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> keyboards produced in the 1970s–80s, which are generally much nicer than anything on the market today. If you haven't picked up on it there has been a resurg

> keyboards produced in the 1970s–80s, which are generally much nicer than anything on the market today. If you haven't picked up on it there has been a resurgence in engineering/design around mechanical keyboards. From switch design to keycaps and board layouts. * Boards like the KBC Pok3r, the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional2 are readily available on Amazon. And novel designs like the Ergodox or The White Fox are available through group buys on massdrop or desk authority. * Keycaps of many makes and profiles are being designed from a couple companies, designed by enthusiasts for group buys and made Signature Plastics and Tai-Hao. * Mechanical Switches are being made by the Cherry which has been around forever, as well as new entrants Gateron and Kailh Check out r/MechanicalKeyboards there is a lot of interesting stuff going on.

jacobolus 10y ago
Yes, I have been an active member of geekhack and deskthority for a few years and have way more ebay keyboard purchases than I need cluttering up my closet, have tried pretty much every ergonomic keyboard ever mass produced, have designed keycap legends for Massdrop and proofed various Signature Plastics designs, have prototyped a couple dozen novel ergonomic keyboards, am friends with the keyboard.io and input.club people, suggested some ideas to Matias about their ErgoPro before it shipped, etc. The point remains though, the keyswitches and keycaps common in the 1970s are much nicer than Cherry MX or its clones, or anything easily available today. All the currently available keycap profiles are noticeably worse than e.g. the profile IBM used on Selectric typewriters or beam spring keyboards in the 1970s. As far as keycaps are concerned, you might enjoy these little props I made last year: http://i.imgur.com/kFxqOm8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/kFxqOm8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M3tQybL.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M3tQybL.jpg My own preferred fix to the Ergodox concept is something along the lines of http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg (ignore the legends; my keymap is unrelated)

jacobolus 10y ago

Yes, I have been an active member of geekhack and deskthority for a few years and have way more ebay keyboard purchases than I need cluttering up my closet, have tried pretty much every ergonomic keyboard ever mass produced, have designed keycap legends for Massdrop and proofed various Signature Plastics designs, have prototyped a couple dozen novel ergonomic keyboards, am friends with the keyboard.io and input.club people, suggested some ideas to Matias about their ErgoPro before it shipped, etc. The point remains though, the keyswitches and keycaps common in the 1970s are much nicer than Cherry MX or its clones, or anything easily available today. All the currently available keycap profiles are noticeably worse than e.g. the profile IBM used on Selectric typewriters or beam spring keyboards in the 1970s. As far as keycaps are concerned, you might enjoy these little props I made last year: http://i.imgur.com/kFxqOm8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/kFxqOm8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M3tQybL.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M3tQybL.jpg My own preferred fix to the Ergodox concept is something along the lines of http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/puH1Ge4.jpg (ignore the legends; my keymap is unrelated)