Hacker News Reader

They may have expected typists coming over from typewriters to hammer on it for 8 hours a day, or to give them a similar feel to ease the transition and limit complaints.

This one.

You could hear a former typist from the other side of the building even on a rubber dome keyboard.

Perhaps injection molding and plastics in general weren't as advanced at the time?

It wasn't a "frame" really, it was just a single sheet of stamped steel in a curved shape.

The Model M wasn't nearly as impressive, or durable, as the Model F that preceded it and which was included with the IBM PC. Those keyboards had metal housings, unlike the plastic housings of the Model M.

IBM was a typewriter company and their keyboards reflected that for quite awhile - keys you could “tell” you pressed, machines that could take a beating.

Also most keyboards from the era were “similar” since the switches were somewhat of a standard. It wasn’t until the PC market took off and went nuts that cost cutting and other developments began - especially in the portable/laptop area.