Shark's Wiki (Preview)

Shark's Wiki is my own personal wiki on IBM and family keyboards, their history, the technology they employ, and the companies themselves. Development of the wiki is still in its infancy, thus the structure and quality of the wiki are subject to change. My original text and images are available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 terms. Third-party sources used may have their own terms are stated at the bottom of each page - if for a given photo they are absent, assume you require the owner's consent to use that material.

Families

A large collection of IBM and family keyboards under a common designation or related design

Model M keyboards
Historical and design details on and list of variants of the Model M family of keyboards from IBM, Lexmark, Unicomp and Toshiba.SK-8835/SK-884x family pointing stick & UltraNav keyboards
Details about all the variants and common features of the IBM and Lenovo SK-8835/SK-8840/SK-8845 family of ThinkPad-style keyboards made by LITE-ON.

Keyboards

An individual IBM and family keyboard or keypad and perhaps very closely related variants or possible configurations

IBM 1052 I/O Printer-Keyboard
Information on the Selectric and 024/026 based IBM 1052 I/O Printer-Keyboard.IBM 1816 Printer-Keyboard
Information on the early Selectric-based IBM 1816 Printer-Keyboard.IBM 2741 Communications Terminal
Information on the early Selectric-based IBM 2741 Communications Terminal.IBM 3210 & 3215 Printer-Keyboard
Information on the early typewriter-based IBM 3210 and 3215 Printer-Keyboards.IBM Model M3 Numeric Keypad for IBM PS/2 L40SX
Information on the IBM Model M3 numeric keypad option for the IBM PS/2 L40SX laptop, including its history, design and how it fits into the Model M family.IBM Model M4 & M4-1 Space Saver Keyboard
Information on the IBM Model M4 and M4-1 Space Saver Keyboards, including its history, design and how it fits into the Model M family.IBM Model M4 & M4-1 Space Saver Numeric Keypad
Information on the IBM Model M4 and M4-1 Space Saver Numeric Keypads, including its history, design and possible configurations.Lenovo ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint (SK-8855)
Information on the Lenovo ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint (SK-8855), including its history, design and how it's different to its older SK-8835 and SK-884x siblings.MICRO CADAM Lighted Program Function Keyboard
Information on the MICRO CADAM Lighted Program Function Keyboard.

Organisations

An IBM and family company or division responsible for designing or manufacturing IBM and family keyboards

IBM Information Products Corporation
A brief about the IBM Information Products Corporation, the predecessor to Lexmark.

Key-switches

A key-switch technology employed by an IBM and family company human input device

IBM beam spring
Design and operation details of the IBM beam spring switch found on IBM Model B keyboards.IBM buckling rubber sleeve
Design and operation details of the IBM buckling rubber sleeve switch found on Model M3, M4 and M6 keyboards.IBM buckling spring
Design and operation details of the IBM buckling spring switch found on all IBM Model F and most Model M keyboards.

Related technologies

A technology related to IBM and family human input devices

IBM/Lenovo TrackPoint pointing device
Design, operation and variant details of the TrackPoint pointing stick found on various ThinkPad laptops and IBM/Lenovo keyboards.Lexmark-Unicomp FSR pointing stick
Design, operation and variant details regarding the Lexmark/Unicomp force-sensitive resistor pointing stick design found on various Lexmark OEM keyboards and the Unicomp On-The-Stick and EnduraPro keyboards.