Is it weird to bring my own keyboard to a new job?

[rowdy]

I was in an open area. Lol. Rock it until someone tells you otherwise if you like that board.

Unless you work in a place with others who will keep their dislike to themselves and gradually nurture silent feelings of hatred towards you, until one day armageddon!

[rknize]

I ended up bringing one of my SSKs into the open office.  Like the other M I had at work before, it's grease-modded so noise is quite tame for an M.  So far, no one has complained. 

[saturnotaku]

I have my custom Filco MJ2 at my desk right now, and it's received many compliments from my co-workers. I plan on replacing it with a Realforce 87u silent in the near future.

[microsoft windows]

It would be EXTREMELY weird to being in your own keyboard, especially if it doesn't match your shoes.

[JaccoW]

I regularly brought in my FC660M to my internship. And except for my supervisor, who liked it, nobody really cared.
Brought the Orion TKL last week. People were asking me if I was a gamer and were surprised about the weight.

[halfkiller]

Nope. At my previous job all they had were super cheap membrane keyboards *shivers in disgust*

[rush340]

A lot of people at my previous job brought their own keyboard.  Once a few people brought their mech keyboards and let others try them out, it spread pretty quickly.

[orihalcon]

Never hurts to be unique!

[rowdy]

It would be EXTREMELY weird to being in your own keyboard, especially if it doesn't match your shoes.

[xybre]

I've used that keyboard. I got my first new-make mechanical keyboard and brought it to work not long after I started there. A lot of people bring keyboards, if anyone asks and you feel weird about it, tell them your doctor said you should.

[Demetrium]

Haha, good thread. I brought my old Das w/ Browns at work to replace the same Dell keyboard you posted.

[Quardah]

It's not weird to be fkin too cool for school.

Take sh1t from no one. You type faster than them anyway. Anytime they try to talk about board, just hipster the sh1t out of the conversation.

-"Oh why is your keyboard this weird?"
"Shut the hell up you basic rubber-dome ***g0t it's underground sh1t you obviously never heard of."

[Senthura]

I recently acquired an internship in the IS field at a large private corporation and am currently using this garbage keyboard:

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Since I'm just an intern I'm still going through training and not really contributing much so I don't feel like I'm a real part of "the team" yet. Would it be weird for me to bring in my own keyboard? No one in my department has brought in their own keyboard, they're all using the corporate assigned Dell L100. I work full time at this corporation.

Throw. That. Piece. Of. Garbage. Out. A. Window. Immediately.

Bring your own is how my school works. If I don't like the equipment I'm encouraged to bring my own superior components for personal use. If anything people will be jealous of your cool gadgets. If you don't mind a few stares because nobody knows what it is, go for it. Whatever mechanical you have will feel better than the oddly shaped Dell POS there. It hurts me to type on it.

[smarmar]

I use my own personal Model M and Logitech G400 at work. I need to be comfortable, efficient, and happy since I spend the most time at a computer while at work. The freebie crap keyboards and mice we have in abundance in the office are less than craptastic. Hell, I even brought in 2 of my broken office chairs from home and frankensteined the parts together to form one ultimate sitting experience.

[Grim Fandango]

I have witnessed it a couple of times already. And not just from people that you would consider "keyboard enthusiasts".

I have seen people bring in and replace not only keyboards, but monitors and mice as well. I do not see a problem with it. What employer would want to discourage his employees trying to be comfortable and productive?

I work in different locations and have a keyboard everywhere. Typically, no one mentions anything if you do not use a keyboard that stands out in the way it looks or sounds. My realforce do neither really. The only thing people ever respond to is when they spot the hard to read black on black dye sub. I wanted to get black on beige for the office to make it blend in, but happened to stumble on only black on black in classifieds each time.

Some might think it is a little crazy to invest in a keyboard to use at work, and pay even more money, like the keyboards you have at home are not expensive enough. Though personally I think it makes sense. I spend a good 8-10 hours of every weekday behind the desk at work. I get more typing done there than I do at home (or at least as much). So to me it makes all the sense in the world to invest in a work keyboard. You buy it once, and from then on it is what you will be using for years and years to come. You may only need to buy a few over your entire career, and in return you can always have a pleasurable typing experience for the rest of your life. To me that is easily worth it. Especially if the keyboards you use at work are a particularly heinous ISO layout, short left shift, sticky coating, slow-to-rise-when-bottomed-out, kind of Hewlett Packard keyboard. The fact that I have used ANSI my entire life, and most workplaces in Holland use ISO is reason enough for me.

One tip for work. If you know a model of keyboard that you like. Try to get a used second hand one with some wear and tear. It may no longer look as pretty, but it can typically be used for many, many more years. It is a good way to get good value out of a work keyboard where you do not care what it looks like anyway.

 

[maatmouse]

No-one pays much attention in our place. We have the standard quiet as hell black rubber dome cheapo boards that came with the computers and one of our crowd has his little ten key less mini board because of his arm problems. One of the others on another team has a Cherry with a trackpad on it and that makes a bit of noise, but no-one seems to care.

I'm going to launch my Cherry MX Blue gold linear black baby on them this week. I'm tired of using a board that sounds 'dead'.

[terrpn]

all the keyboards outside of my area were replaced by (not sure of the exact verbiage) a type of keyboard that is sealed if spilled on, can be easily disinfected, germ free, etc., etc.

they are some sort of dell or hewlett packard rubber dome............absolutely horrible

i type on my luga g80 with reds or believe it or not a dell quiet key, but to answer your question the staff are not allowed to bring in peripherals, etc.

it IS NOT weird to bring in and want to use your own keyboard, etc.

i would say and i could care less about what anybody thinks it is weird not to.

[WakeMeIPlan]

Bruh I carry my pure with me everywhere.

[Smasher816]

Now the real question is - Is it weird to bring your own keyboard to computer science classes at college?

[demik]

only if you're a lifeguard

[WakeMeIPlan]

Now the real question is - Is it weird to bring your own keyboard to computer science classes at college?

I'm in a computer science class right now and I brought my board.

[sakai4eva]

Trained my colleagues to ignore my keyboard sounds long ago:

1. MX browns with thick PBT and o-rings.
2. Removed O-rings
3. Swapped to ABS caps.
4. Currently using MX blues with ABS caps.

But to answer your questions; no, it is never weird to bring your keyboard to work.

[uns211]

Now the real question is - Is it weird to bring your own keyboard to computer science classes at college?

I'm in a computer science class right now and I brought my board.

My professors don't seem to care.

[Grim Fandango]

To most people, a keyboard is a keyboard and they won't notice or say anything as long as it is not too loud and you do not dress it up in odd color keycaps. A trackball mouse, I found, will get a lot more attention and people asking you about it. It stands out a lot more and people are familiar with it. To most, it is something they remember from the past. Only in specific professions will people regularly use it.

[henz]

i rotate my keyboards at work

[Doyniish]

Not weird to bring it to work, but I think it's pretty weird to bring it to class. I have never brought a mech into any of my CS classes and probably never will.

[Data]

As an IT guy... I'd prefer if you at least run it by me first.  I'd probably be too interested in your sweet board to care.  We do allow people to bring in certain hardware from home, but you assume full responsibility for it.

Every shop/office is different.

[Altis]

I do get more looks if I bring in a keyboard that's clearly from 1990, but honestly, most people don't have the slightly clue when I use a non-company keyboard, unless it's particularly loud.

[inanis]

Not only do I bring my own keyboards to work, I have keycaps, cases and any other accessory I intend to use on them shipped there.

[dorkvader]

To most people, a keyboard is a keyboard and they won't notice or say anything as long as it is not too loud and you do not dress it up in odd color keycaps. A trackball mouse, I found, will get a lot more attention and people asking you about it. It stands out a lot more and people are familiar with it. To most, it is something they remember from the past. Only in specific professions will people regularly use it.

At my work, everyone noticed and commented on the RGB mods right away.

A few even noticed the triforce keycap.

Not only do I bring my own keyboards to work, I have keycaps, cases and any other accessory I intend to use on them shipped there.

Its weird every time I read about people receiving things at their work. At my old place my coworker got yelled at by four different people in three levels of management when he got something shipped to work (a tool he was using to do his job).

[sakai4eva]

Not only do I bring my own keyboards to work, I have keycaps, cases and any other accessory I intend to use on them shipped there.

Are you me?

[inanis]

Not only do I bring my own keyboards to work, I have keycaps, cases and any other accessory I intend to use on them shipped there.

Its weird every time I read about people receiving things at their work. At my old place my coworker got yelled at by four different people in three levels of management when he got something shipped to work (a tool he was using to do his job).

True story - once, around Christmas time someone shipped a canoe - yes a full sized canoe, to the office. His reasoning was that it was a surprise for his wife, and therefore couldn't have it shipped to his house. This instituted a policy where any non-business items sent to the office were subject to inspection. Well, someone shipped something to some guy in Engineering - for whatever reason the box was deemed suspect, and was opened. Inside (again, true story) was a series of pictures and an...object. The object was used in special ways on a lady friend of this engineer, which was shown with photographic evidence. He was married, and therefore she couldn't send the package to his house. HR got involved. It was nuts. After that it got a heck of a lot harder to get a personal package shipped to the office.

Lucky for me, our manufacturing and shipping departments are run together. Because of my job I'm in pretty tight with the manufacturing team so I don't have any issues.

Not only do I bring my own keyboards to work, I have keycaps, cases and any other accessory I intend to use on them shipped there.

Are you me?

Here, here! This is the best way to operate. Having to wait to have something shipped, only to have to wait to bring it to work the next day is just too much waiting for me to take.

[sakai4eva]

For me it's more like nobody is at home during shipping hours unless I'm working from home that one day.

[xybre]

Not only do I bring my own keyboards to work, I have keycaps, cases and any other accessory I intend to use on them shipped there.

Its weird every time I read about people receiving things at their work. At my old place my coworker got yelled at by four different people in three levels of management when he got something shipped to work (a tool he was using to do his job).

True story - once, around Christmas time someone shipped a canoe - yes a full sized canoe, to the office. His reasoning was that it was a surprise for his wife, and therefore couldn't have it shipped to his house. This instituted a policy where any non-business items sent to the office were subject to inspection. Well, someone shipped something to some guy in Engineering - for whatever reason the box was deemed suspect, and was opened. Inside (again, true story) was a series of pictures and an...object. The object was used in special ways on a lady friend of this engineer, which was shown with photographic evidence. He was married, and therefore she couldn't send the package to his house. HR got involved. It was nuts. After that it got a heck of a lot harder to get a personal package shipped to the office.

Lucky for me, our manufacturing and shipping departments are run together. Because of my job I'm in pretty tight with the manufacturing team so I don't have any issues.

I think every company I've worked for (quite a few) it's been standard to ship things to the office, everyone did it. Yesterday one of my coworkers was presented with a mystery box someone had shipped to the office. Considering we're just visiting this office and neither of us actually live in this state, it was pretty strange to have a box shipped there. No one complained.

Besides, opening someone else's mail is a federal crime. Dude should have reported them.

[cherpalla]

As an IT guy... I'd prefer if you at least run it by me first.  I'd probably be too interested in your sweet board to care.  We do allow people to bring in certain hardware from home, but you assume full responsibility for it.

Every shop/office is different.

I would be annoyed if the IT guy expected me to ask his permission to bring any peripherals with me from home.

[silas1128]

For me it's more like nobody is at home during shipping hours unless I'm working from home that one day.

This is why my shipping and mailing address is still my dad's place even though its half an hour away (he runs a small business). That way I don't get notes from UPS because no one was here, or risk my package sitting outside.

On topic though, I didn't have to worry about bringing a board. There were a couple model M's already there to type on.

[pr0ximity]

As an IT guy... I'd prefer if you at least run it by me first.  I'd probably be too interested in your sweet board to care.  We do allow people to bring in certain hardware from home, but you assume full responsibility for it.

Every shop/office is different.

I would be annoyed if the IT guy expected me to ask his permission to bring any peripherals with me from home.

In heavily regulated environments or ones where security is an above-average concern, plugging unauthorized USB devices is pretty commonly something to check with IT about. I think in many situations it's an antiquated concern, but in others not so much. I'd be uneasy about allowing people to plug their own hardware into a nuclear control system, for example.

[cherpalla]

As an IT guy... I'd prefer if you at least run it by me first.  I'd probably be too interested in your sweet board to care.  We do allow people to bring in certain hardware from home, but you assume full responsibility for it.

Every shop/office is different.

I would be annoyed if the IT guy expected me to ask his permission to bring any peripherals with me from home.

In heavily regulated environments or ones where security is an above-average concern, plugging unauthorized USB devices is pretty commonly something to check with IT about. I think in many situations it's an antiquated concern, but in others not so much. I'd be uneasy about allowing people to plug their own hardware into a nuclear control system, for example.

Ok, I can understand it from that perspective.

[yomammary]

As an IT guy... I'd prefer if you at least run it by me first.  I'd probably be too interested in your sweet board to care.  We do allow people to bring in certain hardware from home, but you assume full responsibility for it.

Every shop/office is different.

I would be annoyed if the IT guy expected me to ask his permission to bring any peripherals with me from home.

Yeah, honestly we don't do that.

As an IT guy... I'd prefer if you at least run it by me first.  I'd probably be too interested in your sweet board to care.  We do allow people to bring in certain hardware from home, but you assume full responsibility for it.

Every shop/office is different.

I would be annoyed if the IT guy expected me to ask his permission to bring any peripherals with me from home.

In heavily regulated environments or ones where security is an above-average concern, plugging unauthorized USB devices is pretty commonly something to check with IT about. I think in many situations it's an antiquated concern, but in others not so much. I'd be uneasy about allowing people to plug their own hardware into a nuclear control system, for example.

I see... You guys work in fancy places.

[limitz]

Just started a new job last week.

IT said we can request peripherals from them... took one glance at the membrane keyboards they offered, and I told them I'd pass.

About to bring in a Poker (DSA Retro w/ Green Tex case) into work on Monday. I don't think it'll be a big deal, nor will it be weird.

I work in consulting, so the travel is about 80% of the time, I will be bringing the keyboard with me while I travel as well. Probably a 75% though.

[rowdy]

Just started a new job last week.

IT said we can request peripherals from them... took one glance at the membrane keyboards they offered, and I told them I'd pass.

About to bring in a Poker (DSA Retro w/ Green Tex case) into work on Monday. I don't think it'll be a big deal, nor will it be weird.

I work in consulting, so the travel is about 80% of the time, I will be bringing the keyboard with me while I travel as well. Probably a 75% though.

Can you request any peripheral (keyboard) from them?  Or only ones they officially sanction?

You could try showing them your Poker, and asking if they would make them available for everyone (noting that not many people would necessarily want one, so they would probably not end up buying expensive keyboards for all users).