This is just a short review, not well written, but if there are questions please ask. I am trying to populate geekhack with some posts, so why not just post a small review of this Japanese rarity.
I started with a Macintosh back in the 80s, back then the keyboard for my first Macintosh was based on alps, I guess that was alps salmon, which is really comfortable and pretty silent. So I had some previous experience with alps, but the FKB-97S was a third party keyboard for macs and used ALPS black. ALPS Black is OK, but loud, especially on this keyboard, more on this later.
First thing you notice is the transparent skeleton look, which is pretty cool, because it is not overdone, it looks technical in a way. It has a ISO layout with Japanese lettering on the alphanumeric, so no special layout. What I really like when I got accustomed to it was the Control placement which is the same as on the HHKB and other terminal keyboards. Another reason I also got this was that I wanted to go from NO layout to either ANSI or ISO which is more programmer friendly because of the more logical placements of the standard dev. characters like []{}\|./ I would say to change layout was a success for me.
The format is similar to the offical Apple IIe keyboards, which maybe is my favorite design of all time, very compact thin profile with a numpad, but the arrow keys has a weird placement, and I never got used to those, but it was usable...
It is pretty loud, so, but that sound was also because it was so old, and the mechanics was so dry, so I lubricated it with some synthetic oil (some turntable oil and a very small amount of crc 565 with syringe to better the electronic contacts). And the scratch sound and ghosting went away. It is kind of comfortable, the transparent skeleton look is cool, but that dictates the use of ABS plastic. which also is a bit thin and pad printed.
To get this working on your current day mac or pc, you have to get the griffin iMate, which still work today driverless, I even took my first macintosh keyboard for a ride with this and it worked. There are a clear version and a green clear version of iMate. What I have read is that the green-clear version is compatible also with PC, but I have not tested that so I can not tell... I have both of them, maybe I will test that later. Also you would need Karabiner and Seil which is excellent, software to make this keyboard work optimally (while they aren't necessary), if you happen to have this keyboard and need those patches, I can share them with you.
"Daniel beardsmore/Telcontar.net" made a small article on this also in the deskthority wiki:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Filco_FKB-97Swith some more technical details, some provided from me.
Showing a picture from the keyboard on my desk, but I also attached the original sale images, which is pretty nice quality. That cable is actually the exact same cable I used in '89 on my mac back then...
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