Xah Lee, 2010-06-12, 2011-06-08
This page is a review on several computer keyboards that are often buzzed about by programers.
The Das Keyboard. amazon image source
The Das Keyboard. Famous for being a keyboard with no key labels.
Good as a novelty, nothing else.
How much to pay to impress friends? $129!
How did this keyboard came about? According to the official site daskeyboard.com, the programer and company founder Daniel Guermeur, wanted to learn touch typing. The first thing is to get rid of the key labels, and the rest is history. Quote:
In 2005, in a personal quest to improve his own typing speed and accuracy, Metadot Corporation founder and self-proclaimed “Uber Geek” Daniel Guermeur asked to have a totally blank keyboard created. To his surprise, his typing speed doubled after just a few weeks of use.
As many friends and colleagues who tested the keyboard were mesmerized and wanted one, the business potential became obvious, and Das Keyboard was born.
For the first few years, the maker of this keyboard really doesn't make any model with key labels. But since about 2008, they started to make one with labels. The reason seems obvious. Without labels, you might sell 1 for every ten thousand programers. But with labels, your sales potential immediately increases by 1000.
Also, they introduced the mechanical switch for the keys so that you get a good tactile feedback.
However, i've seen one youtube video that shows a problem of the click-clack mechanism had. That is, once you press a key, it clicks, but for some keys, while it is down and you put some more pressure, it goes another different click, WRONG! Not sure if that's just a single case of defective device, or defective design. Watch this, this is funny:
Das Keyboard double-click problem
The Happy Hacking Keyboard. The worst keyboard possible. No function keys, no number keypad, no {Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, ⌫ Backspace} keys, and fewer modifier keys. A earlier model does not even have arrow keys.
The Happy Hacking keyboard, model lite 2. image source amazon
So, when you need to press F1, now you need to press 2 keys, by holding Fn then press 1. Hacker Progress?
So, perhaps it has small physical dimension merit? Well, there are many keyboards with full-sized-keys but similar in overall physical dimension yet with full function keys and dedicated Page Up Page Down keys.
Like other weird keyboards, this one has some kinda hacker association, and is often reviewed on geek sites. Occasionally, you see programers on the web claiming how they love this keyboard.
The name “happy hacking” is probably responsible for boosting its popularity among “hackers”, with the ostensible absence of the Microsoft Windows logo on that modifier key. This makes it popular among linux users. If you own one, you can strike a conversation with it.
I got curious about this keyboard's history. Apparently, it's made by PFU Systems, and the website states: “a Fujitsu company”, of Japan. Quote:
PFU Systems, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of PFU Ltd. of Japan.
That somewhat makes it understandable. If you have visited Japan, you'll notice that everything comes in a miniatured size. Cars, roads, furniture, office equipments, rice bowels, chopsticks, …, etc.
Cost? About $70.
For detail of this keyboard's problem, see: The Idiocy of the Happy Hacking Keyboard.
Optimus Maximus keyboard. A keyboard with the feature of having a display on each key.
Optimus Maximus keyboard. amazon image source
The display are not just simplistic LEDs. They can even display video. Each key features a 48×48 pixels display, updated 10 times per second.
Effectively, the key labels are dynamic and can change, great if you are a heavy key macros user (programer and gamer). Unfortunately, there are many practical problems. Not ergonomic.
The official site has a Flash app keyboard toy you can play with. @ artlebedev.com
How much? $1800. It's art!!
Model M keyboard, made famous in early 1990s with IBM's PS/2 personal computer.
Model M Keyboard
I happen to have used it for a few months in 1990. What people love about this keyboard is its superior tactile feedback. The key switches are based on a spring. A mechanism known as buckling spring. When you put pressure on a key, after a certain point, =click!=, it sucks you down. That means, you get a clean, precise, feel whether the key is pressed. A drawback is that it is rather loud. The sound came from the spring hitting the key's inner wall. It's crispy and precise. Many modern, rubber dome based keyboards are also loud, and makes ugly “squeak”, “clunk”, “thud” sounds, due to bad acoustic housing of the keys and plastics rubbing each other.
Unicomp owns the rights to the design of “Model M keyboard”, and currently makes modern version of keyboard with this mechanism. You can buy it at: http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/keyboards.html
Here's a interview with Unicomp guy Mr Muyskens npr.org.
I think it is really nice, would want it, but due to the fact that it is not ergonomic keyboard, i can't use.
Price: ~$70.
My favorite keyboard in my now 20 years of daily computer using, are Microsoft's Natural Ergonomic 4000. There are 2 others that i think i would love but actually never used, is the Kinesis Contoured Keyboard and Truly Ergonomic keyboard. (see photo at: Fancy Ergonomic Keyboards You Didn't Know Existed.)