[sorry, switching you back to a color that's actually legible]Do you always think about buying a switch tester?
No. So-called switch "testers" are useless. Typing is so much more than trying one switch at a time with one finger. It's about feeling and seeing how a whole
board of switches, connected to a real computer, responds to your utterly unique typing style. (Typing is so personal, you can identify people by their typing patterns, like fingerprints.)
The idea that you can figure out what kinds of switches work best for you, by pressing one of them at a time, is as ludicrous as deciding what kinds of trees to plant around your house by looking at a handful of leaves.
I think the whole switch-tester thing was dreamed up by MK-industry people who realized it was a sneaky way to get people to buy a lot more boards than they would have otherwise. Plus they'd be buying the testers, of course.
That was me with Topre switches. I've read so much hype about them and wanted to try them so badly, but no stores nearby sell them, so my only option would be to order one. And I was like "do I really want to pay $200 for a board where I've never even felt the keys?"... But I caved and did it. Thankfully, I love the switches. But man if I ended up disliking them, I would've felt so bad.
And even if you weren't wild for how they felt, there's the
sound—you just can't not like that famous Topre
thock! What's more, the Type Heaven is even
more thocky than Realforces, and much less dough. So, snobbery aside, for anyone who hesitates to spend $200+ on a RF, THs are an outstanding deal.
I've decided not to try Topre because I've gone full in on the customization rabbit hole as well as MX Artisans. So if Topre is better at this point I'd rather not even know, because then I have to give up so many other things I love about keyboards.
But if Topre really
would be a whole new world for you, you're just living in ignorance of it. Can that be good? As Woody Allen says, "The only problem is, eventually you get old and die."
Collecting keyboards is not so different from collecting beany babies.. SURE they might come around and be popular again.. but for the most part.. WORTHLESS
That seems like something that should've been
posted here instead.
I've been having "purchase paralysis" in the last year or so. All I eventually end up doing is trying to recreate the feel of my favorite $10 membrane board...
LOL. I did quite enjoy the dozen or so Microsoft Natural Keyboards I wore out before I discovered MKs. However:
- They felt crisp and consistent for, like, a week.
- They lasted for only, like, three months.
So I'm afraid the notion of the perfect RD board is, well, romantic.
If we take the ACT of collection to its logical conclusion... The Highest possible expression of collecting would not only require devoted collecting, it would also require that the items IN THE COLLECTION be of the highest rarity and value... The benchmark of collecting is having the value of a collection appreciate over time...
Sure, if all you're doing is seeking an investment. For most of us, though, KBs are much more than that. They're both tools of expression and expressions of personal style.
There simply isn't enough technical, artistic or monetary marvels in the keyboard world worth collecting... Model M.. big whoop, maybe if you hunt down the 9 other billion of these things, and destroyed all but 1, it'd be worth something... Due to low complexity, low artistry, low value, EASE of reproduction.. KEYBOARDS are not worth collecting whatsoever. All that would happen is whatever money you spend today, will soon fizzle into nothing as the kids move onto the next fad.
I take it you don't write much. If you did, you'd appreciate having exactly the boards that made writing as easy, fun, and stimulating for you as possible.
Go ahead and trash-talk buckling springs, if that's what blows your skirt up—but many of us here can't imagine doing most of our typing on anything else.
Besides, you're talking as though KBs are the
only things KB people collect, enjoy or appreciate. Sure, some peeps are obsessed with KBs—but while they may not have your esthetic objectivity, KBs rock their world, which is all that's important, really.
For the rest of us—those who realize that, yes, there's much more to life than MKs—what you say is irrelevant as well. It doesn't change one bit the enjoyment we get from our clickity clackity devices, and from hanging with our fellow enthusiasts.
So, ha. Go be as critical and negative as you need to (the key word here being "go"). I suspect you could pick apart any special interest that way; all it takes is a lack of passion for it. Considering how jaded and listless most people are these days, you should have lots of company.
