If you’re reading this at a computer, type on the keyboard in front of you and listen.
Really listen.
What do you hear?
The Click Tap of Progress
Some clicks and taps, but probably very little in comparison to what you would have heard with a cutting edge 1980’s keyboard.
If you’re at a desk reading this, the computer in front of you has orders of magnitude more computing power than the computer that guided mankind to the moon. And the computer-phone in your pocket is more powerful than what was on your desk a decade ago. But the keyboard in front of you is likely a cheap membrane keyboard. Basically a pile of rubber plastic goop that some switches push into.
It wasn’t always that way.
80’s Keyboards
I’m no keyboard fanatic (the one built into my MacBook works just fine for me), but there are two legendary models from the 80s which seem to be the zenith of QWERTY design. The Apple Extended Keyboard II and the IBM Model M.
— http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/05/a-tale-of-two-k/
If you used computers back then, you probably remember the satisfying “click.” Something is lost without that.
— IBM Model M, Inside the World’s Greatest Keyboard
One could speed through typing on these — sometimes faster than the computers of the time could keep up.
The Sounds of Silence
The tactile and audio feedback of newer keyboards is significantly worse, and it may be be worse for you. The amount of force necessary to trigger a keystroke on these classic keyboards was less - you don’t have to “bottom out” the keys. With membrane keyboards, you often need more force.
But your health is a small sacrifice for the coworkers surrounding you who can click through a game of solitaire without the terrible sounds of someone trying to communicate furiously with a machine by typing quickly and loudly.
It’s a lot easier to get everyone cheaper keyboards than to give everyone an office. Or space to do their job in peace. Besides, team players want to be in the cubes, in the “pit” — to increase the frequency of interactions and communication.
We’re living in the future now, and we can’t afford to be disturbing each other with our keyboards — only by those too busy not typing on them.
My former office.
Which Mechanically Switched Keyboard
If you have a proper office with actual walls, or choose to leave corporate life entirely to write essays for the web, it’s easier to focus on the important questions in life like:
Can anyone recommend a mechanical keyboard?
— http://ask.metafilter.com/121278/Mechanical-Keyboards
…and not worry how loud and offensive your answer is.
If you want a “new” Model M get a unicomp http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net//en104bl.html
Those more serious about keyboards congregate at: http://geekhack.org/ where you can even heard sounds of the keyboards and learn all about the different kinds of switches.
Members here get mechanical keyboards for various reasons. Maybe they grew up with them and have fond memories of a IBM Model M pinging away. Maybe they got tired of throwing out mushy rubber domes every three years. The best reason is Mechanical Keyboards just feel better and they will make you more efficient at gaming/typing. After you try one most people find standard rubber dome keyboards mushy and boring! Unfortunately Mechanical Keyboards cost more than the $5 throwaway keyboard that comes with most computers and the first reaction you have may be “why bother - my keyboard works fine”. Keyboards are the primary way in which you interact with your computer. Think about how much money you spend on the other devices you use to interact with your computer - computer mice (you probably have several), computer monitor, and graphics card. Your fingers deserve the best.
There’s a lot of options in mechanical keyboards, but almost all of them suffer from one terrible flaw.
The Cord
Keyboard technology did take a giant leap forward from the 1980’s in one important area: cords.
Those windy, unwieldy cords that accompany keyboards seem absurds now. An ugly mess happening constantly on your desk.
The problem is that the intersection of wireless keyboards and mechanical keyboards is nearly nonexistent.
Which makes it very easy to recommend the one I use, as there are very few options mass produced and available.
Get the XArmor U9W 2.4 GHz RF wireless mechanical keyboard
It has all the satisfying click and heft of a mechanical keyboard, but without an annoying cord.
It has a flaw: the indicators in the top right. Traditionally keyboards had num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock indicators. This one has num lock, low battery, and a transferring data indicator which lights up whenever you press a key. This feedback seems a bit excessive, and I’d rather have a caps lock indicator.
But that’s a minor issue.
Typing on it is a joy, and it is the best PC accessory I have bought in a decade.
★★★★ / ★★★★★
A stellar and nearly flawless product, four out of five stars.
XArmor U9W 2.4 GHz RF wireless mechanical keyboard, ~$100 on Amazon