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IBM Model M review (buckling springs)
leech:
Great review, great keyboard, i have the 1999 Model M ;)
@all 3127 Model M users, i am wondering about 1 thing: the texture on my <F> and <J> keys is smoother and less pronounced than on all my other letter keys. Maybe the PBT has worn off on these 2 keys or maybe that's reality as from leaving the keycap factory.
What do you guys think, any similar observations?
If i had to take a guess, to me it seems that both keycaps come that way, smoother. Their surface texture really doesn't look as if the keycaps were worn down smooth by my two index fingas. My keeb was Like New when i got it and i did do countless races on Typeracer, so I am wondering.
rowdy:
--- Quote from: leech on Thu, 25 January 2018, 15:09:30 ---Great review, great keyboard, i have the 1999 Model M ;)
@all 3127 Model M users, i am wondering about 1 thing: the texture on my <F> and <J> keys is smoother and less pronounced than on all my other letter keys. Maybe the PBT has worn off on these 2 keys or maybe that's reality as from leaving the keycap factory.
What do you guys think, any similar observations?
If i had to take a guess, to me it seems that both keycaps come that way, smoother. Their surface texture really doesn't look as if the keycaps were worn down smooth by my two index fingas. My keeb was Like New when i got it and i did do countless races on Typeracer, so I am wondering.
--- End quote ---
Maybe from someone touch-typing on it for years (decades?) and resting/rubbing their fingers against the home keys hundreds of times every day.
1391401:
Great video! I just found your channel the other day and have been watching your videos. Thanks for this.
ThoughtArtist:
Nice re-review! I like all your new work on the channel. I had to take a break from "keyboarding" for awhile so I have just now seen this.
I got what ended up being a very lightly used, nearly Mint '89 Model M from a Goodwill seller on ebay for $50. It looked like it had been stored in a shed, but cleaned up better than just about any other keyboard could have from 1989.
I still prefer Cherry MX Browns for typing though. The M feels nice at first, but it feels a bit slow to type on after awhile for me. It's just my preference though as I like to glide a bit more over the keys as I type, and even MX Clears just feel faster due to the springiness. Also, the M feels more "plasticy" than my smaller MX boards with solid metal mounting plates and thick PBT keycaps.
It just feels like the M is a compromised design. I love the typing feel of the Model F (sans the awful spacebar) better than any Cherry switch, for sure, though it is definitely louder and potentially more annoying than the M. From a sound engineering perspective, I'd say the M is the winner if the goal was to make it more acceptable to general users.
I think if they had just made a newer version of the F, with the PCB, it could have been a true evolution instead of a compromise. Despite the legendary status of the M, and the standard layout it introduced, I think the Model M is actually representative of IBM's general decline more than anything else about the company. (Maybe even representative of the decline of the West as well... I mean Unicomp is such a fall from grace. It can be depressing to think about, especially for Americans who saw IBM's and U.S.'s manufacturing decline first-hand)
ThoughtArtist:
Correction in previous comment:
I know better than to say evolution, in any matter, is only towards something more advanced or somehow better as we like to think.)
I meant to say the Model M, from my perspective, represents more of a "regression" than a progression in tech (IBM or overall or just the West, or the U.S. itself).
I feel like history may end up showing that the Model M is symbolically the turning point in modernity when all modern technological advancement started to slow and regress, despite other prolonged advances that would/have come afterward for awhile.
The Model M could be considered extremely significant, BUT...
[maybe, perhaps. I or anyone can't know precisely yet but I think its a reasonable enough possibility to be considered and not be a just hunch]
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