[Noisebridge-discuss] MIT AI Lab / Symbolics / Space-cadet Keyboards ... where?

[Jonathan Lassoff]

On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 3:48 PM, John Magolske <listmail at b79.net> wrote:
> I just read a comment on Hacker News claiming "the best keyboards ever
> made by mankind were the MIT AI Lab keyboards...custom manufactured
> by the now-defunct Microswitch corporation". [1]
>
> Would anyone know how I might go about trying out one such Knight [2]
> keyboard? Or maybe a Symbolics [3] or Space-cadet [4] keyboard? I
> realize they won't work with contemporary computers, I'd just like
> to feel the key action.

I've only had the chance to poke at an old Symbolics keyboard once. It
was in the garage of a childhood friend whose dad was a lab assistant
at MIT back in the day and used to work on those old Symbolics lisp
machines. It's a pretty solid piece of work. I remember thinking that
the design was unlike a lot of contemporary keyboards in that it
didn't contain many contours or extraneous marking or logos. It was a
solid block design with a smooth look about it.
I only punched on the keys for a few seconds, mashing my palms into
it. I remember the keying action as a familiar clicky crunch a lot
like the IBM Model M keyboards.
And that's the keyboard I still use today: one of the newer model M's
from the 90's that has a PS/2 connector, running through a PS/2 -> USB
dongle.