Keyboards, continued

[unixronin]

About two weeks back, I mentioned keycap wear issues with the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, and these keyboard stickers made by Meri Distribution, which I hoped would fix the problem.

Well, they did.  For about a week and a half.  They're wearing at an extremely rapid rate.  There is already severe wear (which is to say, large white patches where the letters were) on six keys, and moderate wear (small white patches not obscuring the letter) on three more.  So that, unfortunately, was a nearly complete waste of twenty dollars (for two sets, while I had a discount code to use with the vendor).

It's a shame, because they really are extremely clear and readable, even in dim light.

(Note:  I consider this in no part a failure of the vendor, "Baron Bob".)

Comments

[guppiecat]

Hmm. Two opinions, one snarky, one serious.

1) Have you considered that maybe you just type too strongly? ;)

2) Have you considered getting Braille keycaps? They're easy to see in low light and, as part of being Braille to begin with should be more robust than other options.

[glitch25.livejournal.com]

1) Have you considered that maybe you just type too strongly? ;)

Especially considering the pounding the poor keyboard has taken encoding rants about itself. :-D

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

I think it is more that he's secreting some sort of acid through his fingertips that just affects the keyboards.

I've noticed that there's a smooth spot on the space bar where my right thumb rests on it.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, considering I've never had this problem with any previous keyboard, some of which I've been using for ten years or so, I'm putting it down to shoddy merchandise. The keyboard has other problems in the first place, so I'm not really willing to spend more than the cost of a new (different) keyboard on heroic measures to try to save this one, even assuming I could find replacement keycaps to fit it. In fact, if I could GET replacement keycaps to fit it, just a decent set of double-shot keycaps would permanently solve the problem. But this damned thing is made in China for Microsoft and, honestly, it's complete crap.

[glitch25.livejournal.com]

Have you considered coating the keys after with some sort of protectant like say clear nail polish or polyurethane?

Granted, a bit of work to go through, but might be worth it all things considered.

Yes, I realize you shouldn't have to do that and should expect a certain longevity from your purchases, along with some support from the product manufacturer, but given that that is out the window....

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I've considered it, but there's only so much time and money I'm prepared to throw after what's pretty clearly a poorly made keyboard to start with.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Is learning to touch-type an option?

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

No. I've been suggesting that he do so for years. He types with only two or three fingers at a time.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, sort of. I've never learned properly to formally touch-type as such. But I use up to two or three fingers on each hand once I get going, and don't really have to look at the keyboard once I get going, as long as I don't think about it. But if I start thinking about what I'm doing, then I have the centipede problem. "Which foot do I move next? This one? No wait, that—" [*CRASH*]

As long as I don't start thinking about it, when I do look at the keyboard, I'm not really looking for individual keys so much as maintaining visual reference so that I know where my hands are relative to the keyboard. As long as I know that, my hands pretty much know where the keys are, enough that I usually know I've made a typo even before I see it on the screen, because the keystroke felt wrong. I may have to glance at the screen to see which wrong key I hit, but I know I hit one, frequently well enough that I can correct the typo without looking to see what I actually typed.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

I learned to touch type after the eight grade in summer school. I was never very fast (about 30 wpm), but I could code at that speed when I got going. Not needing to see the keyboard is a huge advantage! I highly recommend that people who use computers regularly learn touch typing. The problem then is that you cuss the mouse, that makes you move your fingers from the real keys...

because you've spoken about things like this:

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

I thought you might want to see this website:

http://www.martiallawsurvival.com/?gclid=CKXYmarFkaICFRSfnAodSToIjg

but you might want to delete this after you've copied the URL.

Re: because you've spoken about things like this:

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I suspect it's just a rewrap of the same conspiracy-theory stuff that's been circulating since at least Bush I. I know enough people in the military to be pretty skeptical of this. My best call is that this guy's looking to make money off people who are afraid of the government and of a UN takeover of America.