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My Mechanical Keyboard

joeposnanski.com

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61–70 of 203 posts

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#61

Post by ubercow13 »

kevbin wrote: post #35
spc476 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't had any complaints from my fellow coworkers in the past six years I've been working at The Company (I brought in a True-Blue IBM Modem M keyboard to work (six years ago, still using the same one)---I have about half a dozen in storage just in case). Sturdy construction and they keep on working. More important---no Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

If you work in one of these (misguided) open-plan offices, ask you co-workers if the noise bothers them. Whatever they say, take your mechanical keyboard home and play with it there. There's no good reason to inflict that noise on your co-workers. They'll appreciate it even if they won't call you out on it.

That's funny, some of my co-workers have cherry blue keyboards but the sound doesn't bother me. Most people in the office have one of those Microsoft Ergonomic keyboards though, and the sound of those drives me absolutely mad. I hate it. Maybe I should lay hints or ask them to take their keyboard home and play with it there...

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#62

Post by renke1 »

superbaconman wrote: post #7

IMO the keyboard is the software engineer's most important tool. I feel most at home on a Chromebook keyboard (ctrl and alt keys on both sides with no win or cmd keys), but I can't find a good external Chromebook keyboard. Even if I could find one, it probably wouldn't be mechanical or wireless (two more keyboard features I love). I'm with Joe, today's keyboards make me sad.

My favorite keyboard is an external Thinkpad keyboard [1]. I can't live without a TrackPoint because I never have to leave the home row with it!

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F3U4TQS/

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#63

Post by pipio21 »

loeber wrote: post #50

> I thought about selling off some of the anniversary gift jewelry I bought for my wife through the years so I could preorder Slightly off-topic, but that moment is when you know you have a problem.

That is the problem with jokes on writing. There is always someone out there that will take you seriously.

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#64

Post by douche »

kevbin wrote: post #35
spc476 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't had any complaints from my fellow coworkers in the past six years I've been working at The Company (I brought in a True-Blue IBM Modem M keyboard to work (six years ago, still using the same one)---I have about half a dozen in storage just in case). Sturdy construction and they keep on working. More important---no Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

If you work in one of these (misguided) open-plan offices, ask you co-workers if the noise bothers them. Whatever they say, take your mechanical keyboard home and play with it there. There's no good reason to inflict that noise on your co-workers. They'll appreciate it even if they won't call you out on it.

I would do that, if they would not inflict their rambling speaker-phone conference calls on me.

The root of the problem is trying to pack people into a room like sardines and expect them to get any work done. But forcing people to use substandard equipment doesn't help anything.

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#65

Post by scottmf »

I never got the appeal. I can type extremely fast on my MBP and would rather not carry around a keyboard. What would a mechanical keyboard offer me?

Seems to me the writer simply got bored of Apple and wants something less ubiquitous to evangelize.

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#66

Post by Freak_NL »

rdtsc wrote: post #10

I think people always are easily obsessed and get attached to things they touch. Those things becomes extensions of themselves. I am that way about my smart phone, keyboard and headphones. I could replace the monitor tomorrow without thinking twice about it. Get a new hard drive, new router, even a new a new laptop because I don't touch but use an external keyboard. But, as soon as my IBM Model M keyboard stopped wor…

> It is completely irrational spending all this time on it, but it am really attached to that particular keyboard.

Nostalgia and/or emotional attachment aside, I think you can actually rationalize repairing it:

① Knowledge and skills. Repairing stuff increases your understanding of the things you use on a daily basis.

② Emotional reward. Successfully repairing something is simply satisfying.

③ Environmentalism. You manage to keep one more product functioning instead of consigning it to a landfill.

I am willing to bet that the time you sink into this project is mostly your down-time. If you weren't doing this, you might be watching Netflix, or playing a game, or reading a book — it is not lost time.

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#67

Post by kalleboo »

venomsnake wrote: post #58
ggreer wrote: post #6

> This keyboard makes real noise — more of a clacking than a typing sound but satisfying just the same — and I had forgotten how much I love the noise. I hope the author realizes that others might not appreciate the sound. I find it very hard to do work when someone else in an office is typing on a buckling spring keyboard.

If you work into an open office it is time to change jobs ... I use mechanical keyboards as a management deterrent when they try to move me from remote work to on premise.

I work remotely and one of my coworkers still manages to annoy everyone with her mechanical keyboard - whenever there's a Skype meeting, it overpowers what everyone is saying and she has to mute, then forgets to un-mute...

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#68

Post by Bromlife »

scottmf wrote: post #65

I never got the appeal. I can type extremely fast on my MBP and would rather not carry around a keyboard. What would a mechanical keyboard offer me? Seems to me the writer simply got bored of Apple and wants something less ubiquitous to evangelize.

I don't think you understand what the author saying. The author is saying that the new keyboards are terrible, and when he realised why he thinks they're terrible he went out and bought a mech keyboard.

He's sad that Apple are choosing this new keyboard technology for the MBP range, and from what I gather, he won't be purchasing a new Macbook Pro.

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#69

Post by kalleboo »

mproud wrote: post #29

Has it occurred to anyone that the headphone jack is probably the quickest way for liquid to enter and damage a mobile device?

The Sony Xperia Z5 from last year has a headphone jack with no rubber flap, and it has a higher IP-rating than the iPhone 7

Re: My Mechanical Keyboard

#70

Post by wojt_eu »

Freak_NL wrote: post #66
rdtsc wrote: post #10

I think people always are easily obsessed and get attached to things they touch. Those things becomes extensions of themselves. I am that way about my smart phone, keyboard and headphones. I could replace the monitor tomorrow without thinking twice about it. Get a new hard drive, new router, even a new a new laptop because I don't touch but use an external keyboard. But, as soon as my IBM Model M keyboard stopped wor…

> It is completely irrational spending all this time on it, but it am really attached to that particular keyboard. Nostalgia and/or emotional attachment aside, I think you can actually rationalize repairing it: ① Knowledge and skills. Repairing stuff increases your understanding of the things you use on a daily basis. ② Emotional reward. Successfully repairing something is simply satisfying. ③ Environmentalism. You m…

Just make sure to blog about it and you can file this time under "marketing". A touch of geekiness looks good on a résumé as long as it does not smell of elitism.
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