Tuesday, 2 August 2016

August 2, 2016 - Keyboards

Why is it so difficult to get a good keyboard?

I don't mean a musical keyboard, but I want to type out words keyboard.

I've probably owned over a dozen computers by now, and there have only been a few that had a decent keyboard that came with it.

For me, a keyboard comes down to how it feels. I suppose being old enough to have used manual typewriters, and then electric typewriters, I miss the sold feel of the keys along with the actual sound of the machine in action.

One of the nicest desktop keyboards I used was an aftermarket one I bought for use of an original Macintosh computer. I don't remember the name, but it was an extended one with the numberpad on the right hand side. It sounded and felt good, much better than the original Apple one, and I liked it more then the IBM keyboards that were available at that time.

The nicest keyboard I had on a laptop was on an old IBM Thinkpad. It was easy to type on, and sounded great with good feedback.

These days, I use some crappy supplied keyboards at work, wired at my workstation, wireless when I am on duty. I want to like them, but I find them to be less than a joy to use.  At home, I am using a ASUS laptop, purchased a few years ago when a Thinkpad crapped out on me. The keyboard on it lacks good feedback, so I am either banging too hard, or miss typing letters - it has a narrow sweet spot.  I am not a typist, so I like a bit of forgiveness.

Oh well, given product lifespans and product cycles, there is always the next keyboard to try.

No comments:

Post a Comment