Am I Missing Something? Cherry alternative

[QueenXenon]

From my week and a half's worth of keyboard knowledge it seems like the only switches are made by Cherry, is that true?
It's weird to me that they could be the only people making switches (aside from one or two mentions of Topre)

Are they just far and away the best, or am I missing something?

[oTurtlez]

Theirs Alps, Matias, IBM, and many makers of the Hall Effect switches. There's a bunch. The only ones currently making things now are Cherry and Matias I believe.

[lcs]

I suppose Cherries are the most popular, but not the only ones.

There are buckling springs (from Unicomp), topre and alps that I've read here.

There is also MY. But the MY god will surely come here and enlighten all of us.

[gnubag]

I suppose Cherries are the most popular, but not the only ones.

There are buckling springs (from Unicomp), topre and alps that I've read here.

There is also MY. But the MY god will surely come here and enlighten all of us.

MY switches are still made by cherry.

[SpAmRaY]

So I've attempted to post pretty much everything that's been said in each reply so far but was too slow....

Any other questions OP?

[lcs]

I suppose Cherries are the most popular, but not the only ones.

There are buckling springs (from Unicomp), topre and alps that I've read here.

There is also MY. But the MY god will surely come here and enlighten all of us.

MY switches are still made by cherry.

Sure, but I supposed that by Cherry we were discussing the MX variations

[QueenXenon]

Phew! Thank you, I was admittedly a little worried after seeing

and knowing it had Cherries in it that using them would be a cop out, but so many people were using them anyway I didn't know which way was up anymore

MY switches are still made by Cherry

I may have predominantly been seeing the MXs but if no one said that I would be hopelessly looking for the company "MY"

[Masterchief79]

Well MY is still Cherry, too, but I get your point.
There is a crapload of different switches, but they are pretty old. At some point, they all got replaced by cheap rubberdome technology. There was no reason to continue building mechanical keyboards as the mainstream market switched to 5$ Dell keyboards if you know what I'm saying... Luckily, the spirit of mechanical keyboards has returned and has enlightened us all. You're right, todays new mechanical keyboards are 96% Cherry MX, then there's maybe 1% ALPS (Matias keyboards), 2% Topre and 1% buckling spring (as far as I know Unicomp is still building new Model M's with this technology). Not including stuff like ML or scissor.

Around 1990, there were so much more, and therefore it's a pretty cool hobby to collect these old treasures as they are not being produced anymore. Around 15 different ALPS, Vintage MX switches, Mitsumi, buckling spring (Model F and Model M), beam spring and for real, a bunch of in-house developments by a lot of companies (those strange switches were still a little earlier around 1980-1985 maybe).

[alaricljs]

There are also Cherry MX Chinese clones, not too many boards using them thankfully.

[Masterchief79]

The keyboard in my Ava uses them Model F Clone assembled in Taiwan around 1984 ^^ They are absolutely horrible^^

[QueenXenon]

How does one go about getting the switches that nobody makes? Much less enough to make a keyboard out of?

[SpAmRaY]

How does one go about getting the switches that nobody makes? Much less enough to make a keyboard out of?

You get the 'vintage' keyboard.

I'm not sure exactly what your asking. 

[Thimplum]

MY is the only one worth anything.

/thread

[UniClown]

MY is the only one worth anything.

/thread

Oh no, not you too. FWIW, MY is like typing on bubble wrap without popping.

[QueenXenon]

it's a pretty cool hobby to collect these old treasures as they are not being produced anymore

Yea, I did pick a poor way to ask that question. 
Point being, Masterchief79 suggests collecting old switches, but it seems practically impossible to successfully get enough to make a keyboard out of
... unless you buy the vintage apparently 

[Thimplum]

MY is the only one worth anything.

/thread

Oh no, not you too. FWIW, MY is like typing on bubble wrap without popping.

His fingers are untrained.

[alaricljs]

it's a pretty cool hobby to collect these old treasures as they are not being produced anymore

Yea, I did pick a poor way to ask that question. 
Point being, Masterchief79 suggests collecting old switches, but it seems practically impossible to successfully get enough to make a keyboard out of
... unless you buy the vintage apparently 

Pretty certain he wasn't being literal and meant collecting vintage keyboards that have switch designs that are no longer manufactured.

[SpAmRaY]

it's a pretty cool hobby to collect these old treasures as they are not being produced anymore

Yea, I did pick a poor way to ask that question. 
Point being, Masterchief79 suggests collecting old switches, but it seems practically impossible to successfully get enough to make a keyboard out of
... unless you buy the vintage apparently 

Actually a member here just stripped a bunch of old keyboards and sold a bunch of switches for really cheap.

[whiskytango]

it's a pretty cool hobby to collect these old treasures as they are not being produced anymore

Yea, I did pick a poor way to ask that question. 
Point being, Masterchief79 suggests collecting old switches, but it seems practically impossible to successfully get enough to make a keyboard out of
... unless you buy the vintage apparently 

Actually a member here just stripped a bunch of old keyboards and sold a bunch of switches for really cheap.

I wonder who he's talking about?

[SpAmRaY]

it's a pretty cool hobby to collect these old treasures as they are not being produced anymore

Yea, I did pick a poor way to ask that question. 
Point being, Masterchief79 suggests collecting old switches, but it seems practically impossible to successfully get enough to make a keyboard out of
... unless you buy the vintage apparently 

Actually a member here just stripped a bunch of old keyboards and sold a bunch of switches for really cheap.

I wonder who he's talking about?

^^ this guy knows what's up

[whiskytango]

Yes but even though the ones I have to sell are old, they're still cherry mx.

OP, if you're asking about pulling old switches from old boards, the problem you'll run into is having a compatible keyboard to us them on. Most new mechanical keyboards now use cherry mx. Different switches mount differently so you can't just pull old alps or cherry MY and expect them to fit on your newer board designed for cherry MX.

[Thimplum]

so you can't just pull old alps or cherry MY and expect them to fit on your newer board designed for cherry MX.

Oh please.

NEVER use MY in a keyboard other than the G81.

NONE of the 'others' are worthy...

[SpAmRaY]

so you can't just pull old alps or cherry MY and expect them to fit on your newer board designed for cherry MX.

Oh please.

NEVER use MY in a keyboard other than the G81.

NONE of the 'others' are worthy...

You should change your avatar to this guy, he appears to be a messenger 

[Thimplum]

so you can't just pull old alps or cherry MY and expect them to fit on your newer board designed for cherry MX.

Oh please.

NEVER use MY in a keyboard other than the G81.

NONE of the 'others' are worthy...

You should change your avatar to this guy, he appears to be a messenger 

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

That's so cute!

But not as cute as the expression on someone's face when they try MY for the first time.

#tearsofjoy

[rootwyrm]

That's so cute!

But not as cute as the expression on someone's face when they try MY for the first time.

#tearsofjoy

I tried MY once.

I beat the person responsible about the head with a Model M.

[Thimplum]

That's so cute!

But not as cute as the expression on someone's face when they try MY for the first time.

#tearsofjoy

I tried MY once.

I beat the person responsible about the head with a Model M.

I'm gonna call this one.

If you aren't worthy of MY, then there's no way that you'd have the muscles for that.

[Wall Street]

I think that Cherry was very smart to make multiple varieties of switches.  Most people like to compare things - because they have so many types of switches, most people end up comparing Cherry vs. Cherry.  I think that people are satisfied that they have done enough research when they figure out which color Cherry they like.  Naming the switches after primary colors was also marketing genius.

It also works in their favor that Unicomp is sitting on a lot of the buckling spring tech and doesn't really seem to be developing new boards (look how many people keep asking for a new SSK).  Also Topre is in their own world appealing to the high end while focusing on their other non-keyboard related businesses and doesn't seem to care to try to get their keyboards down to the $100 mark where most of the mechanical market share exists.

[jonathanyu]

MY is the only one worth anything.

/thread

Oh no, not you too. FWIW, MY is like typing on bubble wrap without popping.

You make me laugh 

[rootwyrm]

That's so cute!

But not as cute as the expression on someone's face when they try MY for the first time.

#tearsofjoy

I tried MY once.

I beat the person responsible about the head with a Model M.

I'm gonna call this one.

If you aren't worthy of MY, then there's no way that you'd have the muscles for that.

MY fanaticism is for wannabe trolls who haven't got the skills to handle 70cN+.

Yeah. I went there. Come at me, bro.

[Thimplum]

That's so cute!

But not as cute as the expression on someone's face when they try MY for the first time.

#tearsofjoy

I tried MY once.

I beat the person responsible about the head with a Model M.

I'm gonna call this one.

If you aren't worthy of MY, then there's no way that you'd have the muscles for that.

MY fanaticism is for wannabe trolls who haven't got the skills to handle 70cN+.

Yeah. I went there. Come at me, bro.

Cherry MY has a peak force of 120cN.

[sth]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

[SpAmRaY]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

You just need to post more bro!

[MKULTRA]

The whole MY thing was funny for a while when moose started.  Seems like a big circlejerk now.

[Hak Foo]

I think that Cherry was very smart to make multiple varieties of switches.  Most people like to compare things - because they have so many types of switches, most people end up comparing Cherry vs. Cherry.  I think that people are satisfied that they have done enough research when they figure out which color Cherry they like.  Naming the switches after primary colors was also marketing genius.

I think it honestly fell in their lap.  They just sat there, doing what they were doing consistently, and waited for everyone else in the industry to die off.

Cherry happens to be a division of a much larger, more robust company, which probably gives it access to resources that a firm like Unicomp doesn't have.  There's also the greater diversity of applications.  Cherry makes a lot of non-keyboard switches, and the MX switch itself is also potentially usable in many non-keyboard applications.

[rootwyrm]

I think that Cherry was very smart to make multiple varieties of switches.  Most people like to compare things - because they have so many types of switches, most people end up comparing Cherry vs. Cherry.  I think that people are satisfied that they have done enough research when they figure out which color Cherry they like.  Naming the switches after primary colors was also marketing genius.

I think it honestly fell in their lap.  They just sat there, doing what they were doing consistently, and waited for everyone else in the industry to die off.

Cherry happens to be a division of a much larger, more robust company, which probably gives it access to resources that a firm like Unicomp doesn't have.  There's also the greater diversity of applications.  Cherry makes a lot of non-keyboard switches, and the MX switch itself is also potentially usable in many non-keyboard applications.

Aaaaaaactually, Cherry was an independent company based in Illinois for many, many years. Like, the 1950's onward. They were only bought by ZF Friedrichshafen in 2008. So yeah, very recently in the grand scheme of things.

And it most definitely did not fall in their lap. They got there because they've been making keyboards and switches since 1967. They have a massive customer base they built up, which is very loyal, because they could count on the same parts of the same quality consistently. What, you think their competitors just up and quit for no reason? You think manufacturers stuck with Cherry because they were lower quality and more expensive?

[Hak Foo]

There are a couple things:

Cherry *keyboard switches* was still only a segment of Cherry as a company.  I recall in the early 1990s, seeing a large model railway setup, and many of the switches used in the intricate control panel were Cherry products, but these weren't MX/ML/whatever.

They also managed to "anchor" their business in a place where they could keep making premium products.  The Chicony and Focus of the world ended up making cheaper and crappier and eventually non-mechanical boards to chase the declining price of mainstream PC hardware.

Together, this gave them an ability to continue staying in the business of $75 keyboards until the market was ready for them again.

[esoomenona]

MX switches aren't named after colors. That's just what they've grown to be called. (There's a word I'm thinking of that is the definition of that, but can't quite recall it...)

Edit: colloquial was the word.

[QueenXenon]

Ok Thimplum, I'll bite
What makes you happy about that 120 cN

[Thimplum]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

[oTurtlez]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

It's not offensive, it's just that the joke died a good 3 days ago and now it's just getting a tiddly bit annoying.

[SpAmRaY]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

It's not offensive, it's just that the joke died a good 3 days ago and now it's just getting a tiddly bit annoying.

People are actually buying MY boards....

[Thimplum]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

It's not offensive, it's just that the joke died a good 3 days ago and now it's just getting a tiddly bit annoying.

People are actually buying MY boards....

:fistpump:

[oTurtlez]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

It's not offensive, it's just that the joke died a good 3 days ago and now it's just getting a tiddly bit annoying.

People are actually buying MY boards....

:fistpump:

:headdesk:

[Thimplum]

congratulations, you are currently the most obnoxious member on geekhack, and i don't give my title up that easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

It's not offensive, it's just that the joke died a good 3 days ago and now it's just getting a tiddly bit annoying.

People are actually buying MY boards....

:fistpump:

:headdesk:

[TheSoulhunter]

What's wrong with buying MY boards?

[Danule]

oops wrong thread!

[Thimplum]

What's wrong with buying MY boards?

Exactly.

[SpAmRaY]

What's wrong with buying MY boards?

After using a MY board for a week..

[nubbinator]

What's wrong with buying MY boards?

After using a MY board for a week..

(Attachment Link)

Sounds like my kind of switch.  After using Blacks/Reds with Clear springs for a while, I had a hard time going back to normal Black switches, they're just too light.

[oTurtlez]

What's wrong with buying MY boards?

After using a MY board for a week..

(Attachment Link)

Sounds like my kind of switch.  After using Blacks/Reds with Clear springs for a while, I had a hard time going back to normal Black switches, they're just too light.

You should try some reds / blacks with 45g korean springs and see how fast you put a hole through your board