Oh the M is a great keyboard, I'd pop mine on any day. But compared to an F, it's just not as good. Or at least, in my opinion. The few people who prefer the M generally like it better for its less invasive sound - although I prefer the sound of the F as well, myself.
To do the motorcycle analogy, an F is a sportbike (tucked down, harder ride, performance over comfort) and an M is more of a metric cruiser (more relaxed seating, softer ride, not the same performance numbers).
Plenty of times I prefer the M over the F. SSK is my daily driver and it's not the noise that's the difference. It's a little less snappy but just more comfortable for 8 hours of driving every day.
With respect, but how much cheaper could it have been for IBM?
Didn't the patent claim it cost about half as much to make? The retail price was half as much, at least.
There's video of the automation of the keyboard building. They *might* have been building XT's in it, but it seems pretty straightforward that the single barrel plate with plastic rivets is a cheaper simpler construction than the metal plate with individual barrels that's sandwiched and locked together, not to mention the simpler electronics of a contact matrix vs a capacitive pcb.
