So I feel there's two sides to the hobby, the aesthetic side and the function/feel side.
There are plenty of people who customize their KBs for aesthetics first and plenty who focus on function/feel. And I think the number of people who focus on exclusively one side is almost non-existent.
Sure, there's a lot of people who talk about the thock or clack of this key or that, but for some it's all about the feel to their hands or the comfort of typing on a particular type of KB.
I've suffered from RSI in my pinky and ring fingers for over a decade now. If I spend too long (greater than 2-3 hrs) typing on a standard 104-style keyboard or laptop KB, the pain flares up. If I don't desist within a day or two, I start loosing grip and arm strength, to the point where I was unable to hold onto coffee cups or soup cans.
For a long time, I used the Microsoft Natural 4000 [0], a split membrane KB. I probably bought about 10 of them over a 5yr period, and I think I still have 3 in the closet.
But moving to a split mechanical was like going from sleeping on the floor to sleeping on a cloud. I could adjust the tenting and angle perfectly for my body, so it feels natural to me. I was able to try out a half-dozen key switches 'til I landed on one that was quiet but still gave a lot of tactile feedback on switch activation.
So yeah, there's definitely a bunch of aesthetic mumbo-jumbo that most people don't care about, but there's a lot in there that's not just thock & clack.
Same! My first exposure to mechanical keyboards was back in 2013, very "all the cool kids were getting Das Keyboards." I didn't think much of it, but around that time I started developing some hand and wrist pain while typing. The company I was interning at paid a lot of attention to ergonomics and my mentor came back with a Kinesis Advantage 2, which was far less stressful than the flat Apple keyboards we were using. I don't even know if I realized it was a mechanical keyboard until someone told me.
I liked the Kinesis enough, but eventually decided to build myself an Ergodox. I wanted the complete split keyboard so that I could angle each half more aggressively to take pressure off my wrists. Back then I don't think you could buy a pre-built, so I bought into a kit group buy and spent a few hours soldering. It's a great keyboard, if not the most beautiful looking thing, and I've been using it every day at work ever since.
I lasted 8 years before I felt the need to build another keyboard, this time for my girlfriend's home office. We really did enjoy the sheer amount of choice on the market, via the well-developed hobby market. She needed a split, but she also needed it to fit well in her space. She's always hated the function over form aesthetic of my ergodox, with its clear plastic case, 3d printed risers, and exposed PCB/wiring. On the more functional side, she didn't love the ortholinear layout and wasn't interested in soldering (RSI, hence the interest in a split). We had a great time browsing the larger variety of switches, cases, and keycaps available to us, ultimately going with options that didn't exist in 2013 during my ergodox build to assemble a clean and functional split keyboard to exactly her taste. With hotswap sockets, it's also become normalized for the average keyboard to require zero soldering.
The growth of the keyboard hobby has made building keyboards, even niche ergonomic keyboards, so much more accessible to the average consumer.
You sound just like me! What split keyboard did you end up going with? I used the microsoft keyboard for years as well, but then my shoulders started acting up and I figured I needed a split keyboard and bought a Moonlander.
I didn't try the Moonlander but I had an Ergodox-Ez which was its predecessor. I ended up making a dactyl manuform and it was my favorite out of every keyboard I've tried. Just wish it was easier to make one with RGB so I can program different colors for different layers like the Ergodox.
I was tempted by the Ergodox, but the adjustable thumb cluster seemed nice. Owning the Moonlander made me realize that making the thumb cluster part of the tenting mechanism was really dumb all things considered.
Any major complaints on the dactyl-manuform? I can see the lack of per-key RGB being annoying. I love that on my moonlander. I have some layers with only a subset of the keys filled, and use the backlighting as a subtle reminder of the layers and which keys correspond to that layer.
>Any major complaints on the dactyl-manuform? I can see the lack of per-key RGB being annoying.
No complaints from me. It was only my second soldering project. It was quite a bit of work but the results were very nice. I know RGB is possible its just that my soldering skills aren't quite ready for that. I'm not sure whether or not per-key RGB is possible but I didn't look into it. Bluetooth is also an option although I didn't try it out. Some people don't like 3d printed cases but I thought the end result looked nice.
I used zeal tealios (silent tactile) switches for mine. I'm thinking of attempting to make an alps version with some vintage Amber switches (IMO the best clicky switches ever made).
There are plenty of people who customize their KBs for aesthetics first and plenty who focus on function/feel. And I think the number of people who focus on exclusively one side is almost non-existent.
Sure, there's a lot of people who talk about the thock or clack of this key or that, but for some it's all about the feel to their hands or the comfort of typing on a particular type of KB.
I've suffered from RSI in my pinky and ring fingers for over a decade now. If I spend too long (greater than 2-3 hrs) typing on a standard 104-style keyboard or laptop KB, the pain flares up. If I don't desist within a day or two, I start loosing grip and arm strength, to the point where I was unable to hold onto coffee cups or soup cans.
For a long time, I used the Microsoft Natural 4000 [0], a split membrane KB. I probably bought about 10 of them over a 5yr period, and I think I still have 3 in the closet.
But moving to a split mechanical was like going from sleeping on the floor to sleeping on a cloud. I could adjust the tenting and angle perfectly for my body, so it feels natural to me. I was able to try out a half-dozen key switches 'til I landed on one that was quiet but still gave a lot of tactile feedback on switch activation.
So yeah, there's definitely a bunch of aesthetic mumbo-jumbo that most people don't care about, but there's a lot in there that's not just thock & clack.