Model M keyboard
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
I like that layout better because it makes Ctrl, Alt, and Escape much more accessible by forcing useless caps lock and semi-useful tilda/backtick to give up their valuable real estate.
It came with the PS/2 Model 8580-71 that was being discarded by the office I was working for in 1996. They even gave me the invoice with it - something north of $10,000 new [1]. Anyway, after I left to join the spinoff firm, I brought it into the office to run the plotter [HP DesignJet 750C]. We ran it as a sneakerNet server, even after we got a real network and file server with [QIC tape drive]. By the time I left a couple of years later, the keyboard had made it's way back to the home office and I used it on the old 486 running bootlegged Advanced Server from my brother-in-law as a backup device - also had a QIC tape drive I picked up for about $12 - I was using a PII box as my primary machine, by then and a USB keyboard just because it was so finicky that the PS/2 keyboard would sometimes not work after a reboot [a really cheap and crappy machine that was]. So my model 80 went away when I donated the 486, and then many years later I learned what it was.
The 8571 was just a gorgeous hardware with a cast aluminium case and a carrying handle. The hard disk inside was about the size of a small cat and sounded like a washing machine when it was running.
While the Unicomp is nice (built like a tank and very clicky), it's quite loud, and also takes up a lot of desk space. The keys also take a lot of actuation force, and I found my fingers getting a bit sore after using it for a while. So I switched to a keyboard based on Cherry switches, which are also pretty good.
Just like smartphones, keyboards are something people touch every day, and I think it is something that it is easy to get attached to.
If I someone took away my monitor, I could replace it and it would be alright. If my keyboard disappeared, I would be more distraught, even though logically I could just as easily buy another one.
The thing is that you can't always just buy another one. I used to be a fan of Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite's, but now they are not manufactured in the same layout or with the same feel. After about 15 years of typing on one kind of keyboard, I found out two years ago about the discontinuation and couldn't buy another when one of mine broke.
I've now switched to a Kinesis Advantage with linear feel switches, and at $325 it is a lot more than the $30 the MS Natural Elite was; and it also took a bit of getting used to, but when I had an intermediate MS ergonomic keyboard (not elite) my hands would start hurting, and I couldn't type as accurately.
I just need to look a monitor, and different machines are pretty much the same but maybe faster or slower; but the keyboard is how I interface with the machine, and its comfort and design are of paramount importance.
Modern keyboards also have the "context menu" key which does the same thing as right-click on the mouse. A very convenient key to minimize lifting the hand from the keyboard and grab the mouse only for a right-click menu.
You could go the Sculpt mouse route still. I have the ergo, and I'm digging it. I have yet to use the (un-customizable) start button on it, but it does support the shortcuts.
The Model M is a great choice for some people because of it's buckling spring design. Though for me, the Natural Erognomic 4000's layout trumps the superior tactile feedback - it also is very comfortable when sitting in my lap. But I've toyed with getting another Model M, one with the trackpoint...my ancient Toshiba Laptop has one on it's excellent keyboard and the trackpoint is the best mouse alternative out there...in my opinion...because I don't even have to move my hands from the home row.
Why is "Pokemon Crystal disassembled source code" upvoted? "LOL, I PLAYED POKEYMON SO I BETTER UPVOTE THIS"?
What is your point exactly? People upvote what interests them. Don't like it don't upvote. What is the point of complaining just of its own sake without adding anything to the discussion.
https://www.google.com/#newwindow=1&q=site:news.ycombinator....