I was able to find several articles on the ThinTouch. The most recent hands on articles were from over a year ago, and though I found the same press release in a lot of places saying that they would be demoing the ThinTouch at CES 2014, there was not a single hands on review to be found. That struck me as odd.
Here's what Engadget had to say when they tried it last year:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/06/synaptics-thintouch-keyboard-hands-on/Even so, it was interesting to type on a full set of keys, and compare that to how it felt playing with those button samples last summer. What we found tonight was that the keys felt exceptionally loose and flappy. We could just chalk that up to the fact that the keyboard is a work in progress, but we do wonder if that diagonal key travel has anything to do with it. That might well explain why the keys felt less like springboards, and more like trap doors.
The few other reports I found said pretty much same thing. The keys were loose, sometimes sticky or didn't register, and obviously still a work in progress. The Verge mentioned that it was supposed to be in production in the second half of 2013, which makes the silence from CES 2014 all the louder.
While shaaniqbal may actually prefer the shorter throws of the Apple Wireless to the AEK II, he's clearly in the minority. Most people prefer the feel of a good full throw keyboard over the chicklet keys, even pretty good chicklet keys. Heck, it seems most people prefer crappy rubber dome keyboards with full throw over reduced throw keys used in notebooks. I think nubbinator hit on the prime reason:
the caps feel crappy since they don't cup and they're easy to get lost on
It's because the caps are barely cupped (and
can't really be cupped on a notebook) that it's easy to get lost on a short throw keyboard. And getting lost means poor typing.
I obviously have the opposite opinion from shaaniqbal. I have the original AEK, and it's one of my favorite keyboards of all time. I also have the wired version of the current Apple keyboard that uses the same key switches as the wireless, and I only use it for emergencies because it's not suitable for real, hours-on-end work. Heck, the MS Natural I just retired had better feel than the short throw Apple keyboard and it's switches were stupid rubber dome membrane switches. (Full throw, well broken in, and a good layout beat decent snap, too short a throw, flat, and unshaped key caps).
If the question is which type of keyboard is better for
most people then polling people who have experience with both is probably the best way to answer that question. So far we have 1 vote for short throw (and ultra-short throw) vs. at least 4 for full throw mechanical switches.
