Here's my argument against HHKB...
That advantage of a $300-400 keyboard is purely psychological, a "collectors" mentality and NOT of ANY PRACTICAL use.
Ding, pretty much this.
HHKB commands the premium for the layout, controller and switches, sure. But the premium is excessive, no question. Given the demand, I have a hard time seeing any justification for a >$225 pricetag - especially since the HHKB itself hasn't actually changed all that much since
1996. (I used to use one to deal with Sun AXi's because it was easier than carrying a Type4.) Hell, they're still using the same tooling for the case.
By all logic, the price of the HHKB should be LOWER because they're producing more of them, they're producing more of the parts used to build them, and they've long since recouped the investment on the dies and tooling.
TL;DR version: HHKB at $300-445+ when Realforce 104UB is $275 and 87U is $300? Seriously? Pretty damn sure we paid less than that for the HHKB Sun, and that was when the things were rarer than hen's teeth - not sold by the 10 pack online.
The main issue is that the modern computer keyboard interface has peaked in terms of improvements. Yes you can add upon it infinity, but as is, ANY keyboard well exceeds our capacity to utilize them.
Pretty much. With stuff like Kinesis, DataHand, etcetera, where the tooling and manufacturing is complex and there's something specifically unique to them as well as low quantities, yeah. You're paying for the engineering, tooling, and ergo benefits or programmability or what have you. But when you're talking about anything CST-104 based, or anything that's been on the market with very few to no changes as long as buckling spring or the HHKB? Come on. Thermaltake tried introducing the Meka G1 (CST104) at $149 MSRP - how many people actually bought one at that price? Almost none. At the $90 and under price point where the rest of the badged CST104s were/are and most of the barebones MX Black/Blue/Browns are? Hey look... And how much of a stink would you all raise if Unicomp said 'base 105 key now $200, EnduraPro $400'? Yep.
Not saying there's anything wrong with buying based on your preferences - just don't pretend there's some other magical reason. Or actual economic justification for the hyperinflated pricetags. It's marketing hype with the HHKB just like people complain about coming from Razer or others - or did folks forget the $4,250 HHKB GB with it's 10 coats of lacquer? You're not buying another $100+ worth of parts over a Realforce 87U or 104UB. You're not paying for $100+ of additional engineering work required. You're paying for the name.