I have spent a lot of time chiding my good buddy Shawn about [his love][1] for those hideous beasts that true-nerds call “keyboards”. You know, the ones that make all that damned noise… Mechanical, I think that’s what the cool kids call them. I never liked them. In fact, once I found the current Apple Wireless keyboard I was hooked. It’s exactly what I want, which is:
1. Attractive
2. Small
3. Just like my laptop keyboard
It’s perfect. But, being a nerd, I can’t leave well enough alone — and given that I respect Shawn’s opinion I couldn’t ignore his strong encouragement that I try a clicky-clacky-annoying keyboard.
So I did.
When Matias announced the [Laptop Pro, wireless mechanical keyboard][2], I bought it. It meets all the criteria for a nerdy keyboard:
1. It uses mechanical switches, and even calls out the name of those switches on the website.
2. It’s ugly.
3. It’s far bigger than anything a sane person would want to use.
4. It’s ugly.
5. It’s pretty loud, for a “quiet” version. Like those Hondas all the kids drive around.
6. It’s ugly, but I covered that already… I think.
The thing is, I wasn’t excited about the Matias keyboard. I know it doesn’t use the “best switches”, but the Matias presented a no-win scenario for me. The best case is that I hate the keyboard and wasted $170. The worst-case is that I kinda of liked it, but now wanted to try them *all* and would forever have a hideous keyboard adorn my desk.
Neither thing happened. I’m somewhere in the middle on this issue.
I’ve been using the Matias since I received it ((2-21-13)), which has been almost a full two months. The only other keyboard I touched during that time was the one on my retina MacBook Pro. For the first three weeks I hated the keyboard. I made more typos than normal, I was tripping over the keys, and my hands were getting tired.
I pressed on and, eventually, made less typos. Then I found it very hard to switch back to the Apple Wireless. I was stuck.
Now I had to make a decision: In two month’s use my typo rate hadn’t decreased, but my speed remained the same. That’s a loss.
However, I did start to see the appeal of such a keyboard. I can see why people like them. I get it now, but *I* don’t like it.
This isn’t a review of the Matias, because I really don’t care about the keyboard. It was the only one I found that fit my routine, my desk and my life. In the end, this is a test to see if mechanical keyboards are something that I *would* like.
I liked the feel of the keyboard, more than the Apple Wireless, but I didn’t enjoy typing on it. I can’t explain why mechanical keyboards aren’t for me; it really is a personal choice. Either you’re more comfortable typing on mechanical keyboards, or you aren’t and they’re not right for you.
The Matias made me a worse typist, with a worse looking desk. That’s the worst.
Maybe I’m just not nerdy enough for a mechanical keyboard, so I typed this on one of my six Apple Wireless keyboards instead.
***
I *am* tempted to buy and test a better mechanical keyboard. I *am* curious to know if the switches really make that big of a difference. But I won’t buy another keyboard to test. The reason is simple: cords. I *hate* cords.
Every keyboard that true keyboard-nerds recommend to me are wired and that grates on me more than the idea of using an ugly keyboard for the rest of my life. So I’m back to old faithful and there I shall remain.
[1]: http://shawnblanc.net/2012/04/clicky-keyboards/
[2]: http://matias.ca/laptoppro/mac/