Real keyboards for writers

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Tim Green
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Real keyboards for writers

Unread post by Tim Green »

If you're a professional writer you are probably frustrated with your computer keyboard. Even if you're willing to pay a good price for it, it is no longer generally possible to buy a high-quality keyboard with proper mechanical switches. Anyone who's been around long enough to remember the old IBM keyboard knows what I mean -- the mechanical key switches in these keyboards had a satisfying click that made you absolutely sure that the character had been typed and a tactile feel that made typing a pleasure. The rubber dome technology used in "modern" keyboards may be quiet but for anyone who has ever used a real keyboard their rubbery, chiclet-like feel and their lack of any real positive feedback remain completely unsatisfactory.

There is a company in the USA that still builds real keyboards with genuine mechanical key switches, using exactly the same "buckling spring" technology as that in the original IBM keyboards. They are now available with modern key layouts, with or without Windows keys and with integrated trackballs and IBM track-sticks if you like that kind of thing. USB versions are also available.

I just got the standard version with Windows keys and it really is the real thing. The feel is exactly the same as on the original IBM keyboard, it's absolutely wonderful. The only thing I'm missing now is an ergonomic layout -- if they would build a keyboard with these keys and the layout of the MS Natural Keyboard I'd really be in heaven. But if I have to choose I still prefer the real mechanical keys over the ergonomic layout. The shipping to Europe cost me nearly as much as the keyboard itself but it was worth every penny.

The only real caveat is that these keyboards are also just as noisy as the original IBMs. For me that's positive -- I like the noise, it helps me to think, probably just my conditioning from the early days of computing but what the heck. But it does mean that these keyboards are probably not such a good choice if you have noise-sensitive co-workers nearby.

The company is called Unicomp and here is their URL:

http://www.pckeyboard.com/

I have no connection with them of any sort and get nothing for plugging their products. I'm just a very happy writer... :)
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Real keyboards for writers

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Tim Green wrote:it is no longer generally possible to buy a high-quality keyboard with proper
mechanical switches.
Hi Tim,

Still available from the UK. Go to http://rswww.com and enter
263-2788 in the search box.

I don't know how the keyboard price compares, but shipping to Europe
should be less.

I have no connection with RS other than being a satisfied customer for
about 30 years.

Martin.
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Martin,

Interesting. However, they say that the keys use Cherry mechanical switches, which AFAIK are significantly inferior to the original buckling spring technology used in the Unicomp keyboards.
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Dean Whitlock
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

I remember reading somewhere that typewriters caused less RSI and CTS because the keys were harder to push. This slowed down the typist and exercised the finger tendons and muscles in a better way than computer keyboards. Tim, you'll have to let us know if you notice any difference in the general health of your wrists/hands/fingers.
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Dean,

I don't think it's going to be really comparable. I learned to type on mechanical typewriters when I was fourteen -- I had a gigantic old Smith Corona that probably weighed about 35 pounds, and typing on that exercised your arm muscles as well as your fingers. Later I had Brother and IBM electric golfball machines and even typing on those took much more effort than a Unicomp or original IBM computer keyboard. The only reason you might expend more effort typing on mechancial key switches is because you have the subjective feeling that you can type harder. I don't think I do, however, and I also tend to type faster on mechanical switches than on rubber dome switches.

It will be very difficult to tell if the switch technology has any effect on RSI and related problems because up until now I've always used a Microsoft Natural Keyboard. The key mechanisms on the MNK are truly, truly horrible, but the layout it perfect. The keys on the Unicomp are perfect but I'm once again being forced to angle my wrists laterally, and this may cause problems in the long term. I'll have to see how it turns out -- I'd only be really happy with a combination of the MNK layout and the Unicomp key switches... :roll:
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Dean Whitlock
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

There was an "ergonomic" keyboard manufactured here in the states back in the mid nineties, when CTS was just replacing lower back pain as the media's baby-boomer-angst-of-the-decade, that tried to provide the perfect solution. Not only did it have mechanical feedback, but the keyboard was divided into three sections, two with the alpha-numeric keyboard and one with the number keypad. The sections were mounted on a single base by way of rotating clamps. You could unlock each section individually to slide them nearer or farther apart and to rotate them to any angle that you wanted. You could even set up the alpha-numeric keys back to back, so that your hands were perpendicular to the ground, thumbs up. And you could put the numeric keypad on the left-hand side, so the mouse wasn't so far off to the right.

The problem was the cost: in excess of $500. As far as I know, it's no longer being made. I used one for a couple of years and really liked it, though the arrangement I finally settled on was very close to what you get from the more common curved ergonomic keyboards. There are similar arrangements still available, though not as extremely adjustable. And I don't know if any of them have the feedback you're looking for.

I had to leave the keyboard behind when I switched jobs. I used a Mac-compatible curved keyboard till the usb connector failed for some reason. Now I'm on a standard Mac keyboard at home and a standard Acer/IBM at work. I don't particularly like either, but the budget is stretched...which is what I try to do frequently to fingers, wrists, neck, etc. to keep down the pains. :)

Good luck with the new keyboard and the wrists.
Dean
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Dean,

I've looked at a few of those Batmobile keyboards but I really think they're overkill. I tried out a lot of ergonomics but I found that the layout of the Microsoft version really is pretty ideal for me. They've definitely done their research as far as layout is concerned. The only problem is the way they've cut corners on the mechanics of the key switches. The feel is simply horrible and when you buy a new one it takes a few weeks before you can type properly on it because the cheap plastic "sticks" unless you strike the key 100% vertically, which I almost never do (friction of plastic against plastic of the key plungers in their plastic sockets).

I can understand that most consumers are happy with the cheaper versions but it would be great if they would at offer a more expensive version for those who appreciate it and are willing to pay for it. I'd be very happy to pay $250 or more for a Microsoft Natural Keyboard with real key switches.
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Unread post by Tim Green »

PS: For what it's worth the Apple keyboard that came with my PowerMac is also particularly nasty. I think here design took strong precedence over functionality. It could be exhibited in a design museum but it just doesn't work as a keyboard. The keys are rubbery with no tactile feel, they have a highly-polished surface that is also too flat, so your fingers are constantly slipping off them, and the keys are also much too close together (at least for my hands), so I feel totally cramped when I'm trying to type on it.

I definitely make more mistakes and type significantly more slowly on the Apple keyboard than on any other model I have ever used. This one is the very bottom of the keyboard quality scale by a very large margin. Simply awful.
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

My iMac keyboard isn't too bad (I have one of the basketball iMacs), but the first iMac keyboards weren't great. And I've never found a laptop keyboard I can use - too small, cramped, and flat, as you say. I agree that the MS ergonomic keyboard has a nice angle and layout to it, also that the feel is lousy. I wonder how many other people are as aware of the differences, or have even tried more than one or two keyboards. One of my former bosses was a two-finger typist. He was fast, a decent programmer, and he never had wrist problems because of the way he typed. He needed a sturdy keyboard but didn't care about ergonomics and, I think, suspected RSI was a scam. I think that may be true of many who are not writers and touch typists.
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Dean,

I have a Samsung P35 notebook (Samsung computers aren't sold in the US yet) which I bought partly on the strength of its keyboard. It has the best keyboard I've ever used on a laptop, personally I find it even better than the keyboards on the IBM Thinkpads. The keys have no click but an excellent feel and tactile feedback, they're perfectly shaped and well spaced with concave indententions that are just the right depth and all the necessary keys are there. Mine originally came with a 1.5GHz Pentium M, a 60GB drive and 512MB of RAM but it now has a 2GHz Processor, a 120GB drive and 1,25GB of RAM. (Everything is modular and even the processor is easy to replace.)
One of my former bosses was a two-finger typist. He was fast, a decent programmer, and he never had wrist problems because of the way he typed. He needed a sturdy keyboard but didn't care about ergonomics and, I think, suspected RSI was a scam. I think that may be true of many who are not writers and touch typists.
I actually have a suspicion that the engineers who design keyboards are all two-finger typists. My father is a writer and used to type with two fingers then he lost the tip of one index finger in an accident and had to learn to type with one finger. He never went back and still does -- he's probably faster than a lot of touch typists even so.
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

My hat's off to your father! I managed to shred off the ends of my right middle and index fingers about 25 years ago. I was a journalist at the time and had to type one-handed till the bandages came off, then taught myself a new way to touch type by filling in the gap with the index and little fingers on my right hand. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't have done better simply to go back to two-finger typing. But I have been touch typing now for 40 years, and it would be hard to unlearn.
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Aitch
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Re: Real keyboards for writers

Unread post by Aitch »

Noticed this thread and thought I'd have a look what is out there...
http://walyou.com/14-most-weird-keyboads-to-own/

One of our admin colleagues have a 'batmobile' keyboard, which looks fantastic. I'm using a bog standard keyboard which makes me feel the effects after a long day of writing.

Another note on touch typing... you can usually spot people who learned to type on a typewriter / old 'clicky' keyboard.. when they type, their wrists doesn't rest on the desk, and they tend to sit higher up - stopping the strain on the back, shoulders and wrists. (I do type / sit like that - sometimes).

After that bout of randomness, I best get on with writing :)
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Tim Green
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Re: Real keyboards for writers

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Heidi,

The original clicky IBM keyboards are still made by Unicomp, you can get them here:

http://pckeyboard.com

They are now also available in a "quiet" version for multi-person offices with rubber buffers inside the mechanism. I haven't tried those but they're reputed to be just as good. I still have mine but I no longer use it because at some point I got over enjoying the noise. I now have a cheap Logitech keyboard on my desktop that feels perfect, with nice concave keys, and a ThinkPad laptop whose keyboard I absolutely love.

On an aside: I recently showed my 14-year-old niece my old Remington. She looked at it from all sides for a while and then asked, "Where do you turn it on?"

Another equally effective age check: Show someone a tape cassette and a pencil and ask them what connection there is between the two items. :mrgreen:
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Michael Stevenson
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Re: Real keyboards for writers

Unread post by Michael Stevenson »

A pencil is used to take out the slack in the tape, forward or backward, whichever the highly skilled user prefers. :D
To load a word processor program, start the tape and go make a pot of coffee. You will have it half finished in time to begin.
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