IBM Model M

I am a big fan of mechanical Keyboards, having used and owned one since 2013 (yea not that long). However I have decided to upgrade my keyboard to the legendary IBM Model M, heralded due to its Buckling spring design.

The IBM model M is like nothing I have ever used before. It has an unparalleled tactility and provides a physical and audible clunk each time a key is pressed creating one smooth and fast typing experience. The Cherry MX switches which I’ve used before provided an ok feeling and noise, however the underlying plastic below the keys lead to inferior sound quality when compared to the Model M.

When I Initially purchased my IBM model M I realise that I’d accidentally purchased a terminal edition keyboard, meaning it had a different layout and a different connector, using a rj45 better known as ethernet port. However it wasn’t a traditional ethernet port, requiring a special converter so I had to order a part from America to make it work. But I’m so glad I did.

It has led to an increase in my typing speed and overall is a much smoother typing experience. If you do a lot of typing like I do it’s probably worth getting a mechanical keyboard.  Many people including me speculate that the spring nature found in mechanical keyboards leads to an increase in typing speed and accuracy because your fingers build better muscle memory between keys and can be brought back up faster with physical and audible feedback. Whereas in a rubber dome key switch the key needs to be bottomed out to create a contact, leading to an increase in the time between keys pressed. Thus in a mechanical keyboard it only needs to be pressed around halfway for the key to make contact and the machine to register the key pressed, leading to increasing speed of typing.

A demonstration of me typing jargon into the keyboard

https://youtu.be/hXl1a4RK_hA