weight worked better, they just used the first font's bold version. Unfortunately, bolding doesn't create a new font, just a heavier one—it's designed for occasional emphasis, not for labeling a whole product (see "
Bold or italic: One or the other, as little as possible").
Most KB makers pad-print their keytops; it's fast and cheap, but the legends aren't durable. Ironically, if Unicomp had used pad-printing, their legends would look sharper (before they started wearing off!). But they continued the original, more costly, more demanding dye-sublimation process, because—like the buckling springs in their keys—it means their legends won't wear out, ever. You have to admire them for that. It's just too bad that they didn't have someone in the loop who knew more about typography.
Judging from photos of earlier Unicomps, even their new design used to look better. I don't know what's required for dye sublimation on a commercial scale, but you can assume it involves some costly tooling-up. Maybe the registration starts to drift after a while, and Unicomp hasn't had the resources to redo it (or they didn't consider it that important). Or maybe they no longer have the staff around who could get more consistent results with their current setup.
Anyway, I'm not sending back my Ultra Classic. It's too good a KB, and it's too fun having a real BS KB that was made only a month ago. (And hey, you're not supposed to look at your hands when you type anyway.)
Bottom line: If you order a Unicomp and expect it be as elegant as an original Model M, you'll be disappointed. But if you want a great-feeling KB that'll last longer than anything else you own—and you don't mind that it looks like it was made in East Europe in the 1950s—this is the KB for you. :?)
