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The whole deal with mechanical keyboards feels to me a lot like putting too much emphasis on the rig without real justification. Sure extremely skilled people d
by kakwa_ 7y ago
The whole deal with mechanical keyboards feels to me a lot like putting too much emphasis on the rig without real justification. Sure extremely skilled people do need the extra performance in some circumstances, but chances are the rig is not used by extremely skilled.
And have seen it in a lot of fields and I've actually been culpable of it:
* competitive sailing: I've done quite a bit of dinghy sailing and regattas in my youth (Optimist, Laser, 420), I was always a bit frustrated because as I was not very good, I never had the best boat allocated. But in truth, as long as your dinghy is somewhat water tight and your set of sails are not blowing-up when a strong wind occurs, you are set, at least for a regional and even national level (one of my trainers actually won a national championship on a garbage dinghy that was laying around abandon in a parking lot).
* music (guitar): I've spent countless hours on forums arguing about guitars, amps, effect pedals and things like that. Today I own a Fender Telecaster (Made in Japan, not a US one), a Les Paul Classic, two tubes amps (one I've built, the other I've repaired). All that is far in excess of my actual skills. And I've seen far worst than me, I've literally guitarists barely able to play (like not being able to play 4 cords in rhythm) with 5000$ guitars and 3000$ amps.
* photography, I've seen people with 5000/6000$ (and more) worth of hardware (like Canon 7D or 5D + 2.8 80-200 IS USM + a few other lenses) not being able to frame correctly a picture. And personally, I'm far from good but I do own a second hand 5D (mark I) and a 17-40 L, and the best set of picture I've ever taken was with an old analog AE-1 with a 1.8 50mm lens that cost me 80 bucks during concert.
* mechanical keyboard: I do own a few mechanical keyboards despite the fact I'm barely able to type without looking at my keys (and I've tried to learn several times to type correctly without success using klavaro), and having a very slow word per minutes. I spend more time reading and thinking than typing so in the end, it doesn't matter that much.
Clearly, I'm not the worst at it, but I'm definitely culpable. That being said, having a nice and expensive rig do provide for more pleasure in a lot of cases (ex: between a 150$ and 1500$ you do feel a difference, the touch is not the same, the wood vibration are not same, etc), and it's completely OK to allow yourself these small pleasures.
However, acknowledging these small pleasures as such is important, a cheap guitar is fine, a cheap camera is fine, a cheap keyboard is fine, etc, no need to be pedantic about it. In the end, it rarely matters that much.
PS: cheap mechanical keyboards are actually kind of horrible, I've a 30/40$ one with MX browns copies, the thing is really annoying with key presses resulting in two or three letters being typed, shift+char not always working properly or sometimes a key press resulting in nothing.
- jacobolus 7y agoIt is conceivably possible to spend $1000+ on a keyboard (if you get in a bidding war for a rare antique on ebay or hire someone to design and build something bespoke), but for the most part the price of new keyboards is about $50–$250. This is not really comparable to the other expensive hobbies you described.
- kakwa_ 7y ago1) the cost aspect is only part of the equation, my point is also on the attitude of people 2) the mechanical keyboards is only one item, a gaming rig or a good laptop could cost you 1 or 2 thousands dollars if not more. It's just that mechanical keyboards is where I see far more behavior in the line "these plebs who don't know better". And in term of relative cost, first time I heard 150$ for a keyboard, I was a bit puzzled, in my mind, a keyboard cost between 5 and 15$, so at least 10 times less.
- jacobolus 7y agoComputer keyboards used to cost a whole lot, and were extremely well made, back in the 1970s and early 1980s when (a) typing was the main purpose of a computer and the competition was typewriters (which were expensive and often excellent), and (b) the rest of the computer cost much more. Since then there has been a relentless 30+ year focus on cost cutting, and the elaborate engineering and expensive production that went into 1970s keyboards is no longer economically viable. > see far more behavior in the line "these plebs who don't know better". Personally I find that typing on a nice keyboard (which might be something picked up for $15 on ebay) makes a significant difference in typing speed, accuracy, and comfort. Everyone I have ever met who was excited about keyboards (from casual users of split ergonomic keyboards or old keyboards salvaged from their own obsolete 80s computers up through hard-core DIYers with dozens of hand-soldered prototypes and hard-core collectors with hundreds of keyboards filling up their houses) was enthusiastic and friendly, excited to share their ideas and experiences. People who spend their whole career typing and don’t know that they could find a better experience are missing out, and might enjoy trying some alternatives. YMMV.