1
Group Buys and Preorders / Re: [GB] Calla - F13 TKL w/ reduced switch spacing [Shipping]
« Last post by Oni on Tue, 07 May 2024, 17:14:10 »GB looks to be starting fulfillment, got a shipping notification from Divinikey
Recent Posts
2
Off Topic / Re: What's Bothering You? (The thread about what is bothering you.)
« Last post by fohat.digs on Tue, 07 May 2024, 16:58:57 »
Keep hitting refresh on that page, and click resend
THANK YOU !
It took 8 iterations.
3
Off Topic / Re: What did you do today?
« Last post by fohat.digs on Tue, 07 May 2024, 16:55:45 »The first 2024 fruit of the garden - a tobasco pepper.
4
Off Topic / Re: What did you do today?
« Last post by fohat.digs on Tue, 07 May 2024, 16:55:16 »The first 2024 fruit of the garden - a tobasco pepper.
5
Keyboards / Re: Is someone here, who quit the hobby and is only lurking now?
« Last post by fohat.digs on Tue, 07 May 2024, 16:50:26 »
my vacuum collection helps keep my house clean.
I have not bought a keyboard in at least a couple of years, and I have at least half a dozen "favorites" which I really do like but don't use. I am spoilt by the 122 key layout and whenever I use anything smaller I feel deprived.
Rotating one of them in for a week or 2 every few months just reinforces this, and I have several late-1980s boards (Alps (mostly blue or orange/salmon), Monterey, Space Invaders (black), and even Acer) that I would use much more often except for the fact that they frustrate me in just 1 way - that stupid 1U "Backspace" key! Considerable cursing has made it clear that I almost always hit the left side of the 2U ....
If and when I drop down to a small desk, I already have a couple of nice TKL boards that I have transplanted Alps into.
For most of a decade I have been using 122-key terminal Model Fs - modded to [very near] ANSI configuration, and it just feels "right" - everything else now seems like a plastic toy. My laptop is something that I use rarely and just accept it as one of the frustrations of not being in my usual den ....
Oh yes, about the vacuum cleaners - probably 15-20 years ago we needed a new one, and my ex-, who MUST relentlessly research EVERY purchase discovered that there were 2 competing forums (fora?), like GH and DT? But no, there was considerably more acrimony between them. What did we end up with? I don't remember, even though I did the majority of the vacuuming. I think it was yellow and black, and it worked quite well!
6
Interest Checks / Re: Lily - HHKB 60%
« Last post by Zephyraeon on Tue, 07 May 2024, 15:14:25 »Can’t believe I missed the GB for this after waiting so long for it. Not great news to wake up to. If anyone has a silver they can part with hit me up.
7
Keyboards / Re: Is someone here, who quit the hobby and is only lurking now?
« Last post by _rubik on Tue, 07 May 2024, 15:01:49 »QuoteI don't know if this will change, or matters. Keyboards sit somewhere between tradition art and the luxury items you listed. Kit cars are maybe the closest approximation?
I think the closest parallel would be New Supercars/Hypercars. Even cars like the Porsche 911. It isn't bought by people who want to drive the cars. They are being bought by people who park them in a display garage, trailer them to car shows/events, and then trailer them home. People are specing their cars in such a way that when they sell it, it will be desirable for the next buyer, rather than their dream spec car.
I don't disagree on the "specing for resale comment" but I think comparing keyboards to hypercars is off the mark. Hypercars aren't made by a hobbyist with some CAD experience in their free time. Ferrari doesn't solicit buyer feedback in a discord. You don't need to buy 4 Norbauer boards before you're invited to buy "the premium model". This community is more grassroots than any car manufacture could dream of being. Even on the most premium end of keyboards, there's plenty of community-minded engagement.
8
Off Topic / Re: What's Bothering You? (The thread about what is bothering you.)
« Last post by tp4tissue on Tue, 07 May 2024, 14:05:52 »For some time now, when I attempt to attach a photo to a post, a 505 error returns.
Keep hitting refresh on that page, and click resend, eventually it will go through after a couple of tries.
9
Off Topic / Re: What's Bothering You? (The thread about what is bothering you.)
« Last post by fohat.digs on Tue, 07 May 2024, 13:56:48 »For some time now, when I attempt to attach a photo to a post, a 505 error returns.
10
Group Buys and Preorders / Re: [GB] F104+SSK+122+62+77+50+Ergo orders now open! Kishsaver+Industrial Model F
« Last post by Ellipse on Tue, 07 May 2024, 13:41:04 »There was some discussion over on DT on keyboard wear since these keyboards use paint instead of plastic. The summary is that the original batch keyboards' paint was more original-style and had similar wear patterns as the IBM originals, while the production of the past couple years and going forward uses only the reformulated higher-durability powdercoating finish.
"Everything is about tradeoffs. If you want an original formulation textured, matte appearance you have to accept the non-automotive quality paint finish. Uncoated paint does wear down after heavy usage (think how easy it is to scuff and chip painted walls), but the improved powdercoating of the most recent production run and the new formulation used with the recent cases should slow down the wear process. The tradeoff is that the new process is more of a mix between the Model M style finish and Model F style, and not exclusively the Model F style, but the durability is higher.
So far I have not received even one report of wear for the most recent formulation of the ultra compact cases (the two piece die cast aluminum cases).
Regarding a comparison to the originals: my guess is a lot of the old 4700 systems and their keyboards were only used for several years in the 80s before they were shelved at the recycler companies after the banks upgraded to more powerful systems as technology rapidly advanced from when these came out in the early 1980s, so much of the wear was expected to be sustained in the first year or first few years that they were actually used (even though I have heard reports from my recycler contacts of some small branches that still used the 4700 system consistently for decades, as of about 10 years ago)!
Having refurbished many of these original IBM keyboards, I have seen that many of them were repainted by third parties because the paint does not withstand usage for long. Also IBM had an option to rent these keyboards - my guess is that after a couple years many of them were replaced and refurbished just for cosmetic reasons, as part of a service contract or rental agreement. Often times the inner assembly and case manufacture dates were years apart (sometimes the reverse was true and the case was older than the inner assembly as they would just replace the inner assembly due to technological failure from what I have seen - many inner assemblies of my 4704 collection were refurbished in 1996)."
"Everything is about tradeoffs. If you want an original formulation textured, matte appearance you have to accept the non-automotive quality paint finish. Uncoated paint does wear down after heavy usage (think how easy it is to scuff and chip painted walls), but the improved powdercoating of the most recent production run and the new formulation used with the recent cases should slow down the wear process. The tradeoff is that the new process is more of a mix between the Model M style finish and Model F style, and not exclusively the Model F style, but the durability is higher.
So far I have not received even one report of wear for the most recent formulation of the ultra compact cases (the two piece die cast aluminum cases).
Regarding a comparison to the originals: my guess is a lot of the old 4700 systems and their keyboards were only used for several years in the 80s before they were shelved at the recycler companies after the banks upgraded to more powerful systems as technology rapidly advanced from when these came out in the early 1980s, so much of the wear was expected to be sustained in the first year or first few years that they were actually used (even though I have heard reports from my recycler contacts of some small branches that still used the 4700 system consistently for decades, as of about 10 years ago)!
Having refurbished many of these original IBM keyboards, I have seen that many of them were repainted by third parties because the paint does not withstand usage for long. Also IBM had an option to rent these keyboards - my guess is that after a couple years many of them were replaced and refurbished just for cosmetic reasons, as part of a service contract or rental agreement. Often times the inner assembly and case manufacture dates were years apart (sometimes the reverse was true and the case was older than the inner assembly as they would just replace the inner assembly due to technological failure from what I have seen - many inner assemblies of my 4704 collection were refurbished in 1996)."