Is the mechanical keyboard craze still going on?
At some point everyone was talking about / showing off their mech keyboard in developer scene. I don’t think I’ve seen much in recent years.
I myself went deep into that for a while. Got a couple of keyboards and now I have two Apple Magic Keyboards. Don’t even know where I stashed my mechanicals.
The foam has disappeared, but the enthusiasts are going on. While it's not a craze, I believe mechanical keyboard is still superior for longer writing sessions (Apple's and Logitech's scissor switch keyboards are pretty good, too).
Gamers are moving to hall effect switches because of the things they enable, but from what I have seen, some people are still building their keyboards, and people still use mechanical keyboards.
I'd love to continue use mine, too, but they are bit too noisy for my office, and I don't continue computers at home as much, anymore.
Another chilling effect is caused by the tariffs, because people can't get their keyboards or parts as easily anymore. I got mine from Kickstarter directly, but it's impossible for me now.
> Another chilling effect is caused by the tariffs
Maybe that's why prices in Europe seem to have gone down significantly. It used to be very expensive to get anything over here (UK), but now we're almost spoilt for choice.
Various patents expired and now you can get excellent typing keyboards from China for $30-50. Basically everyone I know who types for a living has one.
Gamers have moved on to analog keyboards which are controversial because some of their features straddle the line into cheats. e.g. with an analog keyboards you can negate all inertia in Counter-Strike or do speed tricks in Trackmania not otherwise easily accessible to keyboard players.
Could you give examples of excellent typing keyboards from China for $30-50? Every mechanical keyboard I've owned eventually suffered from key chatter or inconsistent actuation.
Just get a hall effect or TMR keyboard and all your problems with key chatter will go away. Also, I recommend you just build it yourself. It's a fun hobby and if you don't know how to make PCBs it's a great way to learn (keyboards are one of the easiest things to make from a PCB complexity standpoint).
Ever play "connect the dots" as a kid? That's what it's like making a keyboard PCB. It's the adult version of "connect the dots".
It's not a "rabbit hole", it's a pending addiction :D
From the article I like the characteristics of hall effect better than TMR (although one of the cons under HE, "Since the sensor is reading magnet position, any wobble in the switch can change the magnet’s alignment and affect the signal", is a bit troubling). There are indeed $30-50 ones on Amazon. Any particular brand recommendations?
If you notice these things at all, you are the target market for an analog keyboard.
Under the Cons section the article says:
> Full analog functionality often depends on proprietary software support (and not all boards execute it well).
Could you elaborate how that works? I'm on Linux. I find with Keychron I can visit the web-based tool to configure the keyboard, but if it's proprietary software I'm out of luck.
I use a Wooting which is largely open source on GitHub. Also their config tool is only needed to set up your keyboard, the config is saved onto the keyboard and persists across devices, OSes, etc.
Looks like their config software works on Linux if you set up udev to allow it to flash the keyboard: https://help.wooting.io/article/147-configuring-device-acces...
In India, many brands are now offering low-cost mechanical keyboards. They were costly earlier but one can find super amazing one with 50% less cost now.
They have become mainstream, so they are not special any more.
Even keyboards with what used to be enthusiast features, such as aluminium case, double-shot PBT keycaps, switch foam, plate foam, flex cuts, hot-swap, damping, etc. are available off-the-shelf at very reasonable prices now.
I absolutely love my UHK [1] split mech keyboard that I ordered from Hungary several years ago. It’s the only one I stuck with after trying some other popular ones. Other than being split, the keyboard layout is standard so it’s easy to adapt to.
It probably helps me avoid RSI. I keep an apple trackpad between the two splits, so I never use a mouse. And a microphone in the middle as well, you can guess why. I clamshell my MacBook and almost always work on a monitor. Besides ergonomics, the biggest benefit is the on-board programmability; it lets me define custom layers and macros so I can trigger complex window management, app switching, and IDE navigation with simple key combos.
[1] https://uhk.io/
That's exactly how I used to work about 15 years ago, but I found that the Apple trackpad killed my wrists. These days I just have a regular mouse, and simply try to do as much as I can from the keyboard.
I agree trackpad is not RSI-proof by any means, but for me mousing is worse. With the trackpad in the middle I can use either hand to scroll or click etc. I also keep that minimal and instead rely on keyboard tools like Vimium, and scroll kb shortcuts
It's still a craze but the people who want a nice keyboard to use daily found theirs and drifted away from the novelty/modding, I think.
I've used a HHKB Pro 2 since 2010 and it's still going strong. I have a replacement ready if/when it dies, but other than a shiny space bar it looks and feels like new.
It's less as hyped as during covid, but it's definitely still going strong. Its a hobby/collector thing. Cheaper than cars/watches/audio collecting.
Mechanical keyboard is still a sensible choice. With the advent of cheap 3D printing and custom PCBs, there's now also a lively DIY community, especially for odd/split layouts. I don't think it's a craze. It's just a hobby.
> Is the mechanical keyboard craze still going on?
It depends on your definition of "craze".
Mechanical keyboards are more popular than ever, and became mainstream to the point where nowadays they are just considered keyboards. Even Logitech sells whole product lines of mechanical keyboards, and even has specialized lines of mechanical keyboards.
Also, multiple companies sell ergonomic keyboards that fall within the "craze" classification. Even if they don't ship with noisy switches, they are still in line with what mechanical keyboards were known for.
Nowadays even the pure mechanical keyboards have non-mechanical switches. Optical, magnetic, hall effect, etc. they ship in the standard cherry MX form factor. But aren't mechanical.
A few years ago you had blue switches, red switches, brown switches... You could count the types of switches with your fingers. Nowadays the offer is so vast that you can't keep track. Some companies even sell sample kits with an array of different types of switches for customers to try out. That's a relatively new development.
And do I need to mention the massive inflow of mechanical keyboards on offer from cheap Chinese manufacturers? We're not looking at 400€ mechanical keyboards, but 20€ mechanical keyboards.
The truth of the matter is that in the past you barely had any choice in keyboards. You could choose brand and color, but it was always the same keyboard. Anyone who wanted something beyond this pattern was drawn to mechanical keyboarss. Not today.
So, knowing this, do you think it is a "craze"?
Utilitarian device to type on became an object of obsessive consumption, collection, customization, showing off, fashion (RGB lighting, forced mechanical over scissor distinction even though many people prefer the latter, etc). Yeah of course it's a craze, without scare quotes.
The same gear obsession happened to the gaming mice world, but it was much tamer by comparison.
> Yeah of course it's a craze, without scare quotes.
This is a simplistic opinion to hold. You'd be better complaining that some people enjoy things. Form factor is important, also tactile response and sound. Features like embedding USB hubs or touchpads are essentially a given in laptops. Not being forced to throw a keyboard to the trashbin just because a key failed.
Is this a craze?
Ask yourself this: why are there people paying good money for gaming keyboards? Or Apple's magic keyboard. Is it a craze?
Or are you just complaining that other people enjoy things?
Think about it.