44 Years Later

The nostalgia is strong with this. I loved being able to make forms with the glyphs on the Vic-20 and Commodore 64. These keycaps have been “out of print” for a long time, but Signature Plastics is now making them to order. I thought the grey colored accessory keys were going to be more of a lime green color, but that was too bold anyway, and I like this color better anyway. It’s much more similar to the color of the function keys on the original keyboards.

Unicomp, Inc.: Mini M

The Mini M buckling spring keyboard has the same mechanism, feel and general layout as the original IBM Model M (SSK) keyboard. With the much-loved buckling spring key design these keyboards have been prized by computer enthusiasts and robust typists because of the tactile and auditory feedback of each keystroke.

Source: Unicomp, Inc.: Mini M

I always said that when Unicomp made a tenkeyless version, it’d be a day-1 purchase. I just noticed last night that they started shipping in February, and I ordered one on the spot. I had a Model M on my 486DX2 on my first engineering job, and I still miss it. Now I will no longer have to.

I just hope I can put up with the noise. Measuring with my Apple Watch — which is pretty close to the calibrated decibel meters we have at church — my office has a background noise level of 32 dB. (Like the Geiger counters in Chernobyl, which maxed out at 3.6 Roentgens, 30 dB is the lowest level the Watch can read, so I wonder if it’s actually lower.) Typing on my WASD, with Cherry MX blue’s, produces 55 dB of noise, measured by my ear, and that’s with 0.4 mm o-rings on the stems, dampening the impact with the board. It will be interesting to see where the Unicomp comes in at.