Why doesnt any other manufacturer other than Unicomp make buckling spring keyboards?

[avg123]

Only manufacturer making buckling spring keyboards like the IBM model m is unicomp but they are ugly af. why doesnt other manufacturers make them? I am sure many people will buy them. They sound and feel better than mechanical switches according to youtube reviews which have compared them

[jaslion]

Super niche and its not that easy to make them be consistent on every key as springs have tolerances.

 

Have you even tried these keyboards? They are very weird to type on and very much a aquired taste.

[K4STOR]

2 hours ago, avg123 said:

they are ugly af

not going to lie, I just got mine shipped in recently and it looks way better in person then in the photos. You're able to change switches and such so honestly you could use it as a base if you don't mind the price tag

[AI_Must_Di3]

I have a model M from one of my early pc's, like 89' maybe, and i still use it here and there. I LOVE those boards. Im a hard typer and the space and heavy keys are my favorite. That said, i removed it recently and started using a EVGA Z10 instead cause im afraid im going to beat it to death.

[Blue4130]

On 8/17/2023 at 8:44 PM, micha_vulpes said:

Last I knew they also posses ALL the patents and thus are the only company to be able to remake the model M membrane style buckling spring boards. IE No one else can make a model M or early M2 board mechanism.

Patents only last 20 years. It should be LONG past the expiration.

[Blue4130]

49 minutes ago, micha_vulpes said:

you still have to account for brand namesake, style, copy write etc. Which they could in theory go after someone for ( I am actually amazed the Vortex SSK came into being honestly)

 

Its unlikely anyone is going to actively remake the model M, When you can simply just buy one made the same way since 1996.

 

I think the OPs question also just misses the mark entirely as...If someone wants a buckling spring board, they already have Uni Comp. Its such a niche market and I would imagine they do not actually sell all that many to end consumers. Assuming the serial numbers are accurate, based on the last Uni comp board I purchased they had only sold ~100 of them in the first 6 months that year. I also think that a good number of modern keyboard enthusiasts are put off by the membrane nature of the model M and its very basic matrix.

 

I assume they exist entirely on volume orders from companies or special orders to keep older hardware operational essentially unchanged.

 

I cant imagine any company wanting to take on making new molds, and lines to produce such a product.

 

 

You don't need to account for copywrite, namesake or style. A buckling spring keyboard doesn't need to be in the shape of the model m. The only thing stopping someone is tooling costs as far as I can see. It likely wouldn't sell any better than any other niche keyboard so it just isn't worth it. So the short of it, there is no legal thing stopping someone.