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Try out MECHANICAL keyboards. Those old IBM keyboards weighed a few pounds because they were mechanical. I have a Cherry keyboard and it is great. Just google "mechanical keyboard guide" and it'll help you decide which keyboard to get. I'd suggest a Ducky or DASkeyboard.
I've used the old IBM and Gateway Omni keyboards, and recently bought a DasKeyboard. I highly recommend it if you want a quality product with a great touch. Also, Logitech makes some really quality mice with a good feel and excellent features. Both Logitech products and DasKeyboard are not inexpensive, but as much as I use them they are well wroth the money to me.
I still use one of the old IBM keyboards. This one was manufactured 24 years ago and still works great. It is HEAVY and the keys have a satisfying >click when you type. How many computers have I gone through since 1988?
I have had new employees come into my office just to look at it. I worry that someday the connector will be obsolete and I'll have to use the Made-in-China junk that passes for keyboards today.
I have had new employees come into my office just to look at it. I worry that someday the connector will be obsolete and I'll have to use the Made-in-China junk that passes for keyboards today.
I still use my early 80's Model M as well. The feedback is excellent and they will last pretty much forever. There's no 'windows' key of course, but ctrl-esc does the same thing and it also doubles as a home defense weapon (it really is that heavy and solid)
Are you using the old 5 pin keyboard connector that preceded the PS/2 connector? WOW!
Let's see: An IBM keyboard plugged into a 5 pin to PS/2 adapter plugged into a PS/2 to USB connector, plugged into the USB port on the back of the computer. Hmmmm... It seems you wouldn't have to worry about air flow behind the system. Plugging in that IBM keyboard will keep it about 4 or 5 inches away from the wall!
Let's see: An IBM keyboard plugged into a 5 pin to PS/2 adapter plugged into a PS/2 to USB connector, plugged into the USB port on the back of the computer. Hmmmm... It seems you wouldn't have to worry about air flow behind the system. Plugging in that IBM keyboard will keep it about 4 or 5 inches away from the wall!
Good Grief - I made that mistake once very long ago and was the a job to get everthing back together again - I did but had a lot more respect for it thereafter!
Yeah, the old keyboards were pretty complicated inside, but at least you could clean them without everything mushing together into a blob.
The old keyboards had real plastic and metal parts instead of little capacitive cushions inside cheap plastic blocks.
Whe I was a tech, we'd take the keyboard, remove the keycaps and immerse the whole mechanism into a cleaner. Of course this stuff was probably deadly, but that was back in the 1980s when no one thought about stuff like that. With new keyboards, the plastic stuff melts into a sticky blob that smells like airplane glue.
The old keyboards had real plastic and metal parts instead of little capacitive cushions inside cheap plastic blocks.
Whe I was a tech, we'd take the keyboard, remove the keycaps and immerse the whole mechanism into a cleaner. Of course this stuff was probably deadly, but that was back in the 1980s when no one thought about stuff like that. With new keyboards, the plastic stuff melts into a sticky blob that smells like airplane glue.
That and a can of silicone spray could make one easy to type on and blinding fast!
Way back when in my college years I worked repairing keyboards and shipping them back out. At that time keyboards weren't considered disposable like they are now and were expensive enough to justify sending them out for repair rather than running down to Radio Shack for a quick replacement.
It's a real keyboard LOL. But it makes such a racket, probably because I've a heavy hitter, that it drives the office mates nuts. Can't use it at home, drives the wife nuts. So sometimes at lunch, when everyone is gone, I take it out and bang on it a little. It that weird or what?
I was using a public-access at the library the other day, and every time I started to type a reply to a comment, the lady next to me (who left her headphones on the table so loud you douldn't not hear them) would growl at me to "stop banging on the damn keyboard!" these things can't be more than 3-4 years old. Thing is, people think plastic is quieter than metal. It's not. If you don't believe me, come to my kitchen ijn the theater and I'll let you hear the difference between our older (metal) faucet and the newer (plastic insides) one.
DEC LK201. They put the control key to the left of caps lock (where it belongs). Everything felt "just right". Words and pictures cannot adequately describe this "keyboard of the Gods".
UNICOMP bought the patents from IBM and still cranks them out from a little factory in Kentucky. They sell the classic Model M, variants, and also a monster 122-key thing. An extra 20 custom keys might be nice. http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/PC122
I have a Model M13 (M + Trackpoint) I bought from a thrift store as a teenager and cleaned up, but right now I'm on a Das Keyboard Ultimate S, which is much quieter and easier on my roommates. I still prefer the actual M feel, though.
I have a Model M13 (M + Trackpoint) I bought from a thrift store as a teenager and cleaned up, but right now I'm on a Das Keyboard Ultimate S, which is much quieter and easier on my roommates. I still prefer the actual M feel, though.
I went to the website you mentioned, and it says: Shipping Weight: 6 pounds!!! That's about right.. You could use it as a weapon if you wanted...
...Assembly plant, and he told me how they tested the keyboars, they ran through a vibrating conveyor belt, that shook the heck out of them. They then were tested thouroughly. They had a god reputation for quality control. I remember I had one at home, and had to get rid of it after several years. It outlasted several others.
At work I remember back then keyboards were expensive, I used to canabalize the keys, or save them for parts. I replaced several cords that were broken, or had bent pins when users "tried" to plug them the wrong way. The call usually started with "My keyboard does not work anymore". 9 times out of 10 it was the bent pins.
At work I remember back then keyboards were expensive, I used to canabalize the keys, or save them for parts. I replaced several cords that were broken, or had bent pins when users "tried" to plug them the wrong way. The call usually started with "My keyboard does not work anymore". 9 times out of 10 it was the bent pins.
First of all computer stores still do exist, so if one is too lazy to get out of the armchair no wonder one does not find one.
Secondly immersive gaming still does exist - it is called a console running on a home theatre, just does as is described in the article.
Thirdly installable software still exists, it's called MobileApps. It may cause a corporate LSA an enormous headache though.
Fourth : I am writing this comment on a DELL Desktop from 2010 (which is tucked away under the desk though)
Fifthly : the helpdesk technician still drops in for Hardware related stuff you just simply can not fix by remote desk-topping.
Nothing should stop the author from having a BBS like close knit community on fb or G+, just lock the group down and that would be it.
So out of the 10 mementos, 6 do still exist at first glance.
What i do miss from the 80ies are well researched articles though. I really do.
Secondly immersive gaming still does exist - it is called a console running on a home theatre, just does as is described in the article.
Thirdly installable software still exists, it's called MobileApps. It may cause a corporate LSA an enormous headache though.
Fourth : I am writing this comment on a DELL Desktop from 2010 (which is tucked away under the desk though)
Fifthly : the helpdesk technician still drops in for Hardware related stuff you just simply can not fix by remote desk-topping.
Nothing should stop the author from having a BBS like close knit community on fb or G+, just lock the group down and that would be it.
So out of the 10 mementos, 6 do still exist at first glance.
What i do miss from the 80ies are well researched articles though. I really do.
Really? Real "computer stores" still exist? Perhaps where *you* live (let me guess, Silicon Valley), but here, nothing that constitutes a *useful* location. Sure, there are the storefront shops that are little more than places to drop-off your virus-laden Windows machines to be scrubbed; they might have a handful of overpriced and/or non-useful video cards, perhaps an anemic hard drive or two (usually priced 3x what they're worth). And forget WorstBuy or RadioSlack; one never *was* intended to be much more than an appliance store, and the other has turned into little more than a crappy cellphone store (ANY parts, computer or non-computer, have been pretty much abandoned).
When you had proper computer stores, it was easy to quickly find parts to fix somebody's home or small-office computer; just pick up a part on your way home from work, it could be done right away. Not even a matter of "instant gratification", more a matter of fast repair and getting someone back up and running sooner. So much for the hype of "Just-in-Time" supply. And perhaps you'd rather use cash rather than running up your credit card debt. Nope, can't have that either.
When you had proper computer stores, it was easy to quickly find parts to fix somebody's home or small-office computer; just pick up a part on your way home from work, it could be done right away. Not even a matter of "instant gratification", more a matter of fast repair and getting someone back up and running sooner. So much for the hype of "Just-in-Time" supply. And perhaps you'd rather use cash rather than running up your credit card debt. Nope, can't have that either.
They might not be everywhere, but there are plenty physical computer stores around me. In person stores never competed with the great deals you could get from NewEgg, TigerDirect, and Amazon if you could cool your heals for a couple days.
In Dallas, we've got Fry's, Microcenter, the original CompUSA (I believe is still here), and a mom and pop place or 2.
In Dallas, we've got Fry's, Microcenter, the original CompUSA (I believe is still here), and a mom and pop place or 2.
in austin, kind of for commercial places more than anything, but it is where i get most of the stuff for our school. they are in san antonio too. fry's is not bad as well, but they are more big box now
Head over to South east Asia anytime and you can feast your eyes on all parts imaginable.
When I was first getting started I used to go down to two or three stores here in the NJ metro area and get all the parts I needed to build the machines i was using, not to mention the two USED parts stores where I would stand there and drool over the USED 100 MHz Evergreen chips that would take my 50 MHz 486 and turn it into a Pentium MoBo, WOW!!!
We never had a Fry's here but we did have CompUSA, and when almost all those stores (except for a few) went belly-up I LITERALLY CRIED!!! That was where I would stop by during the work day (I was driving for a living then) and spend 15 or 20 minutes just basking in the electron fields and recharging my soul, then I could go back and finish the day of driving crabby little old ladies & gents to their Dr. appointments, AHHHHH!!!
We never had a Fry's here but we did have CompUSA, and when almost all those stores (except for a few) went belly-up I LITERALLY CRIED!!! That was where I would stop by during the work day (I was driving for a living then) and spend 15 or 20 minutes just basking in the electron fields and recharging my soul, then I could go back and finish the day of driving crabby little old ladies & gents to their Dr. appointments, AHHHHH!!!
I suppose it's part of the problem with living in an economically depressed area (lower Hudson valley) of an economically depressed state. Once IBM went belly-up the already critical economy died. Once a major chain goes bankrupt, none of the others can make enough money by filling the void.
Here in the suburbs of Chicago, we are fortunate to have CompUSA, Micro Center, Fry's, and CDW. I guess that is the benefit of living near a big city: You can find pretty much everything you want nearby!
Rick
Rick
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