Comment by mrmondo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mrmondo | Hacker News Reader

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On my work desktop (iMac 5k) I use a Das ultimate mechanical keyboard, I’ve been a big fan of Das keyboards with Blue or Brown switches for many years, I purchased a MacBook 12” Retina when they came out and it certainly took some adjusting to get used to the new keyboard but - after a week or so I really, truly liked it, I found myself typing very fast will a low error rate, when the new MacBook Pro came out a few months back I noted that they used a new generation of the same low profile keys that the MacBook 12” had, again I really enjoyed it because I was used to new style of key mechanism thanks to having the 12” for some time, I ended up buying a 13” MBP and oh my I’d almost go as far as saying I love the keyboard. Yes it’s very different from both mechanical keyboards such as my Das keyboards and legacy laptop keyboard designs and I think after a short adjustment period many people would likely enjoy the feel of the keys more than legacy / previous designs - it really grows on you.

As someone used to mechanical keyboards, I seem to keep physically straining or even internally bruising my right pinky on the Mac keyboards.

I'm not sure what to do apart from not using the laptop keyboards (both 2013 style and 2016 style)

Right pinky brigade checking in.

Mechanical solved this for me instantly.

Ditto. If you experience this, get a mechanical board immediately.

For me it was the other way around.

Avoiding mechanical keyboards all my life and never got one of these typical programmer health issues.

Just like this tiger-repellent rock that has kept me safe from tigers my entire life.

Hehe, yes, maybe my genes are superior ;P

But seriously, I never understood the craze for these clunky things. Almost all devs I know use them and most of them have issues with their arms/hands.

I use them. Cause and effect have a direction: I switched to mech boards because I was having wrist trouble. It made all the difference for me - they're fine now.

Other reasons people like them usually are about customizability. If you think of it as being roughly similar to how some people can be about noodling with cars, you won't be too far off-base.

- With the right firmware, they are fully customizable - you can remap things how you like, create macros, whatever, and config is stored on the board.

- You can customize the switches - there are a bewildering array of switch options. People also spend lots of time customizing switches in various ways to change how they feel.

- Layouts - keyboard nerds have produced a huge array of different layouts.

- Looks - you can buy your own keycaps. Those, too, come in a wide array of profiles and appearances. Some people make really nice boards out of metal, wood, sometimes odder things (I heard about someone trying to make cases out of Corian at one point). If you like that sort of thing, you can have them covered in blinky LEDs. There's a whole tiny art scene making keycap-sculptures that go for a ton of money, relatively speaking.

And that's before you get to the crazy stuff that leads to people paying $1k+ on a keyboard.

Really, it is like anything else - people do a lot of things as hobbies that look odd from outside.

Are those special rocks or can I just pick some up from my garden? I guess any garden that doesn't have tigers in it should work right?

This is a reference to The Simpsons, for anyone who didn't get it.

It's a much older joke than that though.

I'm using a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. It has a great ergonomics in terms of keyboard layout and hand posture but uses very cheap key switches that feel bad and don't last long (I think I'm on my third keyboard now). Also the space bar is not engineered well.

I just wish someone would make a version of this keyboard with decent key switches for say, 90€ (the 4000 is around 36€ here).

I think this is mostly likely going to be out of your price range but my journey to find a keyboard like the Microsoft Natural with mechanical switches lead me to this, https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/truly-ergonomic-mechani....

Warning, if you end up getting this keyboard you will need to take some time to learn how to type on it due to non-standard design. I personally think it's worth it but for others that is a non-starter.

This is the perfect keyboard design, but it has reliability issues. After 1 year of use, certain keys stopped responding on mine. This is apparently a common issue, as evidenced by other online comments.

You might want to try the Matias Ergo Pro. I switched to it after 15 years on the MSFT Natural 4000. I still slightly prefer the 4000's layout and wrist rest, but the overall typing experience on the Matias is much better.

http://matias.ca/ergopro/

Can you remap keys easily? I'd like to give my right pinky a break by using my thumb for enter key duties.

No, and that's a shame, because the right half of the spacebar would make a perfect enter key. FWIW, when I had right-pinky pain years ago, I remapped semicolon to enter with good results.

If you don't mind non-standard layouts, here are some excellent keyboards that give your thumbs more to do. :)

https://shop.keyboard.io/

https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/truly-ergonomic-mechani...

https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/

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