Earlier quoted context omitted.
$300 for the simplest keyboard...
hipster tax ;) (also, y'know - hand made products)
Economies of scale at work
If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
151–160 of 373 posts
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#152I've always wanted a mechanical keyboard with the layout of the Apple magic keyboard, couldn't get use to the windows key position and missed the fn key. Always thought about building my own
I solve this by remapping keys in software and then swapping the key caps - building your own is really fun but it isn’t required!
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not just you. The main benefits are around aesthetics and reliability, and sometimes comfort/feel. I'm a faster typer on chiclet keys than mechanical (after years of practice on both), although I'm not sure I'd agree that the chiclets are better for my hands -- presumably less key travel means more force traveling into your fingertips. But! There are low-profile switch mechanical keyboards now, and they're very…
Could you please recommend if you know of any low profile mechanical keyboards? Are they made by Cherry MX guys?
Kailh low profile choc switches are a thing, but their key travel isn't that short.
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
> - you can afford the lower productivity (e.g: you are not a freelancer that needs a regular output) Why lower productivity? The person who created it thinks it will lower RSI therefor increase productivity.
Is RSI even that normal? I have never heard anyone talk about it in real life, only in these threads does it seem like everyone has it.
No it is not "normal" but for people who suffer from it, it is very debilitating.
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
> it is a complete no brainer to invest in optimising the IO channel between your brain and the machine Why? You'll never even double the "throughput" of that "channel", let alone improve it by an order of magnitude. And I say this as someone who wasted lots of time and money attempting exactly that before I realized that typing is not what I spend most of my time doing while programming.
What an Ergodox lets me do is this: while standing, with good posture, I extend my arms, level with the ground, to where they comfortably and naturally want to be. Then, I put the keyboards there, adjust the desk up to that height, and put books under the monitor until the center is exactly level with my eyes. Trackball to the right. This is dramatically more comfortable than anything else I could be doing. It's hard…
For me, I notice the difference in my shoulders. They tuck in with a compact keyboard, and then my wrists bow inward. It ends in a slouch and increasing neck pain over time - even my personal laptop makes this noticeable after a short amount of time.
Ergodox EZ may puzzle people with its layout, but the split island part alone has made computing comfortable for me, especially when combined with a sit/stand desk. There's a lot less physical strain to wrestle with, which a bigger difference as time goes on.
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#156Around 2 years ago now, I took the plunge and bought myself an Ergodox EZ split island keyboard. Quite franky, it is the biggest quantum leap in the ergonomic experience of interacting with a computer I have seen since learning Vim. It is comfortable, effortless and fast. If you spend any significant time interacting with computers it is a complete no brainer to invest in optimising the IO channel between your brain…
$300 for the simplest keyboard...
Good tools will see you through a job with ease; they pay for themselves. Bad tools will have you hating life and doing a poor job at things. I spend many, many hours at a keyboard, every day. Life is too short to put up with terrible tools.
My current favorite keyboard is about $150, and I would happily pay more because it's a good tool and when things are groovy I hardly notice it's there. I have a couple spares in a closet, because I don't want to spend time retraining.
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
So build it.
I don't have room in my apartment to even learn about building physical objects! I'd love to turn my various Arduino doodads into coherent forms but my workspace is a desktop.
You don't need much to start out with. Check and see if there's a makerspace nearby- they generally have A) space and B) people willing to teach and demonstrate how things are done.
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Precisely, although I don't think it's spoiling yourself. You use some things a whole lot that it makes sense to spend comparatively more on them than you would on "normal" items: * Bed * Office chair * Keyboard and mouse * Monitors * Footwear * Cooking basics like a couple of knives and a pan or two. Perhaps this can explain it better than I will ever be able: https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Sam_Vimes_Theory_of_Ec…
Tbh, cheap(er) keyboards don't necessarily are unreliable and fall under that theory. I'm mildy interested in buying a fancy keyboard, but the Logitech I bought in highschool refuses to die...
Your keyboard, like the AK-47 rifle and the UN26 bottom bracket, is an interesting exception to the Vimes theory. Cheap, unsophisticated, but virtually indestructible.
I'm not sure if there's a common mechanism by which things like that come to be. Possibly that they are designed for customers who are buying in bulk for use by other people (cubicle drones, PBI, buyers of assembled bikes), and who have a vested interest in reliability.
Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead
#159Around 2 years ago now, I took the plunge and bought myself an Ergodox EZ split island keyboard. Quite franky, it is the biggest quantum leap in the ergonomic experience of interacting with a computer I have seen since learning Vim. It is comfortable, effortless and fast. If you spend any significant time interacting with computers it is a complete no brainer to invest in optimising the IO channel between your brain…
I agree. My life has turned around completely because of three things:
1. Ergodox EZ Split Island Keyboard
2. Dvorak keyboard layout
3. Taking a Rust programming job