On Keyboards
I hate my computer keyboard, and pretty much every one I have ever used for the past decade or more. I’ve been home from work (snow day), and using my girlfriend’s laptop because my own computer is so slow it might as well be dead. Her keyboard, if anything, is WORSE than the one on my ancient ol’ Dell. The keys are so close together and so sensitive, it’s nearly impossible to write a sentence without having to go back over everything to clear up the errors.
Not that mine, either at home or at work, is any better: both have the same mushy response that leaves words misspelled and tags open. When the shift key sinks down and never clicks, you can’t tell right away that you’re getting a “,” instead of a “<" or ">“. Thus, a link to Americablog shows up as ,a href=”http:/www.americablog.com”>Americablog. And who wants to read THAT? Worse, in order to make sure the shift key has done its job, I have to press down on it extra hard, ushering in the carpal tunnel syndrome and wearing out the shift key.
But in a few weeks, I am rectifying this problem, thanks to an Model M Keyboard:
The Model M is not a typewriter. But it may very well be the last computer keyboard designed to feel like one. Neil Muyskens, the fellow whose tiny Lexington company pckeyboard.com still makes the old-style keyboards, told me that when IBM set out to design the Model M in the 1980s, it was trying to emulate the feel of the Selectric (possibly the best electric typewriter ever made).
That’s why the Model M has a spring under each key: When that spring buckles, it unambiguously communicates that fact to your fingertip. You feel the letter being made; there’s no need to pound all the way to the bottom just to be sure. With the Model M, word processing retains an element of physical reality.
The model M has an instantly recognizable sound:
…because the keys are springloaded: you can feel them bounce back when you depress them, and you can feel the click when you hold them down. I don’t just WANT one of these keyboards, I NEED one. I am an untrained typist, but I have an extremely high word per minute count. I cannot deal with the constant backspacing to repair errors that should have never occurred, that are entirely to blame on shitty keyboards (and for the record, I have had to stop to edit typoes about every 10 seconds or so on the laptop I’m currently using.
I’m going to start trolling my local thrift stores for a cheapie, but if it comes to it, i am not above spending $80.00 for a keyboard that saves me time, energy, and back spasms.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
It’s a poor carpenter who blames his tools (grin, duck, and run).
March 3rd, 2009 at 10:57 am
I’m not blaming my tools, frank: my product that comes out is fine, it’s just that i need a better tool. and i may have a line on a free one!
think of it as trading one of those cheap chinese hammers for something with real heft. it’s an improvement. and i wish i had two, so i could use one at work.
March 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Yes! I have the same exact problem. I hate hate hate laptop keys. And my desktop key. I thought my fingers were fairly small, but every time I try to type something, grrrr. (My back is killing me this very moment from typing all night on my bf’s laptop.) I miss the old keyboards and that satisfying tapping sound. Ahhh, technology. I say it’s all a conspiracy to destroy our health and sap our will to live. Oh wait, no. Wrong blog, sorry