Wheelwriters & Quietwriters - the earliest IBM Model Ms turn 40

[sharktastica]

This period of time is quite special for IBM (membrane) buckling springs. Around 40 years ago from now (Q2 1984), IBM Wheelwriter and Quietwriter keyboard assembly production was cranking up. IBM Netherlands is sitting at the forefront of IBM's "new" membrane buckling spring technology, not yet knowing how important and impactful it will become. My particular keyboard from this period - the oldest Model M in my collection - turns 40 years old today. In celebration, I wrote this article highlighting some of its glory and uniqueness, as well as set the stage for future IBM typewriter/typewriter keyboard content!

https://sharktastica.co.uk/articles/1984_model_m

A quick note though: This article was originally supposed to be a lot bigger and describe later versions of the keyboard a bit more. Due to illness following my return from a meetup this weekend, I had no real energy to finish off everything until literally today, so I scaled things down to still meet this keyboard 'birthday'. Apologies if it doesn't meet my usual article quality.

[Rhienfo]

Very cool read. What a sick board in your collection, those caps are really cool.

40 years of model ms is pretty crazy. But hopefully we see them for 40 more.