I know the IBM Modem M is widely considered the best keyboard ever made. I've tried one and it is very nice. I'm wondering if there were other keyboards from that era or earlier that were even better, but nobody talks about them because they were on an obscure computer or terminal that wasn't popular. Hopefully somebody here has experience with the old and unusual computers and terminals of the 1970s and early 1980s. (I know there were lots of old crap keyboards too)
In my (very limited) experience so far, it seems the order goes something like this (ignoring crap keyboards):
buckling spring - IBM Model M (and variations)
Alps switch - SGI (and others)
Cherry switch - Amiga 1000
Mitsumi - Amiga 3000 (used to type this), Atari 1200XL
I'm especially interested in the old keyboards with keys made out of thick shiny plastic (usually black or brown like the Atari 1200XL). Was there an old keyboard with the IBM Model M feel - or better - but with thick high-quality plastic keys? (did any have metal keys??)