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I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

electronicmaterialsoffice.com

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Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#531

Post by therealdrag0 »

akpa1 wrote: post #345
jordemort wrote: post #272

The biggest disadvantage to switching to a split keyboard is seeing neat things like this come out, and then hearing my wrists say "it's too bad we're never letting you go back." I even have to travel with the damn thing now, if I'm planning on doing any serious coding...

It's the same here. As much as I'd love to go and use a keyboard like the one shown here, my split ortholinear board has done my wrists and shoulders a world of good. It's so much more comfortable than using any other standard keyboard.

Which keyboard are you using?

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#532

Post by thinkmassive »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #524

Quick thoughts in no particular order: - nice design, something I'd love to have sitting on my desk - like the raised look of some keys -- would have to try them out to see what it feels like - really like the look of the rotary dial, BUT having something stick out does make it harder to slip into a pouch/bag. Also, thinking about the ergonomics of that, you have to lift your hand, move it away from you into the righ…

An easy solution for the rotary knob would be to include a second low-profile knob without the protruding finger-grab piece.

This looks like a nice keyboard, but I have the same concern about slipping it into a bag. I’d try to 3D-print a flat replacement knob if it didn’t include one out of the box.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#533

Post by interleave »

adastra22 wrote: post #510
interleave wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. I honestly don't know. First, John Maeda had written about this idea of a computer keyboard being more like a (musical) instrument than a tool.[^1] That always stuck with me. Second, in itself, a keyboard is a complex object residing in my space. To me, the letters add visual noise. It's just a low hum, not a loud screech. But I would buy the blank version. [^1]: https://johnmaeda.medium.com/thoughts-o…

Sounds like Das Keyboard: https://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/

Thank you for the tip!

My take on "ze Germans", "psycho-acoustics" and "badass typists"

First off: As a native German-speaker, I always have to giggle with the whole "Das" Keyboard. "Das Keeboahd. Jaaaa."

Secondly: As silly as "...the psycho-acoustic experience [...] an unmatched typing experience" sounds. I know exactly what they're talking about. And it matters to me.

Maybe, as a neurodivergent person, it's because it provides a stim that I need in exchange for sitting still. So, to their credit, "psycho-acoustic experience" nails it for me.

Thirdly: Not in this lifetime will I buy a product named "Badass4" made for "badass typists" (Honestly, wtf?). I will not get into criticizing the overall shape. That's a matter of taste. Let's just say, the Altair I speaks to my preferences.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#535

Post by tiborsaas »

bbojan wrote: post #213
tiborsaas wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entering TOTP codes, bank accounts, spreadsheeting is much more convenient on a 3x3 grid than a row of numbers. It's also nice to have a +- button in the rightmost column.

That's the reason why I have a numpad layer on my 46 key split ortholinear keyboard. Your use case doesn't mean you need a physically separate set of keys for this.

I guess we are at the opposite sides of the spectrum, I like to have a lot of buttons in front of me :) I just got this delivered:

https://www.thermaltake.com/level-20-rgb-titanium-gaming-key...

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#536

Post by therealdrag0 »

jordemort wrote: post #272

The biggest disadvantage to switching to a split keyboard is seeing neat things like this come out, and then hearing my wrists say "it's too bad we're never letting you go back." I even have to travel with the damn thing now, if I'm planning on doing any serious coding...

Same.

I was about to say there are so many projects like this maybe in the next decade or two the split community will grow and have more nice custom keyboards.

But who am I kidding, I'm all in on the kinesis advantage. A couple years ago I gave the Ergodox EZ a good solid try, but it just didn't jive with me, so I think I'm stuck (in a good place).

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#537

Post by dm319 »

layer8 wrote: post #35

Everyone is different, but personally I won’t buy a keyboard without separate Delete and Backspace keys, without Home/End/PgUp/PgDn/Insert keys, and without a dedicated Menu key [0], for any kind of serious work. I’d also imagine that one is prone to bump into the rotary knob if one is not fully conditioned to that keyboard. I applaud the T-shaped cursor block and the full-sized function keys, although it would be us…

As someone with decades of full-size keyboard use and corresponding muscle memory, I moved recently to a 60% keyboard.

Initially I experienced some difficulty getting used to the lack of cursor keys, delete, escape. But with a short bit of time (couple months) I find I don't miss them anymore, and in fact appreciate the closer vicinity of these keys now.

However, the key thing is good layers, and buttons that can access them. The left half of my space bar gets to my main layer.

It's so good that I now find it annoying to move my hand to get to the cursor keys.

60% also means the mouse is a lot closer for me.

I don't get the appeal of low profile, and these days I think I'd want a split.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#538

Post by akpa1 »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #531
akpa1 wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the same here. As much as I'd love to go and use a keyboard like the one shown here, my split ortholinear board has done my wrists and shoulders a world of good. It's so much more comfortable than using any other standard keyboard.

Which keyboard are you using?

I use a Let's Split kit that I assembled with Momoka Frog switches (linear, ~55g).

https://imgur.com/a/dqjyB3O

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#539

Post by lloeki »

ghodith wrote: post #466
bckr wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true though. The remainder of the text buffer is shifted. It really is a deletion and not an addition.

I mean, that's true if you think of a space as exclusively a character. In the physical meaning of the word, what exists in place of the original character is now an empty 'space'. In some pedantic sense you have truly added space where there was once none.

Consider the behaviour before or after either newlines in plaintext or paragraph ends in word processors. Also soft wrapping. It is truly a deletion now.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#540

Post by papertokyo »

interleave wrote: post #490
barrenko wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to tell you - and this is a common "theme" on HN - but you are probably not the target audience.

Oh, interesting! You might totally be right. I honestly thought I was the target audience, given I have bought mech keyboards, use them all day and want to buy more. So, in my book, I'm a real prospect but, yeah, maybe there's an even smaller niche.

I've never bought a mechanical keyboard but I'm a designer and the aesthetics + promise of a more tactile experience has me interested. I don't have a lot of comparison points or references beyond "MacBook butterfly keyboard gross, magic keyboard good".
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