apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/07/1630208
Sections Main Apache 1 more Apple Askslashdot 10 more Books BSD 1 more Developers 3 more Games 14 more Interviews Science 10 more YRO 2 more Help FAQ Bugs Stories Old Stories Old Polls Topics Hall of Fame Submit Story About Supporters Code Awards Services Broadband Online Books PriceGrabber Product News Tech Jobs . Apple Extended Keyboard Lives Again Posted by pudge on Wednesday April 07, 01:05PM from the me-likee dept. An anonymous reader writes For all of you that have wanted a firm keyboard like in the old days with mechanical keyswitches Matias has released the tactilepro keyboard . This keyboard uses the same mechanical keyswitches used in the Apple Extended Keyboard. Alps was going to scrap the keyswitches, so he had to commit to buy 1 million of them. It looks absolutely great, and its only $100 though apparently backordered until late April. PlayFair Pulled Due to DMCA Request Mac OS X Trojan Horse Infects MP3s Yellow Dog Linux Gets 64-Bit Version For G5 Apple Developer Profile Changing? Apple Extended Keyboard Lives Again Monday Releases Cause Crashes Apple Releases New Security Update < Happy 35th birthday, RFC 1!
Based on the IBM Model M technology, which I think Fujitsu licensed or acquired somehow. PS/2 only, which means you need a PS2/USB adapter for it to work with most Macs, but the clickyclicky is very worth it, and unlike the keyboard in the article, its not backordered and about half the price. Stay the hell away from the Fujitsu 8725, its model number suggests that its better, but its actually a cheap, horribly mushy piece of garbage Reply to This Parent adaptors by Onan Score:3 Thursday April 08, 02:20AM Re:Think: NORTHGATE!
Reply to This Re:Seems Promising by HTH NE1 Score:2 Wednesday April 07, 05:46PM Keyboards are important Score:5, Informative by wanerious 712877 on Wednesday April 07, 01:16PM 8793882 Using my keyboard about 2000 hours per year, Ive come to realize the difference between a really good one and a really cheap one. I used a PFU Happy Hacking mini keyboard for 5 years with no problems until it finally started to give out last year. I tried some cheaper brands when I switched from Linux to OS X since PFU didnt make a board with USB plugs. I noticed a couple months ago that there are now mac-compatible Happy Hacking keyboards with extra USB plugs, so I got one immediately. Reply to This Re:Keyboards are important by russellh Score:3 Wednesday April 07, 08:57PM Re:Keyboards are important by capmilk Score:3 Thursday April 08, 05:30AM Re:Keyboards are important by leejor Score:1 Friday April 09, 12:28AM 1 reply beneath your current threshold. Looks just like the Apple Pro Keyboard Score:5, Insightful by amichalo 132545 on Wednesday April 07, 01:18PM 8793898 From the photos, this looks just like an Apple Pro Keyboard without the Apple symbol on the COMMAND keys. If the difference is in the engineering, perhaps they need to show some examples of this premium key switch versus some others. I need a way of understanding what the heck is so great about this keyboard. I would most easy part with my money if they produced a dust free keyboard. Reply to This Re:Looks just like the Apple Pro Keyboard Score:4, Insightful by phatmatt 675145 on Wednesday April 07, 01:26PM 8793994 The problem is that the difference is all in the feel. They assume that the people buying the keyboard had or at least typed on one of the old ADB keyboards and remember how much they liked them. Introduced on the Apple IIe, generated the same signals as button 1 and button 2 on joysticks and paddles. Control-OpenApple-Reset restarted the machine, Control-ClosedApple-Reset put it into self test mode. Encountered a problem a user had where Control-Reset would always cause a reboot. Morphed into Command and Option on the Apple IIgs which used an ADB keyboard but with Control next to the A and Caps Lock small and below the Shift key. Nowadays keyboards for computers are arranged more for typing than for programming;
Re:Looks just like the Apple Pro Keyboard by ModernGeek Score:2 Wednesday April 07, 05:14PM news? Score:3, Interesting by edalytical 671270 on Wednesday April 07, 01:25PM 8793975 While the tactilepro is a very cool keyboard. This story is a little late, Im looking at an ad for one in my old December 2003 Macworld. Nevertheless, Matias deserves support, the one downside to the Mac is you cant go pick up and old keyboard at flee market that the seller doesnt know the value of. Score:4, Funny by PsychoSpunk 11534 on Wednesday April 07, 06:08PM 8797692 Have you ever considered taking your Kensington Keyboard out of the box?
Im not sure whether the information value of that truly outweighs the clutter, but I know thats awfully subjective. I dont know whether Kensington uses the Alps switches, too, but I wouldnt be surprised if both of these keyboards are actually OEMed by the same company. It looks like Matias has just done a much better job of promotion than Kensington did. Ive had one of the Studioboards for nearly six months now I bought it when I bought my G5, a purchase in a moment of weakness at the Panther release party-10 off!
There was a small keyboard that lacked function keys and had the escape key placed just right of the space bar, this was called the Apple keyboard II. It was a very nice keyboard for use on servers or in tight quarters, theres almost no extra frame around the keys and the thing is very small and light. The sort of thing people would purchase today as an add-on keyboard for a laptop. The ergonomics were improved with a 4 step incline adjustment and lots of spacing between sets of keys function, alpha/num, numpad, nav, arrows. Basically the extended keyboard was a 101 key PC style keyboard built to Apple standards, and like a tank. The extended keyboard has a very distinct feel, there is a significant amount of travel in the keys, so your fingers actually have to move to press them down and its difficult to accidentally press a key without being difficult to hit the one you intend. Since the key switches are mechanical, theres a satisfying tactile response when you move the key and the switch connects, you can feel and hear that you are typing a character. This may not mean much to the people that hunt and peck, but for touch typests, theres a rythm to typing and many times you can tell when youve messed something up just by listening to the rythym of the keys. I should note that the extended keyboard is large, is has almost an inch of plastic around the left bottom and right of the keys, and several inches at the top where you could place templates for the function keys for different applications. I love the extended keyboard, and when I get my G5, Ill also be getting a USB-ADB adapter so I can use the extended keyboard on the new machine. I dont like the lightweight, light touch, short stroke keyboards Apple ships with the current systems, not at all.
Not something for everyone - I sure as hell wouldnt go so far as to shell out $90 for it, and am satisfied with my current Apple USB keyboard with the G5 - but some people really need that. I do like the additional labels on the keys, though - something thats sorely lacking on Apples newer keyboards especially the non-US ones. From what I saw on the site and article, there was no mention of other layouts at all. The physical layout is usually the same, just the keys are rearranged and in some cases labelled differently for special characters.
Score:4, Interesting by trudyscousin 258684 on Wednesday April 07, 01:55PM 8794367 Not to take anything away from the Matias keyboard, but the current Apple keyboard is entirely satisfactory. Besides having a decent feel the keys have a nice detent that provides tactile feedback, its easy to clean on the top, and doesnt collect hair or other debris below its circuit board. No, you cant adjust the tilt as you could with the Extended Keyboard and the Extended Keyboard II, but I never used that facility anyway. On one hand, having used every Mac keyboard dating back to that of the original Mac 128k, I feel I should know. But on the other hand, having endured six years of some of the worst Apple keyboard designs ever begi...
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