It is well known I like my IBM Model M keyboards [1], both at home and at the office (thankfully, my fellow cow-orkers don't seem to mind as they can be a bit clicky). So it was a nice surprise when fellow cow-orker J presented me with an IBM Model M SSK (Space Saving Keyboard) in the original package!
[Even though it's smaller than normal, at 4lbs (2kg) it's still quite lethal.] [2]
It's missing the numeric keypad, but that's something I rarely if ever even use on the normal IBM Model Ms I use so that doesn't bother me. What has me intrigued are the legends on the keycaps:
[This is making up for that IBM Model M with APL keycaps I missed getting by 10 seconds years ago.] [3]
Some of these keys have five different functions, so I'm left wondering how one would select which function. For instance, the key with the front faced labeled END-ITEM—you have just the plain key, Shift-key, Ctrl-key, Ctrl-Shift-key, and … not Alt-key because the label isn't green, unlike the front label on the “P” key … perhaps Left-Ctrl-key and Right-Ctrl-key? I don't know. But it looks cool!
The keyboard seems smaller than it really is—the keys are the same size as on a regular keyboard, and the removable keycaps fit perfectly on my normal IBM Model M. The feel of using it is subtly different though. I wonder if that's because this keyboard probably has never seen use and thus, isn't broken in.
I wasn't able to find much of anything about this keyboard on the Intarwebs, just this one page [4] where someone by the name of Mr. Nobody was selling the same keyboard (made on the same day no less!) for, and I quote, “a pocket deep as an ocean.”
In any case, it's sitting by, just in case the keyboard I've been using for nearly 20 years ever dies on me.
I have some new information [5] on this keyboard.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
[2] /boston/2018/10/31/ibm-model-m-ssk.jpg
![[2] /boston/2018/10/31/ibm-model-m-ssk.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2018/10/31/ibm-model-m-ssk.jpg){kind=link}
![[3] /boston/2018/10/31/keycaps.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2018/10/31/keycaps.jpg){kind=link}