We have all seen it. In a movie, video game, a Youtube video or an instructional tape from the 90’s. The ubiquitous mechanical keyboard. It may have been beige or that sickly green but you can bet it was loud and it was plastic-y. Maybe you were even lucky enough to have used one in their golden age. Either way no depiction of a sweaty nerd pushing up their glasses could be complete without it.
However most people who are not part of what is now a dedicated base of enthusists have no idea what the difference between their slim laptop keyboard and one of these click machines. The reasons for their persistence exists like any odd niche is a combination of form, function and fandom.
The biggest thing that comes to mind when one sees these monsters is an 80’s computer lab. That nostalgia is one of the keystone reasons mechanical keyboard are so beloved by people today. Although one might think of the tech world a fresh and new, however even with such a short time a large nostalgia has arisen. Not just around keyboards but around a lot of retro-looking equipment. I believe sleeps that look like old beige towers are an expression of this.
This retro inspired theme has really infiltrated everything around tech and the hardware is starting to show it from keyboards to other electronics. Although the designs and overall build quality have improved so they won’t have any issues like you expect a first-gen tech to have( and boy did old hardware have problems)
When talking about anything nowadays you can bet some people just want to show off. With a mechanical keyboard showing off your geek-hood almost becomes sport. With a range of customization somethings they can be more akin to cars than keyboards.
From back-lighting, custom cap sets and limited editions you can actually drop quite a bit on just adding things you like to see. These types of keyboards usually allow for a large amount of customization. Everything from the key caps to the switches underthem. Even the board the switches are on and it’s surrounding body. Don’t leave out the custom or super weird cables either.
There are virtually no limits to the setups some people have. Each detail, like many things people enjoy, becomes an expression of the personality. People even painstakingly spend days or weeks constructing oddly shaped, custom routed or straight up weird keyboards because why not.
With anything there is also the limited set of things. Limited keycaps to be precise. I’ve seen caps range from a cool set for 30$US and I’ve seen a single cap being sold for 60$US. Although I’ve never bought a single custom cap they sure look cool. Even the sets of caps have whole sets of modifiers, pictograms and weird symbols.
Then we think: what good is a nice exterior if the drive sucks. When it comes to the experience of mechanical keyboards this is where they shine. It’s also where their true longevity has been the whole time. Long before people were decking out caps and swapping cases it was all about the feel.
Traditionally there is a range of key switches people most refer to called MX Cherry. They all have different properties and are liked for various reasons by various people. People might want a fast car but they don’t all want fast in the same way. Essentially the switches provide either more or less tactile feedback while typing. This feedback allows for better typing form, better hand stamina and less errors. It’s something you won’t understand until you have used one for long enough to break yourself in.
The amount of feedback and the style of it depend on the switch. Some have more click, some have more travel. There is more to it but generally it will feel different when you press it. It’s very similar to why an author prefers a typewriter. Because you can just “feel it”. Mechanical keyboards work much in the same way. Another cool plus is that if you get used to a single style of switch and have a keyboard you love, it’s likely you can keep it going indefinitely with parts and new mods.
7 Keyboards to check out:
- Massdrop CTRL
- Poker II
- Custom Build
- Vortex Pok3r
- Hyper X
- Ducky One 2
- Reddragon s101
You may not need to be a beacon of geeky productivity but the ability to do visual customizing, a better typing experience and key customization make mechanical keyboards pretty awesome.
Here is my Poker II 60% keyboard that I use almost exclusively. I love how stark white it is with the small color pops. Makes me think of a keyboard probably sitting around a ship in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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