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Author Topic: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards  (Read 2577 times)

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Offline Tempest790

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1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« on: Mon, 10 August 2015, 23:52:32 »
Starts on page 303.  Talks about mechanical vs membrane keyboards and reviews several classic keyboards.

Google books has all 1980-2000 PC Magazines archived.  Some really interesting reads (especially the predictions of the future).

https://books.google.com/books?id=iYmIeqES1fYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true
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Offline HalfSharkAlligator

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 01:23:34 »
Great find, thanks!
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Offline katushkin

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 01:32:50 »
Oh man, those adverts send you right back.
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Offline sth

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 02:03:38 »
holy cow, these issues must have been massive with all those ads! definitely nostalgic but i would have been pretty pissed if i'd paid cover price considering they probably made boatloads of ad revenue :P
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Offline chyros

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 03:08:28 »
Very nice, thanks for sharing! It's amazing to see the NMBs only cost $37 and $31 - even for the time that wasn't that much money, and the difference between the membrane and mechanical models was only $6!
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Check my keyboard video reviews:

Offline rowdy

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 05:55:49 »
Very memories :))

$217 for Model M :eek:
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"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

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Offline CPTBadAss

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 08:01:24 »
I thought this looked familiar! The last time this was posted, I didn't realize how much was in the magazine. And there's *SO* much to read :D.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 11 August 2015, 08:25:29 »
Quote from: sth on Tue, 11 August 2015, 02:03:38
holy cow, these issues must have been massive with all those ads!

My wife is in the magazine business, and it has really changed in the last 20 years.

Recently, she brought home a still-active magazine, I think it was "Vogue" and my son and I got a big laugh because the Table of Contents did not appear until about page 90!

At least PC Magazine had lots of good strong articles every month. It was by far my favorite of the old computer magazines, but in the last few years before print died completely, I switched to PC World because it had become more practical and realistic while PC Magazine became ever more abstract.
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That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
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Offline TopreFan333

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:23:51 »
My favorite part of this magazine so far:

Quote
The lastest versions of the TrackMan and mouse drivers are always available on Logitech's BBS at 415-795-0408. If you don't have access to a modem, you can contact Logitech directly at 800-234-7717 to obtain the latest drivers for a small service fee.
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Offline TopreFan333

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:26:07 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Tue, 11 August 2015, 08:25:29
the last few years before print died completely,

Hold up there, pardner. Some of us still buy real books. I also actually get the New Yorker in print every week. Feels great to get your eyes off a screen for a while.
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Offline jdcarpe

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:39:37 »
Quote from: dchadwick on Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:26:07
Quote from: fohat.digs on Tue, 11 August 2015, 08:25:29
the last few years before print died completely,

Hold up there, pardner. Some of us still buy real books. I also actually get the New Yorker in print every week. Feels great to get your eyes off a screen for a while.

Let me run out and grab a print copy of MacWorld real quick...oh, wait.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 15:48:23 »
Quote from: dchadwick on Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:26:07
Some of us still buy real books.

I buy and read dead-tree books constantly. Even huge ones with hundreds of pages.

I hate reading magazines and books online, it is just an unpleasant experience all around, no matter how "convenient" it is now that I can do it on my phone.
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"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline FoxWolf1

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 21:28:30 »
Very interesting. Seems like they were much more open to the idea of layout and feature innovations back then.

Also, I can't help but get the impression that they don't seem especially enthusiastic about Cherry switches, which is rather interesting in light of the ultimate popularity of such switches compared to other mechanical options.
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Offline Polymer

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Re: 1992 PC Magazine Article about Keyboards
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 21:38:33 »
Well, they didn't have as much data back then either....Alps had different issues which caused them to slightly disappear...and a bad run of reliability didn't help either...

People also have to consider that man users actually LIKED membrane keyboards back then.  They liked that they were silent...prices were not that different and in a lot of cases were the same and people chose the membrane "quiet" keyboards...

Of course, over time, these keyboards seemed to get worse and worse as they tried to figure out how to make them cheaper and cheaper. 
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