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Inside the World's Greatest Keyboard

From the satisfying click of its keys to its no-nonsense layout and solid steel underpinnings, IBM's 24-year-old Model M is the standard by which all other keyboards must be judged.

Benj Edwards, PC World

Buckling Springs

They call IBM keyboards "clicky" for a reason: With every keystroke, the keys produce a satisfying click-thunk-click via a patented mechanism called the "buckling-spring actuator." Every key press compresses the key spring until it suddenly snaps against the side of a black plastic cylinder (seen here), producing the "click" sound. Meanwhile, the spring, thus compressed, pushes a tiny pivoting rocker beneath each key that registers the key press on a membrane below.

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