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Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

nickjanetakis.com

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Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#61

Post by jhoechtl »

nickjj wrote: post #45
mtmail wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The blog is very technical (Docker, Linux, VIM) https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/ As far as I see it's the first post about a product. I don't believe it was written just to push affiliate links.

Thanks. I had another 4,000+ word post about monitors from a few years ago. After 250ish posts it's hard to keep track of everything but I think you are right. That monitor and this keyboard post is the only time I ever specifically wrote about a product. I write about what I happen to be learning about and using at the moment. Sometimes it's Flask, sometimes it's Vim, sometimes it's finding a useful product or servi…

That's what (technical) blogging should be all about. Much appreciated, thanks!

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#62

Post by SwetDrems »

pyronite wrote: post #6
SwetDrems wrote: post #5

This is blatant advertising on the front-page of HN. How did a post about a generic keyboard rise so high in such a short period of time?

What makes you believe the author of this article, who from what I can tell is a long-term active HN user, is advertising for Amazon? Skepticism is good, but you should also be skeptical of the first conclusion it leads you to.

>Skepticism is good, but you should also be skeptical of the first conclusion it leads you to.

As someone who is naturally skeptical, I will keep in this mind more. Thanks.

It feels easy to be skeptical of others, yet much harder to be skeptical of one's own thoughts - for me anyways.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#63

Post by equalunique »

daguil68367 wrote: post #36
bakli wrote: post #2

I don't even remember why scroll lock exists

On fullsize keyboards, Num Lock is less useful than Scroll Lock.

Numlock would make a lot more sense if fullsize keyboards both didn't have arrow keys at all and also split the 0 numpad key into numlock & 0, so that way it's easier/simpler/ergonomic to toggle. We could also do away with Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, Delete, and Insert, since they're already integrated into the numlock key.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#64

Post by nickjj »

equalunique wrote: post #53
nickjj wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say I'm a mechanical keyboard expert in the sense that I personally spent months assembling and disassembling a few of them while putting on custom switches and all of that but I have used (and listened) to a few of them in situations where it was in a controlled environment (I know what the room is like, the mic used, positioning of everything, the switches, etc.) and I haven't found any mechanical keyboa…

Silenced Cherry, Gateron, ZealPC, Aliaz, and Outemu switches are near inaudible when lubed.

Near inaudible is also bad because it's important that you hear something in the videos (this is explained in the article).

But I definitely never heard of having to lube your keyboard before using it. I'll look into that just to see what it sounds like. Hopefully someone with high end recording gear has done real world tests.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#65

Post by unicornfinder »

pteraspidomorph wrote: post #9
vladharbuz wrote: post #3

> Jokes aside, I totally understand the appeal of mechanical keyboards. I’ve used them and it is satisfying to hear that clickity-click sound and the keys do feel amazing but that just doesn’t work for me due to being on so many pair programming calls and recording video courses. I don't like it when people equate mechanical keyboards to loudness. They don't have to be loud! My keyboard has MX Clear switches which ar…

That's what I was thinking. Any decent mechanical keyboard has all of these features and more, and the sound the keys make depends on the switches, of which there are many different types. Some switches are designed to be loud (like the MX Blues) but you don't have to use them. I usually find that people who disparage mechanical keyboards do not actually know a lot about mechanical keyboards...

Indeed. I use a cherry MX brown board with o-rings at work, and it's reasonably quiet and feels so, so much nicer to type on than the rubber dome board it replaced.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#66

Post by duxup »

meddlepal wrote: post #12

My favorite keyboards is the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort. I can type for hours without any wrist pain compared to all my other keyboards.

The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic is my go to.

I wish there were alternatives that I knew of as it is far and away my favorite and I haven't found much in the way of other options.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#67

Post by bonestamp2 »

vladharbuz wrote: post #3

> Jokes aside, I totally understand the appeal of mechanical keyboards. I’ve used them and it is satisfying to hear that clickity-click sound and the keys do feel amazing but that just doesn’t work for me due to being on so many pair programming calls and recording video courses. I don't like it when people equate mechanical keyboards to loudness. They don't have to be loud! My keyboard has MX Clear switches which ar…

Agreed, I have MX Clears and they're not bad at all. That said, they are still louder than standard (rubber dome) keyboards, even with o-ring dampeners installed.

But, I switched to a noise reduction headset and my screen sharing partners say my keyboard noise is now equivalent to people with rubber dome keyboards (you can barely hear it).

I have a keyboard on order with "silent red" mechanical switches. From what I understand, they're similar to rubber dome keyboards in noise level and if that's true then I won't have to use the headset all the time.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#68

Post by sli »

vladharbuz wrote: post #3

> Jokes aside, I totally understand the appeal of mechanical keyboards. I’ve used them and it is satisfying to hear that clickity-click sound and the keys do feel amazing but that just doesn’t work for me due to being on so many pair programming calls and recording video courses. I don't like it when people equate mechanical keyboards to loudness. They don't have to be loud! My keyboard has MX Clear switches which ar…

Yeah, no offense to the author, but this article read like one written by someone who really doesn't know much about keyboards. There is a whole slew of different silent, non-clicky, tactile and linear switches to choose from, as well as sound dampening o-rings.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#69

Post by CoolGuySteve »

The responses from the keyboard enthusiasts here are a real life example of this phenomenon: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZK8Z8hulFg

The guy just likes this cheap keyboard. I use those aluminum Mac keyboards for most of the same reasons: I like (somewhat) low key travel, they’re cheap and easy to find, and last reasonably well.

Edit: Actually it looks like the $50 keyboard I’m talking about got replaced by the “Magic” keyboard that’s considerably more expensive. Too bad.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#70

Post by nickjj »

minimaxir wrote: post #51
nickjj wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The operative phrase in the original comment was “without mentioning”. As a reader you wouldn't be weirded out if the first section of the article was to justify why an affiliate link was used? That would annoy me as a reader a lot more than having an affiliate link used without mention. I mean, I'm not sitting there trying to trick people into clicking links. The blog post is just an honest look / opinion on the k…

> As a reader you wouldn't be weirded out if the first section of the article was to justify why an affiliate link was used? Nope, and as the flagging of this article shows, it's worse without disclosure. It's not just an ethical requirement, it's a legal one. (I believe Amazon's affiliate program guidelines requires disclosure)

> I believe Amazon's affiliate program guidelines requires disclosure

Good call, I just found it in their agreement in section 5: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/agreemen...

Technically I do mention it on my site but maybe it's not clear enough since I only wrote about it once or twice in a comment on a different post.

I'm working on something now to make this more apparent on all pages that have an affiliate link (which is less than 10 out of ~300 pages).

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