geekhack
geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: kidviddy on Wed, 29 April 2020, 21:27:22
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Hello, I've been lurking on /r/mk for a while but recently started to take the plunge on getting more serious about keyboards after ordering the recently-released GMK WoB Hiragana keyset!
I got my first "proper" mechanical keyboard back in around 2006/2007, the original Das Keyboard in ISO layout. After that I moved to Japan and got used to the JIS layout, so after a couple of years there I bought the HHKB Professional JP. For the past few years I've been using the keyboard that came with my iMac Pro, which is a good keyboard, but as I've been working from home recently and using my own computer more I started getting a hankering for getting back into mechanical keyboards.
My main interest is in fairly minimal keyboards (60% or 75% keyboard+numpad, I don't need no arrow keys :-P), with JIS layout. I realise this puts me in a bit of a niche, as even in Japan ANSI layout is very popular, but I actually use the hiragana input method to type in Japanese, and I frequently use the buttons either side of the space bar to switch back and forth between English and Japanese, so non-JIS layout is a non-starter for me now. I know I won't always get it, but I want to speak up and make my voice heard on the JIS issue just so people are aware that there are people who want it, even if we are a bit of a niche market.
I'm also a big fan of hiragana-only keysets. I like the look of the upcoming Masterpiece and Sumi sets, and I will be lending my voice to the call looking for full JIS support going forward!
よろしくお願いします！
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Welcome :)
I'm sure if you bring it up enough people will notice and maybe you can get the support you want :thumb:
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Welcome :)
I'm sure if you bring it up enough people will notice and maybe you can get the support you want :thumb:
Thanks! Yeah, I want to give my point of view honestly without being annoying, if that’s possible :-) I don’t expect everyone to support JIS all the time, but especially for hiragana/katakana sets, it would be really nice if they could give it some consideration. And I think a lot of the time, it may just come from not being familiar with the needs of JIS users, or not hearing from anyone outside of the ANSI/ISO crowd, so you don’t realise there’s this unmet need, you know?
Anyway, I will humbly put forward my point of view as a JIS user, and it is up to the keyset designers to decide whether or not to take it on board :-) Maybe one of these days I will design my own keyset — then the shoe will be on the other foot!