Why does the spacebar on my new unicomp keyboard have a stabilizer bar*?

[sam113101]

It doesn't even stabilize it. The keys wobble much.

[hfcobra]

so that if you press it on one side then the switch in the center still works and registers a key press.   My stabilizer bar on my Dell Quiet Key from a while back broke and now the space bar cannot work unless i press it perfectly in the center.

[codek]

are these stabilizer bars on most model m's?

[MissileMike]

are these stabilizer bars on most model m's?

As far as I know, they're on all M space bars- never seen one w/o it.  Now on older Ms, the numpad enter and + keys have stabilizers too.  But that seemed to go away around 1987.  Someone else here could say for sure.

[keyb_gr]

It's not like the newer Ms wouldn't have anything stabilizing there - the funny colored inserts serve the same purpose and generally don't do a much worse job (well, unless you got a problem with loose rivets...).

Oh, the key stems on MX switches wobble quite a bit, too - but as in case of the BS boards, this doesn't affect function negatively, so noone cares. Key wobble might be a half-decent quality indicator on rubber dome boards. I think it's only the combination with increased friction that makes this critical.