Post by: Special K on Fri, 01 May 2015, 18:31:29
Haven't all of the various colors of cherry switches always been available? If not, which was the most recent to be released?
Has the design of the switches changed much or improved in any way over the years?
Are their designs still protected by patents? Obviously Gateron and Kalih have managed to create clones without being sued for patent infringement. If not, what keeps them the #1 switch manufacturer (I assume they are)?
I'm not saying any of this is even necessarily bad, it was just something random I thought of.
Post by: jacobolus on Fri, 01 May 2015, 18:43:38
“Are their designs still protected by patents?” – If you mean, e.g., MX switches, then no.
Post by: illitirit on Fri, 01 May 2015, 18:47:37
Post by: hwood34 on Fri, 01 May 2015, 18:55:52
Post by: njbair on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:15:11
Post by: hwood34 on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:15:56
I don't think Cherry Corp. loses any sleep over the mechanical keyboard market. These days their bread and butter is making micro switches for pretty much every other push/press/toggle application.They really don't. keyboard switches for them are like nothing
Post by: sethk_ on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:16:31
Post by: njbair on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:18:40
Post by: chyros on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:35:58
Post by: njbair on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:50:14
When you think of it, a lot of "innovation" of keyboards over the years has just boiled down to cost-saving measures and decrease of quality xD . Almost every switch\keyboard manufacturer either compromised, bit the dust, or bothTopre was pretty innovative. As was the NovaTouch's MX sliders..
Post by: hwood34 on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:55:03
Perhaps the only edge Cherry still has over Gateron is a track record, and maybe brand loyalty like pwnnarwhal just displayed.Don't forget accessibility. It was damn near impossible to get in touch with Gateron, hopefully once word really gets out they'll work on that
Post by: sethk_ on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:57:56
Perhaps the only edge Cherry still has over Gateron is a track record, and maybe brand loyalty like pwnnarwhal just displayed.cherry4lyfe as far as cherry clones go
Post by: njbair on Fri, 01 May 2015, 19:58:02
True, although... Have you tried to buy Cherry switches on demand lately? They seem to be out if stock everywhere.Perhaps the only edge Cherry still has over Gateron is a track record, and maybe brand loyalty like pwnnarwhal just displayed.Don't forget accessibility. It was damn near impossible to get in touch with Gateron, hopefully once word really gets out they'll work on that
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Fri, 01 May 2015, 21:27:01
Post by: Den441 on Fri, 01 May 2015, 23:21:56
Post by: Macsmasher on Sat, 02 May 2015, 00:00:36
The Germans are the best engineers in the world, but they're also resistant to change. And as long as their switches are in every mainstream mech keyboard made, why would they change? The answer is, they don't have to.
Post by: jacobolus on Sat, 02 May 2015, 00:06:16
I still think complicated blue ALPS are the clicky switch to beat and even those could still improve. I want a snap-ier switch I guess.Blue Alps isn’t really all that snappy, more of a middle-ground clicky switch. If you want snappy, I recommend, roughly in order of increasing snappiness: clicky SMK, white Alps, Matias clicky, IBM beam spring, amber Alps, amber Omron, Marquardt “butterfly”, IBM Model F.
Post by: daerid on Sat, 02 May 2015, 00:43:04
Then it doesn't matter...
Post by: Special K on Sat, 02 May 2015, 01:08:38
Quote from: jacobolus
Quote from: Den441I still think complicated blue ALPS are the clicky switch to beat and even those could still improve. I want a snap-ier switch I guess.Blue Alps isn’t really all that snappy, more of a middle-ground clicky switch. If you want snappy, I recommend, roughly in order of increasing snappiness: clicky SMK, white Alps, Matias clicky, IBM beam spring, amber Alps, amber Omron, Marquardt “butterfly”, IBM Model F.
Is "snappy" the same as tactile? Or does "snappy" mean the switch quickly bounces back up after you press it?
Post by: davkol on Sat, 02 May 2015, 04:54:48
Post by: jacobolus on Sat, 02 May 2015, 05:08:02
Is "snappy" the same as tactile? Or does "snappy" mean the switch quickly bounces back up after you press it?I assume he meant sharply/crisply/dramatically tactile.
If snappy means the switch has a pop on the upstroke, then complicated Alps in general aren’t very snappy, though they’re not as bad as Cherry MX (which have the opposite, a sticky upstroke). For that kind of snappy, you want to look at Alps plate spring, IBM beam spring, Marquardt “butterfly” plate spring, or Topre or another rubber dome.
Post by: Dihedral on Sat, 02 May 2015, 05:21:38
Post by: KHAANNN on Sat, 02 May 2015, 07:31:56
This is a nice video to watch, they were impressed, however I was not
All they show on the video is how they test their bulky/unimportant keyboards, I would have hoped to see some switch testing/QA/QC instead
On the other hand, they do show off some stress testing environments, yet there was no indication that each switch is tested extensively
If I was giving a tour of the facilities to gamers, I would concentrate on switches, in this tour, they didn't
I will also stick to cherries never the less, only their springs and spring application needs some innovation in my opinion, to reduce the noise
Post by: Findecanor on Sat, 02 May 2015, 08:07:09
Cherry doesn't need to innovate. Their brand is strong and they sell products on the basis of them being decades old with little change.They need to invest in innovation and production facilities if they are going to retain their market lead.
Razer and Omron have innovated, coming up with mechanical switches with centred backlighting without light-bleed. That is something that Cherry does not have.
Topre and Matias have switches that are soft on the up-stroke. Cherry does not have that either.
Post by: Special K on Sat, 02 May 2015, 09:47:51
Quote from: jacobolus
Quote from: Special KIs "snappy" the same as tactile? Or does "snappy" mean the switch quickly bounces back up after you press it?I assume he meant sharply/crisply/dramatically tactile.
Every time I think I've tried all the really clicky/tactile switches, I learn about more of them ;)
They call this place Wallethack - I seem to have this desire to try every switch type to see if there is another one out there I like better. Unfortunately most of them are discontinued.
Post by: jacobolus on Sat, 02 May 2015, 12:15:18
They call this place Wallethack - I seem to have this desire to try every switch type to see if there is another one out there I like better. Unfortunately most of them are discontinued.The only way to try every switch is to visit HaaTa in California.