The year is 1985, the IBM Model M keyboard is released. Its layout was standardized, and popular. Its ergonomics were researched more than any keyboard before it. It had buckling spring keyboards, and keycaps that could be changed out, if needed. Nearly every keyboard people use today has the Model M to thank for its origins.
As the mass production of computers and keyboards grew, the quality of keyboards diminished. Parts were made to be more portable and cheaper to make. The electronics changed, too, and rubber domes, or membrane keyboards, became the standard. Rubber domes are a type of switch, where it pushes a spring against a PCB to make a connection to close the circuit (also known as electro-capacitive switches).
These membrane keyboards have buttons that last tens of thousands of cycles (or keypresses), which isn't bad, necessarily. But, when you look at something like the Model M, which lasts millions, you start to wonder why we put up with the cheaper ones.
The hype around mechanical keyboards started with that desire to return to quality. Model M keyboards still work today, exactly as they did decades ago. Mechanical keyboards that you might get (or build!) now will last you an incredibly long time, too.
Mechanical keyboards not only are high quality pieces of equipment, but you can personalize them too. You can choose what size of keyboard you want, your layout, the switches you use, the keycaps you see, and even program the firmware on most models to make every keystroke a custom one. You can even add rotary dials, type in a stenography or chorded style, or customize the lighting under every key. It's kind of like making your own custom LEGO set, but a functional, working machine that'll last you a lifetime!
Now, because there's so much to know, it can be overwhelming. In this email course, I'll give you a lay of the land of the essentials you need to know to get started in the mechanical keyboard space, whether you just want to buy one, or build one, or something in between.
If you've ever seen model cars, you might know that there's various kinds of kits for them:
• The kind where you can just buy and display
• The kind where you can get all the parts pre-painted and pre-built and you just snap them together
• The kind where you have to screw all of the parts in
• The kind where you have to custom paint every single piece, and glue them perfectly together
Keyboards are similar. You'll never have to play with glue, but you could get one in different ways:
• A fully pre-built keyboard (which will let you swap out the keycaps, all boards let you do this)
• A "barebones" keyboard (which will let you add your own keycaps and switches)
• A DIY kit (which will include a case, switches, keycaps, and electronics)
• All separate pieces (where you can decide how you want to mix and match all of the different parts together that you might buy separately)
In a world full of planned deprecation where phones and other electrics only last around 3 years, you can build and customize a mechanical keyboard just for you, that will last as long as you want it to. Programmers, gamers, writers, anyone, can build and enjoy mechanical keyboards.
Let's show you how!
-Cassidy
P.S. At the end of each lesson is a quick question. Selecting an answer will send the next email right away!
