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Comment by DominikD | Hacker News Reader

This text succinctly summarizes what I struggled to express to some of my colleagues. It doesn't offer a solution but it neatly highlights the problem. A lot of attention is being paid to things like keyboards, mice, software used to write code and I never understood that fetish. These are just tools, tools aren't the job.

Pretty much every dev I know has a history with or knows of a manager who optimized metrics that were easy to optimize (bugs closed, LOC written, code coverage numbers) instead of looking at some elusive "big picture". We recognize these typically aren't good performance metrics. The same people would agonize over the type of keyboard switches and vim configurations and boast that they can write more code faster.

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If you're going to spend a significant portion of each day at a computer, I can't understand why you wouldn't get a keyboard and mouse you are really comfortable with. It is not a 'fetish' (I'm sure there are some people that will fetish over it, rule 34 etc., but not enough that it even deserves mentioning).

I've never ever in my long career heard anyone claim that ' These cherry red's will improve my code by 10%'. To then draw a parallel to bad management metrics seems to me a bit of a stretch.

I am one of those, with mechanical keyboard and high quality mouse (MX Master 2S). I have to say that after buying a good mouse I don't deal with random disconnects of a mouse, of a cord in the way, mouse responding poorly on some surface where I have to work and an awesome way to scroll quickly with that special scroll wheel that MX Master has. It just works and I can concentrate on work. For the keyboard it feels so much better to feel the response of the keyboard, I enjoy typing on it and as I spend most of my day typing, it is quite important for me to feel right. I would compare this to having more expensive comfortable good looking clothes instead of some itchy, not well fitting mediocre looking clothes. They cover you the same, but you feel so much better in the former.

As someone who wholeheartedly agrees with your philosophy of focusing on the big picture, I'd like to add that being pedantic (passionate) about one's tools is not necessarily a bad thing - provided said obsession is not a hindrance to one's output (and indeed, their focus on the big picture).

Most code is a liability, not an asset. Rewarding LoC added to a project is like measuring currency's value by weighing it -- not knowing if it's a sack of pennies or stacks of $100 bills.

I agree. I know people that spend hundreds on keyboards, for example. I also think the debates about vim vs IDEs falls into this same category. It's just a tool. I really don't type all that much as a percentage of my work day.

I've got a Kinesis Advantage II, so one of those several hundred dollar types.

I know it's "just a tool", but I can't help but feel a connection to it, like people often feel for their vehicle. I think back to the things I built with it the same way one might reminisce about that one great road trip. Keyboards are the bridge between the physical and virtual realms. I understand the desire to have one that's truly your own.

Considering that it lasts for years and you use it for hours each day, it's easy to justify $350. I spend a lot that much on things I've used a lot less

I use a fully featured IDE precisely because it lets me spend LESS time at my desk.

People spend hundreds at a restaurant for one fancy meal. Why would it be weird that they spend a hundred on a thing they'll be using 8 hours or more a day for the next few years?

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