The Queen of the click: the story of the most outstanding keyboard in history
She has been imitating, copying, modifying for 30 years - this is IBM Model M, the progenitor of the modern keyboard design.
The first thing that catches your eye when the IBM Model M keyboard comes into your hands is its size. After many years of chattering on small buttons and glass screens of half-kilogram devices, it is a bit unusual to keep about 2.5 kg of plastic and metal (including a thick steel plate) on weight. The second is the sound: a loud click that turned the standard beige peripheral device into one of the most valuable and useful antiquities of the computer world.
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Next year, the Model M will turn 30. But many still value it above all others. Recently she was noticed on the table by the creator of Minecraft Marcus "Notch" Persson - she was connected to a gaming PC, one video card of which costs, probably, more than one thousand dollars. “Model M is, in fact, the best keyboard of all time,” he said in an interview . There are dozens of demos on YouTube on Model M, a video with the process of unpacking and comparing its sound with the sound of other mechanical keyboards. Since its inception, the Model M has been a model of the perfect keyboard.
“I like the iPad, this is a wonderful device; The Kindle Reader is a great thing, ”says Brandon Hermita, IT manager at Princeton University,“ But I would never write an article, dissertation, or other work using the touch screen. ” Hermita spends a lot of time on extending the life of the Model M: he takes them from warehouses and recycling points, sells them on his website ClickyKeyboards and runs this private museum of Model M. In his estimates, over the past ten years he managed to transfer to 4,000 to 5,000 copies.
Like many others, we still have vague memories of the former Model M. And yet last month we went to the suburbs of New Jersey to meet Hermite and rediscover the magic of one of the most popular keyboards of all time.
On the day of our visit to his spacious office, about two dozen keyboards lay neatly on the shelf, like expensive wines. Above them in a protective glass case a black keyboard lay separately - a prototype Model M, one of the oldest items in the Hermite collection. In a large basket lay the recent acquisitions, which still needed to be sorted out and cleaned of chips, sewing needles and other garbage left from previous owners. Having seen Model M for the first time in many years, the most remarkable moment for us was its unremarkable appearance. Model M may be a relic of the past, but its DNA can be found in almost any modern keyboard.
The QWERTY keyboard layout was invented for typists at the end of the 19th century and quickly became the accepted standard. But by the time the first IBM computer was released in 1981, the layout did not include just the keys for a set of capital letters and spaces — modern users had already come across text editors, terminals, and microcalculators. Looking back, you realize that the keyboards of the 1970s and 1980s were very different: from familiar to paradoxical and completely unnatural. So, in the original 83-key keyboard for the IBM PC, known as the PC / XT, the most important Shift and Return keys were small in size, shifted somewhere to the side, besides they were indicated by mysterious arrows. In general, it gave the impression of some kind of chaotic set of miniature keys and strange gaps between them.
In August 1984, IBM announced the release of a much more attractive PC / AT keyboard. Compared to the previous model, “the PC / AT keyboard is a huge leap forward,” said PC Magazine. AT does not look like a modern keyboard: the function keys in it are located in two rows to the left instead of the usual one row at the top, the Escape in it is hidden among the auxiliary numeric keypad, and Ctrl and Caps Lock are swapped. But even in this form, it is much more understandable to the modern user than the previous one.
But IBM wanted to create more than just an acceptable option. In the early 1980s, the company assembled a task force of 10 people and tasked it with creating a better keyboard, based on the recommendations of experts and users. The design of the previous version was made “quickly, quickly — it cannot be said that it was the result of serious teamwork,” says David Bradley, a member of the task force whose merit, among other things, is the creation of the function Ctrl + Alt + Delete. The new group invited novice computer users to test a more convenient keyboard, in which important keys were made larger, and frequently used ones - such as Ctrl and Alt - were installed in two places, so that they could be easily reached by either hand. Many of the keys, if desired, could be removed and rearranged to another place. So Model M was born.
In 1985, the Model M was introduced as an integral part of the IBM 3161 terminal and was called the “Advanced IBM Keyboard”. Compatible with the PC version was released next spring, and in 1987 it became the official standard for the IBM Personal System / 2. The earliest Model M, according to Hermite, is the terminal version, produced on June 10, 1985.
It is possible to determine the date so precisely due to the fact that on the back of each Model M keyboard there is a unique identification number and production date - Hermite constantly receives orders from those over 20 to search for a keyboard made on their birthday. He also maintains the Model M Archive Project, an archive of huge spreadsheets that store information about all the keyboards that have passed through his company, as well as about those information (identification number, date of manufacture, and serial number) that other users provided.
The Hermite collection includes many specific, narrow-profile keyboards, for example, keys with names intended for placing an order at a travel agency, or a small model in which the keys are grouped three together — possibly for cashiers. “When computers first entered the market, they positioned themselves as business devices,” said Neil Muskens, a former IBM manager. Old keyboards still have stickers with commands for specific programs, and reviewers rated the keyboards in part based on how well they are suitable for working with programs such as WordStar and Lotus 1-2-3.
One observer was upset that the layout of the keys had once again changed in the Model M, but at the same time, it did not leave the feeling that this design would remain for a long time. I have such a vague feeling that IBM is telling me: “You should love it, because it is the keyboard of the future,” wrote a columnist for PC Magazine, and, as the further development of computing technology showed, it was, to put it mildly, a true premonition .
That layout of the Model M has not changed for so long that today it is just taken for granted. But in the descendants of that keyboard, one of the most legendary "chips" of the Model M was left behind: a key with a curving spring - a mechanism that appeared in PC / XT. Unlike mechanical switches, which were pressed vertically, like a piston, in Model M under each key there was a spring that shrank, flattened or bent, and then, when the key was released, jumped back. In contrast to the soft, quiet rubber caps used in most modern keyboards, they attracted attention. And this is not always good: the owners of the Model M from time to time publish stories in which they complain that their spouses or work colleagues do not tolerate continuous knocking. But connoisseurs say that the resistance of the springs and their loud "clicks" help to understand whether the key was pressed to the end, which, in turn, reduces the number of errors. And what is probably more important, typing text on the Model M is something special, tangible. Much like a typewriter, a distinct click allows you to physically feel each letter.
Soon after the appearance of the Model M, many of its twins appeared on the market. For its part, IBM made only symbolic changes to the design of its new keyboard models. As a result, the nostalgia for the Model M is passed down from generation to generation. “People often contact me by e-mail, thanks for the fact that I reminded them of the times when in the 1980s they were young students of technical specialties,” says Hermita. Younger shoppers remember how at school they joked at classmates by rearranging their keyboard keys. ”
In 1990, IBM transformed its line of manufacturing typewriters, keyboards, and printers in the US into a new company called Lexmark. Six years later, Lexmark refused to manufacture keyboards - this happened during a time that Muskens calls the industry’s general transition to making cheaper products. IBM continued to order them in a factory in Scotland and for some time in a company called Maxi-Switch, but as far as we know, the last IBM Model M left the assembly line in 1999.
For about $ 80, the official version of the Model M can be bought now, but there will be no IBM brand on it. After Lexmark retired, Muskens, along with other former employees under the guise of Unicomp, began to gradually acquire patents and equipment for the production of this keyboard. “We had to change electronics,” says Muskens, “The material of the folding shelf was changed back in 1999. But almost everything else remained unchanged.”
For some, this is still not enough. “We are constantly asked if we could sell goods with the IBM logo? We say no, the logo is owned by IBM, ”says Muskens. He says that IBM still orders a small number of keyboards for its existing commercial customers, but if you need an old logo, you will have to contact eBay or people like Hermite. For others, the inherent Model M's superior qualities and variety are more important than the nostalgic notions of authenticity: some users convert them to wireless Bluetooth devices. One Reddit user posted an original modification with backlit keys that resembled the stunning design of the Razer or Alienware. But with such a limited offer, soon Model M fans will lose the ability to type text on their favorite keyboard.
“It can be compared to oil. One day, oil reserves will be depleted. And it will be a disaster, ”says Hermita. But now it seems that this is still very far away. The oldest Model M have already served for 30 years, and Hermite hopes that they will stretch for another 10 or 20 years - enough for at least one more generation to use this piece of computer history.
Model M is an artifact of those times when the newest computing systems were developed mainly for industrial use and not for entertainment. The PS / 2 computer for which it was designed was worth at least $ 2,295 (by today's standards it is about $ 5,000), and its power and functionality were much inferior to any modern smartphone. Decades later, the power of computers grew exponentially, and their prices declined dramatically. But at the same time, manufacturers abandoned the concept of durability and long service life: in conditions where many third-party companies are ready to sell the latest mice and keyboards almost at cost, it is difficult to convince manufacturers to invest amounts above the minimum required.
And this fast change of old technologies gave us the opportunity to fully experience what we have lost, and also aroused a passion for equipment that can both cause admiration and knock without interruption. As stated in a recent comment on Reddit, “These rubbish are REAL gaming keyboards. How would you mocked her, she will survive you. "
UPD: Translation of an article from www.theverge.com/2014/10/7/6882427/king-of-keys
The first thing that catches your eye when the IBM Model M keyboard comes into your hands is its size. After many years of chattering on small buttons and glass screens of half-kilogram devices, it is a bit unusual to keep about 2.5 kg of plastic and metal (including a thick steel plate) on weight. The second is the sound: a loud click that turned the standard beige peripheral device into one of the most valuable and useful antiquities of the computer world.
')
Next year, the Model M will turn 30. But many still value it above all others. Recently she was noticed on the table by the creator of Minecraft Marcus "Notch" Persson - she was connected to a gaming PC, one video card of which costs, probably, more than one thousand dollars. “Model M is, in fact, the best keyboard of all time,” he said in an interview . There are dozens of demos on YouTube on Model M, a video with the process of unpacking and comparing its sound with the sound of other mechanical keyboards. Since its inception, the Model M has been a model of the perfect keyboard.
“I like the iPad, this is a wonderful device; The Kindle Reader is a great thing, ”says Brandon Hermita, IT manager at Princeton University,“ But I would never write an article, dissertation, or other work using the touch screen. ” Hermita spends a lot of time on extending the life of the Model M: he takes them from warehouses and recycling points, sells them on his website ClickyKeyboards and runs this private museum of Model M. In his estimates, over the past ten years he managed to transfer to 4,000 to 5,000 copies.
Like many others, we still have vague memories of the former Model M. And yet last month we went to the suburbs of New Jersey to meet Hermite and rediscover the magic of one of the most popular keyboards of all time.
On the day of our visit to his spacious office, about two dozen keyboards lay neatly on the shelf, like expensive wines. Above them in a protective glass case a black keyboard lay separately - a prototype Model M, one of the oldest items in the Hermite collection. In a large basket lay the recent acquisitions, which still needed to be sorted out and cleaned of chips, sewing needles and other garbage left from previous owners. Having seen Model M for the first time in many years, the most remarkable moment for us was its unremarkable appearance. Model M may be a relic of the past, but its DNA can be found in almost any modern keyboard.
The keyboards of the 70s and 80s were very different: from familiar to paradoxical and completely unnatural.
The QWERTY keyboard layout was invented for typists at the end of the 19th century and quickly became the accepted standard. But by the time the first IBM computer was released in 1981, the layout did not include just the keys for a set of capital letters and spaces — modern users had already come across text editors, terminals, and microcalculators. Looking back, you realize that the keyboards of the 1970s and 1980s were very different: from familiar to paradoxical and completely unnatural. So, in the original 83-key keyboard for the IBM PC, known as the PC / XT, the most important Shift and Return keys were small in size, shifted somewhere to the side, besides they were indicated by mysterious arrows. In general, it gave the impression of some kind of chaotic set of miniature keys and strange gaps between them.
In August 1984, IBM announced the release of a much more attractive PC / AT keyboard. Compared to the previous model, “the PC / AT keyboard is a huge leap forward,” said PC Magazine. AT does not look like a modern keyboard: the function keys in it are located in two rows to the left instead of the usual one row at the top, the Escape in it is hidden among the auxiliary numeric keypad, and Ctrl and Caps Lock are swapped. But even in this form, it is much more understandable to the modern user than the previous one.
But IBM wanted to create more than just an acceptable option. In the early 1980s, the company assembled a task force of 10 people and tasked it with creating a better keyboard, based on the recommendations of experts and users. The design of the previous version was made “quickly, quickly — it cannot be said that it was the result of serious teamwork,” says David Bradley, a member of the task force whose merit, among other things, is the creation of the function Ctrl + Alt + Delete. The new group invited novice computer users to test a more convenient keyboard, in which important keys were made larger, and frequently used ones - such as Ctrl and Alt - were installed in two places, so that they could be easily reached by either hand. Many of the keys, if desired, could be removed and rearranged to another place. So Model M was born.
In 1985, the Model M was introduced as an integral part of the IBM 3161 terminal and was called the “Advanced IBM Keyboard”. Compatible with the PC version was released next spring, and in 1987 it became the official standard for the IBM Personal System / 2. The earliest Model M, according to Hermite, is the terminal version, produced on June 10, 1985.
It is possible to determine the date so precisely due to the fact that on the back of each Model M keyboard there is a unique identification number and production date - Hermite constantly receives orders from those over 20 to search for a keyboard made on their birthday. He also maintains the Model M Archive Project, an archive of huge spreadsheets that store information about all the keyboards that have passed through his company, as well as about those information (identification number, date of manufacture, and serial number) that other users provided.
I have such a vague feeling that IBM is telling me: “You should love it, because it’s the keyboard of the future,” writes PC Magazine’s columnist.
The Hermite collection includes many specific, narrow-profile keyboards, for example, keys with names intended for placing an order at a travel agency, or a small model in which the keys are grouped three together — possibly for cashiers. “When computers first entered the market, they positioned themselves as business devices,” said Neil Muskens, a former IBM manager. Old keyboards still have stickers with commands for specific programs, and reviewers rated the keyboards in part based on how well they are suitable for working with programs such as WordStar and Lotus 1-2-3.
One observer was upset that the layout of the keys had once again changed in the Model M, but at the same time, it did not leave the feeling that this design would remain for a long time. I have such a vague feeling that IBM is telling me: “You should love it, because it is the keyboard of the future,” wrote a columnist for PC Magazine, and, as the further development of computing technology showed, it was, to put it mildly, a true premonition .
That layout of the Model M has not changed for so long that today it is just taken for granted. But in the descendants of that keyboard, one of the most legendary "chips" of the Model M was left behind: a key with a curving spring - a mechanism that appeared in PC / XT. Unlike mechanical switches, which were pressed vertically, like a piston, in Model M under each key there was a spring that shrank, flattened or bent, and then, when the key was released, jumped back. In contrast to the soft, quiet rubber caps used in most modern keyboards, they attracted attention. And this is not always good: the owners of the Model M from time to time publish stories in which they complain that their spouses or work colleagues do not tolerate continuous knocking. But connoisseurs say that the resistance of the springs and their loud "clicks" help to understand whether the key was pressed to the end, which, in turn, reduces the number of errors. And what is probably more important, typing text on the Model M is something special, tangible. Much like a typewriter, a distinct click allows you to physically feel each letter.
Soon after the appearance of the Model M, many of its twins appeared on the market. For its part, IBM made only symbolic changes to the design of its new keyboard models. As a result, the nostalgia for the Model M is passed down from generation to generation. “People often contact me by e-mail, thanks for the fact that I reminded them of the times when in the 1980s they were young students of technical specialties,” says Hermita. Younger shoppers remember how at school they joked at classmates by rearranging their keyboard keys. ”
In 1990, IBM transformed its line of manufacturing typewriters, keyboards, and printers in the US into a new company called Lexmark. Six years later, Lexmark refused to manufacture keyboards - this happened during a time that Muskens calls the industry’s general transition to making cheaper products. IBM continued to order them in a factory in Scotland and for some time in a company called Maxi-Switch, but as far as we know, the last IBM Model M left the assembly line in 1999.
With such a limited offer, soon Model M fans will lose the ability to type text on their favorite keyboard.
For about $ 80, the official version of the Model M can be bought now, but there will be no IBM brand on it. After Lexmark retired, Muskens, along with other former employees under the guise of Unicomp, began to gradually acquire patents and equipment for the production of this keyboard. “We had to change electronics,” says Muskens, “The material of the folding shelf was changed back in 1999. But almost everything else remained unchanged.”
For some, this is still not enough. “We are constantly asked if we could sell goods with the IBM logo? We say no, the logo is owned by IBM, ”says Muskens. He says that IBM still orders a small number of keyboards for its existing commercial customers, but if you need an old logo, you will have to contact eBay or people like Hermite. For others, the inherent Model M's superior qualities and variety are more important than the nostalgic notions of authenticity: some users convert them to wireless Bluetooth devices. One Reddit user posted an original modification with backlit keys that resembled the stunning design of the Razer or Alienware. But with such a limited offer, soon Model M fans will lose the ability to type text on their favorite keyboard.
“It can be compared to oil. One day, oil reserves will be depleted. And it will be a disaster, ”says Hermita. But now it seems that this is still very far away. The oldest Model M have already served for 30 years, and Hermite hopes that they will stretch for another 10 or 20 years - enough for at least one more generation to use this piece of computer history.
Model M is an artifact of those times when the newest computing systems were developed mainly for industrial use and not for entertainment. The PS / 2 computer for which it was designed was worth at least $ 2,295 (by today's standards it is about $ 5,000), and its power and functionality were much inferior to any modern smartphone. Decades later, the power of computers grew exponentially, and their prices declined dramatically. But at the same time, manufacturers abandoned the concept of durability and long service life: in conditions where many third-party companies are ready to sell the latest mice and keyboards almost at cost, it is difficult to convince manufacturers to invest amounts above the minimum required.
And this fast change of old technologies gave us the opportunity to fully experience what we have lost, and also aroused a passion for equipment that can both cause admiration and knock without interruption. As stated in a recent comment on Reddit, “These rubbish are REAL gaming keyboards. How would you mocked her, she will survive you. "
UPD: Translation of an article from www.theverge.com/2014/10/7/6882427/king-of-keys
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/242289/
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