Soft cushy keyboards

[Whiskey in the Jar-o]

Just got this at work. Soft, cushy and quiet.  Takes off-center keypresses very well - no stiffness at all, unlike my current favourite - MS Natural Multimedia.   A somewhat pleasant change up from the loud and clacky membranes that I prefer.  OTOH, after a few hours I realised that while it feels good for brief typing periods, it is almost impossible (for me at least) to type fast on this thing without bottoming out.  And after a while the stress builds up.  Maybe that's why soft membranes are so popular - most people just don't type fast enough.

[Ulysses31]

I have to say I can't stand the mushy feeling of Microsoft keyboards or their mice with buttons that actuate at the lightest touch.  Logitech boards aren't much better sadly, though they used be quite good for what they were.  This is why i'm still hammering away at a ten year old rubber dome (!) model.  The keys are very light and never jam.  

As you say most people are just slow with their typing and don't input enough data via their keyboards to demand something better.  Personally I can type quite quickly but had to slow down years ago when I realised that high-speed typing was causing me pain in my wrists and forearms.  Knowing someone who has the dreaded Carpal-Tunnel syndrome and has to wear a support/splint, I felt it wiser to slow down a little and avoid that whole problem before it got too bad.  I also used to have a wireless Trackman FX which was a gorgeous and soothing device to use, but when it developed a fault the vendor lost it during warranty exchange and now this model isn't sold anymore V_V.  I didn't need no stinkin' Microgear flywheel when I could use the momentum of the good old trackball.

[bhtooefr]

Also, a lot of people don't KNOW any better.

I know a few people that type quickly, and even have remarked that they dislike how certain keyboards feel, or hate certain key spacings, or layouts. (I have one friend who types at somewhere between 80 and 100 WPM (based on me watching her type,) and types a LOT, and she hates laptop keyboards due to the spacing and layout, and can tell when keyboards are mushy... but she soldiers on with a Dell USB rubber dome keyboard.)

But, the different keyswitch technologies... most people go to buy a keyboard. They don't know to buy a buckling spring board, or an Alps switch board, or a board with Cherry (insert desired color here) switches, and everything sold in stores is rubber dome - MAYBE there'll be one scissor+rubber dome laptop-style keyboard. And, they all feel the same. Kinda mushy, not great.

I'll probably end up loaning her my main 1391401 (hey, it's not like I'm using it - the EnduraPro's taken its place at home, and I have an M13 at work) when her Dell USB keyboard craps out, though... I'm almost afraid I won't get it back.

[xsphat]

I find that people think their computer came with a keyboard, so it won't work with other keyboards. My brother won't let me hook a good keyboard up to his computer because he thinks the keyboard has viruses in it. And he owns a business ...  In his defence, he is much older than me, but he's not THAT old.

People just think that since it's not the screen, it can't be upgraded to something that will perform any better than what they have. So I gave up trying to switch people, it's not worth it.

[iMav]

My brother won't let me hook a good keyboard up to his computer because he thinks the keyboard has viruses in it.

You need to work on your power of persuasion.  

[xsphat]

No, at some point I stop trying to help people that are that idiotic.

[xsphat]

This is a man who thinks HotMail is the best one around, he never uses Google, and thinks Macs are computers for the gay community (most likely a holdover from the G3 iMac).

Need I say more?

[IBI]

This is a man who thinks HotMail is the best one around, he never uses Google, and thinks Macs are computers for the gay community (most likely a holdover from the G3 iMac).

Come the summer tell him his keyboard is overheating because it wasn't designed for global warming and needs to be disconnected for a week to cool down. You will of course be happy to lend him a replacement for the duration

Maybe that's why soft membranes are so popular - most people just don't type fast enough.

I think that is indeed the case. Certainly on my AT102W with black alps I can't tell the difference between that and a membrane with just a single keypress. I have to be typing before I feel the niceness of those alps. Thinking about it when looking at keyboards in stores I only tend to press a key at a time rather than pretending to type on them.

Price comes into it too, I'm sure. If you made switches that were low quality enough to be affordable for a £10 keyboard then would they in fact feel any better than a rubber dome?

I agree with people who could use them are not buying them because none of the shops have any on display. It's the same with any interface device, monitors, headphones, mice, etc.

I'll probably end up loaning her my main 1391401 (hey, it's not like I'm using it - the EnduraPro's taken its place at home, and I have an M13 at work) when her Dell USB keyboard craps out, though... I'm almost afraid I won't get it back.

You might do, after using my 1391406 for a week or two I think I'm coming to the realisation that I'm never going to really like it. I have grown more used to it, but it's doesn't quite do for it for me. The keys feel OK so I think it's probably just the sound. Just as well really, I didn't want to have to choose between a Model M and full n-key rollover

[bhtooefr]

Hrm... my friend doesn't like Google, either...

(Then again, she actually gave a well-reasoned explanation for it - she doesn't want to support a Google monoculture. (No, she didn't use those words, but that's what she described.) Amazing, considering she's not at all interested in computers, and doesn't read Slashdot (which is where I've heard 99% of the anti-Google stuff I've heard...))

[xsphat]

My brother thinks that since Microsuck makes Windows, then MSN is the only real service, the rest all must be fakes.