Back to the Nimitz

Speaking of the classic Mac era, Zac Bir has rediscovered the joy of the greatest keyboard ever made, the Apple Extended Keyboard II:

I quickly came to the realization that the Model M and the CODE were right out. The Model M because of its 101-key layout. I didn’t want to have to do too much training to figure out where and how I’d fit in an affordance for the Option key, and the CODE, while ostensibly supporting a Mac layout via DIP switches, felt a little bit like capitulating to a default-Windows-world. I quite like the WASD v2 with the available Mac layout (and I encourage you to play with their online keyboard designer. Colored keycaps! Fonts! Layouts!), but the price was a bit off-putting. I looked (very) briefly at the Unicomp, and quickly closed my browser tab. The aesthetics left more than a little to be desired. So I found myself back in the 90’s, looking for an Apple Extended Keyboard II. After reading an article about making your own USB adapter for the AEKII, the bug was planted, and the deal was sealed.

Building your own USB-ADB adapter isn’t necessary, of course — I’ve been using a Griffin iMate ever since Macs went to USB. What’s funny is that the translucent Bondi Blue iMate now looks more dated than the AEKII.

★ Saturday, 17 January 2015