Keyboard prices

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Daniel Beardsmore

23 Feb 2018, 09:53

I've seen a few posts here from magazines listing keyboard prices, and I never thought to add them to the wiki under [wiki]Keyboard prices[/wiki]. Now I have no idea where those topics were.

If anyone remembers posting such a topic, please post a link to it here.

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Chyros

23 Feb 2018, 12:59

It's unbelievable how much those arseholes at Key Tronic dared to ask for their ghastly foam and foil crap Oo .

I have a brochure somewhere, will upload it when I'm home.

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Daniel Beardsmore

23 Feb 2018, 13:42

Chyros wrote: It's unbelievable how much those arseholes at Key Tronic dared to ask for their ghastly foam and foil crap Oo .
They do seem very expensive for what they are (especially considering the price for a Hi-Tek waffle grid) — it will become clearer once we have data from other brands. People had found keyboard reviews in computer magazines (on Google's archives), with all the prices, and I didn't record those details at the time.

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Laser
emacs -nw

23 Feb 2018, 13:55

Maybe checking the commercials in the magazine collections from archive.org? E.g. https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine

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Blaise170
ALPS キーボード

23 Feb 2018, 15:47

I found this when looking into something, not exactly about pricing but I found it funny nevertheless. It appears that people have been complaining about the mushy feeling of rubber domes for decades! :lol:

Image

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purdobol

23 Feb 2018, 16:38

Imho https://www.1000bit.it/ is a place to look for this kind of stuff. This place is chock full of old brochures, magazines, ads and so on. But it would take quite a bit of time and dedication to extract usefull info from there.

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Daniel Beardsmore

23 Feb 2018, 21:37

No, I'm just asking whether anyone who remembers posting one of the keyboard review/round-up article links, still knows where the forum topic went to. I only recall there being one or two of them, but I'd never find them again anywhere.

If not, I'll just add data to that wiki page as I encounter it.

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webwit
Wild Duck

23 Feb 2018, 22:22

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: the wiki under [wiki]Keyboard prices[/wiki]. Now I have no idea where those topics were.
This one is already uploaded to the wiki but missing from the category:
keyboards-f2/1979-cherry-keyboard-produ ... t8532.html

Another one not listed yet:
wiki/File:Cherry-Price-List-April-1980-(KB-802).pdf

Oh wait I see you created a whole category earlier:
wiki/Category:Cherry_catalogues_and_brochures

Engicoder

23 Feb 2018, 23:00

At one point i found a comparison of keyboards that included prices. It was from the 80's. I'll see if I can find it again.

Update: Found it. PC Mag Dec 1989
https://books.google.com/books?id=5CmkZ3THZtwC
page 225

Maxi-Switch ME 101 $55-$65
Hi-Tek RT-101 $60
Chicony KB-5161 $89
Zeos RS $89.95
Northgate Omnikey Plus $119
Key Tronic Professional Series KB 101 Plus $149
DataDesk Turbo 101 $149.95
IBM Enhanced AT $199

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Daniel Beardsmore

23 Feb 2018, 23:31

I don't think that was the one I was thinking of, but yes, thank you, I'll add those prices. I love the awful diagrams they drew of how the keyboards work!

I forgot that I had those Cherry price lists, too — I just rediscovered that wiki page the other day, having completely forgotten it any time I found prices.

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Polecat

24 Feb 2018, 05:28

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: I've seen a few posts here from magazines listing keyboard prices, and I never thought to add them to the wiki under [wiki]Keyboard prices[/wiki]. Now I have no idea where those topics were.

If anyone remembers posting such a topic, please post a link to it here.
Any interest in anecdotal prices, or only those documented in print?

It would also be interesting to document which keyboards were available for sale separately, versus those that were only available as part of a system. Just a thought.

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Chyros

24 Feb 2018, 10:36

Here's an excerpt from PC Magazine (25th Feb 1992) that I screenshotted a while ago. I've used this in several videos now, it's a pretty cool article.

Image

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Daniel Beardsmore

24 Feb 2018, 14:55

Here's the PC Magazine issue from the screenshots:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iYmIeqES1fYC

I still can't figure out how to jump to specific pages, but all the pages missing from the screenshot above are available once you've gone all the way down.

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Daniel Beardsmore

24 Feb 2018, 14:56

Polecat wrote: Any interest in anecdotal prices, or only those documented in print?
Only examples where there is a reliable reference for the price.
Polecat wrote: It would also be interesting to document which keyboards were available for sale separately, versus those that were only available as part of a system. Just a thought.
I can add a column that includes that information.
Chyros wrote: Here's an excerpt from PC Magazine (25th Feb 1992) that I screenshotted a while ago.
I did remember it being green, and that NMB's keyboards were absurdly cheap, so that's more likely to be it, but I forget now. (I guess whoever posted the link before didn't cite the magazine name, as I can't find the topic based on this either.)

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Daniel Beardsmore

26 Feb 2018, 00:37

OK, PC Magazine prices added to [wiki]Keyboard prices[/wiki] — very strange, too.

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elecplus

26 Feb 2018, 00:41

Will old sales brochures work?

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elecplus

26 Feb 2018, 01:04

In 1987/8, apparently there were only 10 companies importing/exporting computer keyboards. I wish it said which 10!
4,325,699 units were worth $355,282.00. I find that hard to believe, something wrong with those numbers.


https://books.google.com/books?id=hlcrs ... ce&f=false

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Chyros

26 Feb 2018, 01:15

I love how the SSK was actually cheaper than a fullsize M back then. Even in the 90s they already knew fullsize is better 8) .

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Elrick

26 Feb 2018, 01:30

Chyros wrote: I love how the SSK was actually cheaper than a fullsize M back then. Even in the 90s they already knew fullsize is better 8) .
So damn TRUE.

No comparison to having a FULL sized keyboard to deliver years of performance and joy.

Every girl knows in her heart that having a Full sized service, is far superior to anything that is less. No logical person would ever choose anything small, when you do have a greater sized device being offered.

Living large is the only way to be..... ;)

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

26 Feb 2018, 08:28

Chyros wrote: I love how the SSK was actually cheaper than a fullsize M back then. Even in the 90s they already knew fullsize is better 8) .
Because moree expensive always means more better! It this from the ZealPC catalogue?

Elrick wrote:
Chyros wrote: I love how the SSK was actually cheaper than a fullsize M back then. Even in the 90s they already knew fullsize is better 8) .
So damn TRUE.

No comparison to having a FULL sized keyboard to deliver years of performance and joy.

Every girl knows in her heart that having a Full sized service, is far superior to anything that is less. No logical person would ever choose anything small, when you do have a greater sized device being offered.

Living large is the only way to be..... ;)
After seeing the Hyper7 build here on DT recently, I can‘t understand how people can consider a Fullsize large. Man up and throw some more switches on that desk. It‘s not large unless you have two keys for every possible scan code and a macro pad the size of a cafeteria tray.
A keyboard has to be so large, there‘s toilets flushing clockwise and counterclockwise on the same board!
And these toilets are rest stops for all the hand traveling that‘s going on!
Your hands need a fucking visa to go from Q to M on a real keyboard!

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Daniel Beardsmore

26 Feb 2018, 09:24

elecplus wrote: Will old sales brochures work?
Yes, so long as they are available somewhere permanent for use as references.
Chyros wrote: I love how the SSK was actually cheaper than a fullsize M back then. Even in the 90s they already knew fullsize is better 8) .
Something seems a bit amiss. The magazine lists the SSK as being shipped with the IBM PS/1, when so far as I know, the PS/1 came with the M2. The SSK is also cheaper than the M2! Generally, size (these days, anyway) doesn't have much of an effect on cost, so I'd expect the M2 to be the cheapest of the three!

There are lots of oddities, such as RT101+ mechanical and membrane being very similarly priced, G80 and G81 being almost the same price, and G__-1000 and G__-3000 being almost identically priced. Then you have G80-3500 that's way out, at over three times the price.

Key Tronic as you can see, remained expensive, offering rubber dome for more than you'd pay for a Cherry G80-1000 keyboard, let alone a Chicony or NMB mechanical! Oddly, though, not as expensive as Maxi Switch! They were taking the mick.

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clickykeyboards

26 Feb 2018, 16:24

Also.. since we are talking about prices from the 1980s, it is also important to factor in 25+ years of the cost of inflation of the US dollar.

Image

Using online CPI calculator for US Bureau of Labor Statistics
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl


Maxi-Switch ME 101 $55 (1989) = $108 (2018)
Hi-Tek RT-101 $60 (1989) = $118 (2018)
Chicony KB-5161 $89 (1989) = $174 (2018)
Zeos RS $89.95 (1989) = $175 (2018)
Northgate Omnikey Plus $119 (1989) = $234 (2018)
Key Tronic Professional Series KB 101 Plus $149 (1989) = $293 (2018)
DataDesk Turbo 101 $149.95 (1989) = $294 (2018)
IBM Enhanced AT $199 = $391 (2018)

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Daniel Beardsmore

27 Feb 2018, 00:56

I've just added all the adjusted 1989 and 1992 prices. Others forthcoming. The table is getting a bit cramped now.

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tactica

27 Feb 2018, 08:08

I suggest you keep references to the minimum. For the IBM part numbers article I decided to place a reference in the "parent" keyboard or the first regional version, and omit it for the rest. Unless, of course, where there is good reason to add the reference again, for example when other unrelated keyboards are listed in the middle of a series due to the chaotic P/N numbering scheme devised by IBM.

In either case I also suggest you rephrase the introduction, because as it is now it would seem that the listing is a recommendation for the prices that people should be asking for second hand boards... Not a good thing.

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Daniel Beardsmore

27 Feb 2018, 09:37

I've written a new introduction that possibly seems less wrong that whatever was wrong with the previous one. I mean, the prices have years by them!

The references, no idea, just going to leave that as it is.

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Daniel Beardsmore

27 Feb 2018, 22:37

I was tempted to add some modern prices (e.g. what a Majestouch 2 costs now, vs what I paid for my Majestouch in 2010) but maybe the page should be dedicated to "historical" prices, i.e. prices before some arbitrary point in time that we made up. With that said, permitting "modern" prices would allow for interesting comparisons between the prices of keyboards in the past, and how much you pay now, as good keyboards are often still expensive.

Even after inflation, an NMB RT101+ Mechanical was still cheaper than many keyboards now, and with that you got PBT dye sub no less.

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Chyros

27 Feb 2018, 22:53

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: I was tempted to add some modern prices (e.g. what a Majestouch 2 costs now, vs what I paid for my Majestouch in 2010) but maybe the page should be dedicated to "historical" prices, i.e. prices before some arbitrary point in time that we made up. With that said, permitting "modern" prices would allow for interesting comparisons between the prices of keyboards in the past, and how much you pay now, as good keyboards are often still expensive.

Even after inflation, an NMB RT101+ Mechanical was still cheaper than many keyboards now, and with that you got PBT dye sub no less.
Yes, I noticed back when I did that video that NMB keyboards were VERY competitively priced. Honestly I think they would've made a pretty compelling choice.

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Techno Trousers
100,000,000 actuations

28 Feb 2018, 00:09

It's so unfortunate that NMB stuck to the BAE and never fully embraced the ANSI 101 form factor. I feel like space Invader switches would have a lot more enduring popularity if they had.

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elecplus

28 Feb 2018, 00:33

Techno Trousers wrote: It's so unfortunate that NMB stuck to the BAE and never fully embraced the ANSI 101 form factor. I feel like space Invader switches would have a lot more enduring popularity if they had.
I just sent quite a few of the ANSI Space Invaders to Wodan in Germany. He will be happy to sell them to you!

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elecplus

01 Mar 2018, 02:07

IBM 3471 prices http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca ... index.html

Code: Select all

DESCRIPTION                        REFERENCE           PRICE
Video-Amber-Gold                   23F3821               $905
Video-Green                        23F3820                905
122-Key Typewriter
  Keyboard                         1394801                295
104-Key Typewriter
  Keyboard                         09F4230                295
IBM Enhanced Keyboard              1394802                295
104-Key Data Entry
  Keyboard                         09F4231                295
Power Cord                         6952297                 10
Power Cord --
  Chicago six foot                 6952298                 10
Tilt/Swivel Stand                  81X4450                 20
ACCESSORY
                                   PART NUMBER
DESCRIPTION                        REFERENCE           PRICE
Clear Lens Keycaps (60)
Paper Inserts (60/60)
and Tool (1B)                      73X3878                $55
Clear Lens Keycaps (60)
Paper Inserts (60/60)
and Tool (1AG)                     6341707                $50
NOTE:
    (1A) -- 122 Typewriter Keyboard
    (1B) -- 104 Typewriter Keyboard
    (G) -- IBM Enhanced Keyboard

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