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Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

nickjanetakis.com

101–110 of 315 posts

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#102
post #60
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the author also thinks pair programming is a good idea so I'd take what they say with a grain of salt. Also I get the impression this article is just a thinly veiled ad for their courses.

Sorry, enlighten me - why is pair programming such an awful idea, in your opinion?

You are paying 2 people for what is, 95% of the time, less than twice the output of one person.

There are particular mentoring objectives that you can hit with it, and there is value in bouncing ideas off another person, but I don't need to sit in front of a computer screen for the latter.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#103

This article is an affront to everything I know and have experienced about keyboards, all to post a non-disclosed affiliate link.

I have no problems with affiliate links not being disclosed. Why does it matter? If they're providing a useful link to someone, I don't care if Amazon gives them a few pennies as a reward. If their link is not useful, no one is harmed.

I also have a website with some affiliate links. Disclosing them as such is an FTC-mandated practice. It's not about giving pennies as a reward or not. It's about responsible transparency and standard fair business practice.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#104

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 “Mag…

The keyboard enthusiast community online is pretty notorious for gatekeeping and people often conflate something being objectively bad with their subjective opinion. In reality it's all about preference and what feels right to the individual.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Which decent mechanical keyboard has the feature of being $14.50?

There were some mx red ones for $18 shipped in the US last week linked on geekhack

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#108
post #45
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…

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc...

FYI.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#109
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most engineers with jobs aren't making compromises on the price when their goal is comfort and usability.

You're right. I bought a $250 Leopold FC660C to combat repetitive strain injury, because my doctor said to minimize the distance between the home row and my mouse pad. But most less-expensive 60% ("ten key-less") boards either lack arrow keys or have obnoxious, loud switches. These weren't feasible because I use arrow keys all the time for Visual Studio and I work in open-office hell. The Leopold has quiet Topre swit…

For what it's worth there are many cheaper options that would work for you.

For anyone else looking to reduce the distance between mousepad and keyboard, this size is usually called 84-key, 75%, or 80%. They have all of the keys that a tenkeyless has but laid out in such a way that the keyboard is significantly less wide.

this one is relatively cheap (they used to sell an even cheaper one that I currently own, which has off brand switched instead of cherry mx)

https://www.amazon.com/DREVO-Excalibur-Mechanical-Keyboard-S...

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Which decent mechanical keyboard has the feature of being $14.50?

If price is my primary selection criteria, it's hard to beat free. I suspect I'm not the only one that has keyboards literally laying around: home, the office, friends houses, friends offices...
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