Interesting thread, im sure that basically anyone with a hobby has gone through moments where they spent a little more on it than they should have. Luckily for me, im rather frugal with money and have a hard time purchasing something if I dont need it. I may not be a Geek Hacker in the sense where I spend money on numerous keyboards looking for an end-game, but as an extension of that I have spent money into turning my computer workstation into something 'end-game' worthy. Im talking peripherals here, not computer components as their clearly is no end-game here (and I dont bother spending lots of money on parts that depreciate and become outdated before they stop working). So when I went about purchasing my monitors, headphone/DAC/amo combo, mouse, etc, I did research to find components that would be reasonably priced and were generally high performance. Striving to get the absolute best of each component, I told myself, would be wasteful and irresponsible, but cheapening up will also result in more spending down the road, so that has to be avoided as well.
I bought my first mechanical keyboard a couple of months ago, and the only other thing I bought for it were a couple of keycap sets to replace the stock ABS caps (I now realize why everyone raves about thick PBT caps and cherry profile). Unlike audio equipment and monitors, even the best keyboards can be had for relatively cheap, so I can see why the pursuit of a better keyboard would be so enticing. I think the point im trying to make is that in the past I never had much issue with buying equipment and dealing with the idea of settling with what my research has decided on purchasing. After browsing HeadFi for a couple hours, almost anyone would want to get some LCD-3s or get some kickass DAC/amp combo that is getting hyped to death. But damn, this stuff is all so expensive that there is no way I can justify spending that much just to listen to music as a hobby, especially since my current setup sounds good enough. I think that im closer than ever to breaking my rule of utilitarian peripheral buying habits just to see what the rage with other mechanical keyboards is all about. I like my mx blues, but what about clears? What about topre? And then, what keycap profile?
But the more I think about it, this is by far the best keyboard ive had in my life, and I never used to even fuss over what keyboard I used to complete the task. The keyboard is a tool, and if the tool you have is good and still works, then why look to replace it? The only reason why I bought a mech was because my old keyboard was starting to be spotty (it was wireless). Though after realizing the depth of keyboard options, it makes wasteful spending in the pursuit of finding something better seem to be rather appealing.
The best thing that came out of me spending more money on a mech board was finally learning how to touch type. I used to be able to type ~70wpm with a technique that could be described as nothing less than the complete mastery of the hunt and peck. I could even do it without looking, and had convinced myself years ago that proper touch typing would be pointless to learn. But the sheer excitement involved with typing on my new keyboard made me want to type with less errors and more fluidity, and now im already typing ~60 wpm more comfortably and with less effort than ever. If just replacing my keyboard could make this much of a difference in enhancing my computing experience, I think it may be justifiable after all to buy another board or two to see if I like anything a bit better. Though sorry guys, there is no way ill ever justify buying 10+ different keyboards just to find an absolute grail, I dont think I care enough about the pursuit. Keycaps on the other hand, I could see myself buying a few more sets to get something aesthetically pleasing and of just the right profile.