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> I honestly don't understand the mechanical keyboard hype. [...] I notice that some people like to stab the keys. They seem to use an excessive amount of force

> I honestly don't understand the mechanical keyboard hype. [...] I notice that some people like to stab the keys. They seem to use an excessive amount of force. I've always been all about using the least effort possible so low-profile keyboards seemed optimal to me. People, me included, like mehcanical keyboards because the feedback when the key registered is so unmistakably clear both on the way down and on the way up. The worst kind of keyboard is the mushy one where you can't blind type because there's no clear mechanical feedback whether keypress actually registered or not. I'm one of those people who can unconcisously matches the sounds of keypresses to characters typed so when those are out of sync, I notice. The least effort principle doesn't contradict this. I love typing on both of my old Mac wired keyboard as well as my mechanical with inch-high keys.

brailsafe 5y ago
> I love typing on both of my old Mac wired keyboard as well as my mechanical with inch-high keys. I find that hard to believe, if what you like is meaningful feedback. I'm in the same camp as the parent, in that I don't like mech keyboards (MS Sculpt for life), but the old apple non-chiclet keys were so mushy to me. I would always prefer to re-map a commodity dell keyboard with similar looking keys but more satisfying click.
- ihateolives 5y ago
  Dunno. Something about the key travel and resistance suits me. I'm talking about this one from 2007/2011: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Apple_iMac_Keyboard_A1243.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Ap... Other slim one I can work daily with is Logitech K750 solar first gen, it's reasonably crisp and firm. Later iterations are mushy as hell, feels like typing on fresh dough. But that first gen one is 12 years old and still going strong, solar panels are still working, it's still holding charge. I love when I find something that I can keep for decades.
  - jmyeet 5y ago
    People seem to refer to this era of keyboard as the chiclet keyboard. MBPs at the time used a very similar design before the disastrous butterfly switch where user experience was a blood sacrifice at the Johnny Ive's Altar of Thinness. I too like these keyboards, particularly the wired ones (which have a numpad), so much so that I started to hoard them when Apple stopped making them. I think I have 5 of them. 1 stopped working and it gets salvaged for keycaps now.
    - brailsafe 5y ago
      Ya this is the keyboard I thought of as chiclet, but forgot that it's also old af now
  - mattlondon 5y ago
    That one is also one of my favourites too. I have fond that this from Cherry (not mechanical, just made by cherry) is decent too: https://www.cherry.co.uk/cherry-kc-6000-slim-for-mac.html https://www.cherry.co.uk/cherry-kc-6000-slim-for-mac.html There is something about that chiclet style that just works so well for my hands and fingers. Using a "normal" keyboard now is super fatigue inducing as you need to move your fingers so much compared to a chiclet one like this where your fingers just glide over the keys.
  - brailsafe 5y ago
    Oh, ya that's the keyboard I like actually, forgot it's also quite old now. The one I thought you were referring to, which seemed to me more like most mechanical keyboards in terms of their keydepth, would be this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Apple_Pro_Keyboard_(open_top).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Ap... I really like the Sculpt, because it has roughly the same chiclet style depth, while also being 10-keyless, wireless, reverse-tilting, and divided in a way that I find comfortable. Now that I've been typing on it so long though, I find that typing on any keyboard that's straight is just so subpar. Taika Waititi communicated this best, because your shoulders have to bend inward and your hands outward https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/9/21130967/oscars-taika-waititi-apple-butterfly-keyboards-jojo-rabbit-academy-award-press-room https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/9/21130967/oscars-taika-wait...
gigaflop 5y ago
I remember when I was younger, having gone through a few 'gaming' keyboards that were just standard rubber-dome type with extra lights, 'missing' some keystrokes because the dome had been worn out. Most notable, having to rock my finger certain ways while using W in videogames. I'd have to use a somewhat aggressive amount of force to reliably actuate it. The first mechanical keyboard I got wowed me with how smooth and consistent the switches felt, compared to what I was used to. They were linears (Cherry MX Reds, on a Corsair k95, which was technically a hybrid board that still had some rubber domes), but the consistency alone was a godsend. I still had heavy hands, but have since eased up a bit. I no longer tolerate a mushy keyboard that behaves inconsistently. I used to bring a keyboard to and from the office every day, just to avoid dealing with the standard $15 cheapo that is usually offered at the office.

brailsafe 5y ago

> I love typing on both of my old Mac wired keyboard as well as my mechanical with inch-high keys. I find that hard to believe, if what you like is meaningful feedback. I'm in the same camp as the parent, in that I don't like mech keyboards (MS Sculpt for life), but the old apple non-chiclet keys were so mushy to me. I would always prefer to re-map a commodity dell keyboard with similar looking keys but more satisfying click.

ihateolives 5y ago
Dunno. Something about the key travel and resistance suits me. I'm talking about this one from 2007/2011: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Apple_iMac_Keyboard_A1243.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Ap... Other slim one I can work daily with is Logitech K750 solar first gen, it's reasonably crisp and firm. Later iterations are mushy as hell, feels like typing on fresh dough. But that first gen one is 12 years old and still going strong, solar panels are still working, it's still holding charge. I love when I find something that I can keep for decades.
- jmyeet 5y ago
  People seem to refer to this era of keyboard as the chiclet keyboard. MBPs at the time used a very similar design before the disastrous butterfly switch where user experience was a blood sacrifice at the Johnny Ive's Altar of Thinness. I too like these keyboards, particularly the wired ones (which have a numpad), so much so that I started to hoard them when Apple stopped making them. I think I have 5 of them. 1 stopped working and it gets salvaged for keycaps now.
  - brailsafe 5y ago
    Ya this is the keyboard I thought of as chiclet, but forgot that it's also old af now
- mattlondon 5y ago
  That one is also one of my favourites too. I have fond that this from Cherry (not mechanical, just made by cherry) is decent too: https://www.cherry.co.uk/cherry-kc-6000-slim-for-mac.html https://www.cherry.co.uk/cherry-kc-6000-slim-for-mac.html There is something about that chiclet style that just works so well for my hands and fingers. Using a "normal" keyboard now is super fatigue inducing as you need to move your fingers so much compared to a chiclet one like this where your fingers just glide over the keys.
- brailsafe 5y ago
  Oh, ya that's the keyboard I like actually, forgot it's also quite old now. The one I thought you were referring to, which seemed to me more like most mechanical keyboards in terms of their keydepth, would be this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Apple_Pro_Keyboard_(open_top).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_keyboards#/media/File:Ap... I really like the Sculpt, because it has roughly the same chiclet style depth, while also being 10-keyless, wireless, reverse-tilting, and divided in a way that I find comfortable. Now that I've been typing on it so long though, I find that typing on any keyboard that's straight is just so subpar. Taika Waititi communicated this best, because your shoulders have to bend inward and your hands outward https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/9/21130967/oscars-taika-waititi-apple-butterfly-keyboards-jojo-rabbit-academy-award-press-room https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/9/21130967/oscars-taika-wait...

gigaflop 5y ago

I remember when I was younger, having gone through a few 'gaming' keyboards that were just standard rubber-dome type with extra lights, 'missing' some keystrokes because the dome had been worn out. Most notable, having to rock my finger certain ways while using W in videogames. I'd have to use a somewhat aggressive amount of force to reliably actuate it. The first mechanical keyboard I got wowed me with how smooth and consistent the switches felt, compared to what I was used to. They were linears (Cherry MX Reds, on a Corsair k95, which was technically a hybrid board that still had some rubber domes), but the consistency alone was a godsend. I still had heavy hands, but have since eased up a bit. I no longer tolerate a mushy keyboard that behaves inconsistently. I used to bring a keyboard to and from the office every day, just to avoid dealing with the standard $15 cheapo that is usually offered at the office.