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They're nicer than _any_ keyswitches sold today? That seems hard to believe, are you excluding so-called mechanical switches? There's a wide variety of those ou
by kadoban 7y ago
They're nicer than _any_ keyswitches sold today? That seems hard to believe, are you excluding so-called mechanical switches? There's a wide variety of those out there today, and even just sticking to Cherry MX and knockoffs, they're _quite_ pleasant and there's a variety of feels, sounds, travel distances, etc. available. It's really quite a nice time to be a typist.
- PascLeRasc 7y agoAlps are mechanical switches, and they're still used in some modern keyboards. Vintage Apple Alps keyboards go for quite a bit on eBay.
- kadoban 7y agoSure, it's just I personally find the current quite extreme variety of keyboard switches gives a lot of room for preference. It seems surprising that you'd have to go back that far to find something ideal. I mean if you like them best, certainly your prerogative, just found it interesting.
- jacobolus 7y agoAlps SKCM switches have not been used in anything new in the past 2.5 decades.
- jacobolus 7y agoThere are some other similarly nice keyboard switches from the 1980s and early 90s (and some nicer ones from the 70s; keyboards have generally been on a steady decline for the past 40–50 years, as cost cutting dominated other considerations). None still sold in large numbers today. Cherry MX are much less pleasant, IMO, and also not nearly so electrically reliable. (The Alps SKCM contact mechanism is much more complicated and better sealed. They have an extremely clean electrical signal.) There was a much bigger variety of available keyboard switches in the 1980s than today.