On one of my many recent deep dives into something I shouldn’t really care about, I stumbled across the community of people who obsess about keyboards, and can tell you niche details about all the little bits inside them and how that affects the feel (and sound, apparently sound is very important) of it. I’d heard of mechanical keyboards before, but I didn’t realise quite how passionate people can be about them.
Like many of us, I type quite a lot, and currently use a slim, compact, wireless Apple keyboard, but now I’m wondering, do I owe it to myself to up my game? Should I track down a replica Model M Keyboard with original buckling spring action?
My main keyboard is an Ergodox EZ, but I’ve replaced the keycaps with unlabelled pink & blue keys. (https://ergodox-ez.com/) The vibe is very “tell me you’re a trans person with wrist problems without…” etc.
I also have a KeyboardIO Atreus for travel (although nowadays it mostly just travels to the office with me). Keyboardio Atreus
Love it. The second-best* keyboard I’ve ever used. Satisfyingly clicky and robust.
** My favourite keyboard is that “magic” one for the ipad where it holds it up with magnets, but that’s a ludicrous price for a keyboard and it only works with ipads so I don’t count it at all.
Have been thinking of getting a mechanical keyboard but mechanical plus ergonomic pushes the price up to daft levels. Also very few have numerical keypads and I think I would miss
The biggest consumer scam of all time imo. Got a ten quid Logitech keyboard that does the job - the characters appear on the screen when I press the corresponding button. Used a mechanical that cost 10x that and you’re absolutely having a laugh at paying that much extra.
I don’t particularly care about mechanical keycaps but the difference for me between your standard Logitech/Apple/whatever keyboard and the ones I have is the difference between agonising wrist/shoulder pain every day after work and… not that.
Trust me, if I could have avoided spending 300 quid and still been able to do my job comfortably I’d have done it.
