Questions about Green Alps SKCC and the IBM 6112884 in general

[Red October]

So I've had my 6112884 for a while now and I've developed some questions about the Alps switches in it.  In what might be described as a lark, I put the keycaps from a really old Hewlett/Packard terminal keyboard using ITW magnetic valve switches on it, after trying one out for compatibility testing and discovering that they interchange.   Having typed on it this way for a while, I'm wondering if I can put the original caps back on it just for comparison's sake.  The stems just look awfully fragile to me, and I wonder if there's some danger in doing this freely. 
Also I notice a bit of what you might call tactility in the switches even though they're supposed to be linear.  Am I feeling them activate? 
Before I got this keyboard I was using either Unicomp or IBM model Ms, and I notice a lot of the time I incidentally activate a key just by resting my hands on the home row or on WASD when playing a game.  (Finally went over to the dark side from the cursor control keys no thanks to Fallout`s un-rebindable Pip-boy button.)  As much as I love the spherical keycaps both that it came with and that I've got on it now, I'm completely open to the concept that these switches are just not for me.
Lastly, I'm just curious, what purpose was the 6112884 originally intended? 

[chyros]

The stems will be fine, don't worry.

Yes, there is a small tactile bump in SKCC and SKCL switches as the slider clears the prongs on the switchplate. They activate before this, though.

As I recall Alps made these for the Asian market version of the IBM PC. They're the Asian equivalent of the Model F, so to speak. Alps also made the Asian market version of the Model M later, using SKCL switches, iirc. They also made other Asian IBM products using adapted beam spring and buckling spring designs.

[Hak Foo]

I've heard they were designed for the Asian market answer to the 4704.  Apparently they can be used with some converters designed for that protocol.  So it's more the answer to those weird 104-key model Fs.

[Red October]

I've heard they were designed for the Asian market answer to the 4704.  Apparently they can be used with some converters designed for that protocol.  So it's more the answer to those weird 104-key model Fs.

This is what I suspected, and, well, I guess, still suspect.  Why else would it use the same protocol?  Dedicated multi-zero keys are also usually a hallmark of keyboards intended for financial duties of one sort or another.

 

The stems will be fine, don't worry.

Yes, there is a small tactile bump in SKCC and SKCL switches as the slider clears the prongs on the switchplate. They activate before this, though.

As I recall Alps made these for the Asian market version of the IBM PC. They're the Asian equivalent of the Model F, so to speak. Alps also made the Asian market version of the Model M later, using SKCL switches, iirc. They also made other Asian IBM products using adapted beam spring and buckling spring designs.

I've seen photos of some of those keyboards, there seems to exist a 12? key (I know it's more than 122 due to obvious split spacebar, etc.) keyboard that uses spherical keycaps.  Very intriguing, but the sort of thing I suspect you'd have trouble acquiring in the west for less than silly money, or without significant luck.  I know I'm not going to actively try to hunt one down unless I'm explicitly told the switches are clicky or heavily tactile.  If they're like (or are) green SKCC then I'm not interested strongly enough.  Maybe I should be asking what's like a Model F or M?  But since the M has been in continuous production for what, 30 years now, and the F just had a small run, the answer to that may be like the answer to "What can replace a DC-3?" (DC-3 is an exceptionally well built aeroplane from the 1930s which is still in service) Answer: "Another DC-3".

[Hak Foo]

No, everyone knows the replacement is an An-2.