I've never used an Alder so have no idea what the keyboard felt like.
But the IBM clicky keyboard was made to reproduce the feel of the IBM
Selectric typewriter with the help of IBM Lexington (Kentucky) where
Selectric typewriters were designed and built. IBM was very concerned
that the PC would not be accepted as an office tool unless the keyboard
felt like a typewriter. There was a great deal of engineering put into
mimicking the tactile feedback of the mechanical key latch of the
Selectric since the tactile feedback was considered critical for typing
speed by the human factors engineers.
I still have my 1985 IBM clicky keyboard which started life attached to
a PC XT-286. It has been on every one of my computers since with
successive adaptations to PS/2 and now USB connectors on my modern Dell
desktop. I also have three more of them stored in the attic should my
original keyboard fail. But it just keeps clicking along some 25 years
later. It was at least $200 in 1985, maybe even $300. Incredibly
expensive at the time but it has proved its worth many times over. They
can be had for a song today on ebay.
Chuck Norcutt
Joel Wilcox wrote:
>
> To me it's a bit like typewriters. I had a wonderful Adler typewriter
> that I bought in graduate school. German handiwork was a delight and
> had really nice touch. There is no computer keyboard that rivals the
> feel of that typewriter. Certainly none that has given me the same
> pride of ownership and delight in a thing well-made. The closest
> thing was an IBM clicky keyboard from the AT days, but the comparison
> is simply absurd, laughable.
>
> Surely, you see where I'm going with this. A keyboard was almost the
> essence of typing at one point, now it is not.
--
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