I can't help but feel a bit like the people who talk about how much they love this keyboard are a lot like the people who say that they prefer the sound of vinyl to the sound of CDs, or that no band will ever be as great as the Beatles.
It's not that the typing experience on this thing isn't great, because it is, and these are certainly built like tanks. It's just that there are plenty of other keyboards around today that are fantastic, and offer modern-day niceties like 'Win' and multimedia keys.
Some people get a little too taken by the nostalgia around these keyboards. I also have the impression that if you were to put this keyboard down in front of someone under the age of 20, they'd probably laugh at you as though you'd just replaced their iPod with an 8-track. If you'd spent your whole like typing on rubber membranes, I really don't think you'd have any interest in something this bulky and loud enough to wake up the neighbors.
Some people just have a different idea of what a keyboard should be.
I laughed particularly hard at this post:
The thing weighed 20 pounds
Why does any mainstream assesment of the Model M appear as if the author is thinking of an unholy spawn of the M, the F, the 3278 keyboard, and the Selectric II...
Plenty of 17 year olds around here using Model Ms. My 14 year old son loves his Unicomp Spacesaver and he's tried all my other keyboards. And no, he doesn't own any vinyl or 8-tracks.
Plenty of 17 year olds around here using Model Ms. My 14 year old son loves his Unicomp Spacesaver and he's tried all my other keyboards. And no, he doesn't own any vinyl or 8-tracks.
Reminds me of this rather impressive beast that I got to play around with (albeit while it was off)Show Image(http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taouu/html/graphics/ibm-029-keypunch.jpg)
Been there, done that...
I had to buy a second Model M for my 23 year-old son who, after my return from deployment, informed me that I couldn't have mine back...
They truly are the greatest keyboards of all time. They should have a perfect 10/10. Anyone reviewing them otherwise probably shouldn't be writing reviews. Long live the Model M — they rock!
The vinyl versus CD analogy is wholly inappropriate for the situation
Well, if one is comparing vinyl on an ordinary record player to a CD, yes. But possibly not if the vinyl is being played on a Linn or a Sondek, and listened to, say, on Magneplanar loudspeakers, driven through an all-vacuum-tube amplification chain. It is possible that this might bring out the attributes which vinyl has that the CD lacks - although modern CD players have improved from the early models, even the high-end aficionados admit.