Have you ever used an old IBM typewriter or one of their Model M computer keyboards from the 1980s? The ones that weighed twice what a laptop now weighs, and feel like they were cast out of a solid block of stone? The ones with the loud clicky keys, that had proper tactile response as you hit the keys, letting you know damn sure that you had gotten the key pressed all the way in? They are, arguably, the best keyboards ever made. Other people have tried to emulate their keyboards, finding buckling spring switches and other esoteric materials, but they usually wind up costing huge piles of cash. And while the keys themselves are very nice, they don’t have the ruggedness of the old IBM slabs.

I’ve lusted after a Model M for years. The problem with them is they were made with the dominant interface standard of the time – the PS/2 connector. It’s hard to get a computer with that port that will run a modern OS, and I’ve never heard good things about the PS/2 to USB adapters on the Mac.

There’s good news. PCKeyboards has the Model M, in all it’s retro glory, fitted out for USB, for $69.00 +S&H. That’s not bad, especially considering that the next best USB keyboard, the Matias Tactile Pro (which is out of production again while they spool up for their 3rd generation) usually costs well north of $150.