{"id":2108,"date":"2010-07-07T21:31:45","date_gmt":"2010-07-08T02:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/?p=2108"},"modified":"2010-07-18T15:46:10","modified_gmt":"2010-07-18T20:46:10","slug":"the-model-m-a-timeless-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/?p=2108","title":{"rendered":"The Model M: A timeless classic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I just found an informative article about the origin, life, and astonishing persistence of <a href=\"http:\/\/plope.com\/Members\/chrism\/25_years_of_the_model_m\">my favorite keyboard<\/a>.  Nearly every article on this blog was hammered out on the same Unicomp Model M I&#8217;m typing on now.  The design is 25 years old and still going strong, a nearly unique longevity in computing devices.<\/p>\n<p>I endorse every bit of snarkiness and ergonomic wisdom in that article.  I find the lack of tactile feeback and noise from modern &#8220;soft-touch&#8221; keyboards disconcerting and uncomfortable.  It does my heart good to know the model M is still being produced, now with USB interfaces even.  I expect I&#8217;ll be using these until I die or we get brain\/computer interfaces, whichever comes first.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I feel about the Model M the way I feel about the 1911-pattern .45 pistol and the core design of Unix.  All three of these are too frequently dismissed as dinosaurs, but stand out to the discerning as timeless classics of square-shouldered ruggedness and fitness-for-purpose whose virtues, it seems, need to be rediscovered anew in every generation.  They get the job done, outlasting transitory fads and fashions; they endure, with quiet excellence that is burnished rather than eroded by the passage of years.  They have what architect Christopher Alexander called the Quality Without A Name and embody as well as any engineering design can the human quality the ancient Greeks called <em>arete<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>I have been many things in my life, but I am first and last and always an engineer, a maker.  To me, designs that achieve the level of excellence of these examples are art to rival the Parthenon, fit to be counted among the great achievements of any civilization.  It&#8217;s no bar that they are humble and utilitarian; in fact, I think they speak on that account more truthfully about the virtues of their designers and their civilization than art objects made for display and to impress.<\/p>\n<p>As such, the Model M (and all engineering designs at that level of excellence) are worth celebrating. If you have one, take a moment to think about your keyboard and appreciate it.  If you don&#8217;t, find out what you&#8217;re missing and buy one so Unicomp will keep making the lovely things for another 25 years, and many more after that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I just found an informative article about the origin, life, and astonishing persistence of my favorite keyboard. Nearly every article on this blog was hammered out on the same Unicomp Model M I&#8217;m typing on now. The design is 25 years old and still going strong, a nearly unique longevity in computing devices. I endorse&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/?p=2108\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Model M: A timeless classic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2108"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2153,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108\/revisions\/2153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}