Because markets. In sales you learn fairly quickly that price isn't determined by cost or value added but exclusively by what the market will bear. Since US labour has little negotiating power even a programmer will have to buy quiet space.
This is easy to do and only a little time-consuming. It's easier and faster when you take a cheap Bic pen, pull out the tip and ink tube, and use the body tube to press the spacers down on the stems - it's just the right diameter, and makes the job much faster.
The spacers are cheap, too, being simple silicone rubber O-rings, and as an extra benefit, the rubber eats up a lot of the bottoming-out force that'd otherwise be transmitted up the key into your fingers, which means you type more comfortably as well as more quietly.
Not with my Model M!
/buckling springs ftw...
I'm not sure where the cultural norm of beating up a keyboard comes from but it's a very inefficient way to type.
I use Topre anyway.
So I'd say the problem is with both. The open office is the ultimate source of the issue, but it can be compounded by workers who make choices that exacerbate the situation. The reality is that an open office can be quite pleasant if the people working in it collectively make effective choices that take into account the well-being of the group.
I agree with you that open office plans are the problem, but your keyboard makes that problem worse.
My E-mails are pretty short :-). However, I don't enjoy you telling your coworkers about your weekend every Monday morning.
Open offices are just stupid. They cause conflict where there shouldn't be.
> Open offices are just stupid. They cause conflict where there shouldn't be.
Yes.
I would kill someone for a walled office, even if there was a high risk of life imprisonment, as long as there was some assurance that the prison cell would have walls.
I had to invest in a pair of Bose noise cancellation headphone a long time ago.
But typing on a model M is pure sex.
There are mech keyboards with more quiet switches. At least use one of those.
No, that just shows tacit acceptance of the situation and exacerbates the problem over time. If you work in an open plan environment, the best thing to do is use the noisiest keyboard you can find, wear headphones that intentionally leak noise and listen to your music loud, do as many personal phone calls as you can from your desk, etc. And then, when people complain, point out that you didn't ask for an open plan office, and ask them to go to their manager and explain how horrible open plan is.
Worst case, you get fired. Big deal, now you have a chance to look for a place to work that isn't brain dead.
It doesn't bother my coworkers, but I also have an actual cube, so there's at least a little bit of fabric-covered foam inbetween us.
He was offended. I kept my board.
Again, the root problem is the veal-fattening pens.
Also way louder than a MBP keyboard, for example.
> they're still louder than most decent non-mechanical.
I am easily distracted by sensory stimuli. It ruins my concentration. At home I have some nice in ear noise isolating ear buds and some of those ear muffs designed for yard work. My children can, and do, reenact world wars on the hard woods above me and I can't hear it.
If I ever were in an open office, when I do deep work, those things would stay on.
So I sympathize, but the open office puts knowledge workers who need to concentrate and type in a lose / lose environment.
As others have replied, the problem isn't my typing, it's <40 square feet of personal space and no noise partitioning whatsoever.
Get a proper ergonomic keyboard like the microsoft sculpt if you actually care about the health of you hands.
Mechanical keyboards are cool, which is why I own one, and when I had an office why I used one every day. But mechanical keyboards are like the loud exhaust that people put on their cars. Yeah, there is a reason that some cars have loud exhausts, but that isn't why you put that on your honda civic.
[1] https://ergodox-ez.com/ [2] https://atreus.technomancy.us/ [3] https://trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php [4] https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/649yo0... [5] http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/
Which are beautiful, and make wonderful noises, but are certainly not built to prevent the type of RSI that comes with typing.
If you type a lot over a prolonged period of time, yes. If you type in short bursts (like most programmers), no, mechanicals are actually useful.
> Get a proper ergonomic keyboard like the microsoft sculpt if you actually care about the health of you hands.
Again, if you are an old fashioned typist working on memos, this advice holds, otherwise....
Is this really how most programmers work, though? When I'm learning a new language or tool, sure, but after that it's mostly just the activity of writing the code.
Yes, well, I guess it depends on how mundane the coding is. It is possible that a programmer spends a lot of time typing and not a lot of time thinking, but then it is probably brain dead boilerplate that should have been automated somehow.
> When I'm learning a new language or tool, sure, but after that it's mostly just the activity of writing the code.
I guess it depends on what you mean by "writing code".
1) You are not an authority on all programmers, or even most programmers.
2) The primary way that programmers express their work is by typing. The idea that programmers don't do very much typing, or that typing comfort/safety isn't relevant to programers is demonstrably absurd.
>"it is probably brain dead boilerplate that should have been automated somehow."
3) This thinly veiled derision is, imho, not constructive/rude. Do you consider the linux kernal "brain dead boilerplate"? Just some quick googling shows that the per developer code contribution is about 11,000 loc per release. That is code that was in the release, and doesn't even account for code that was typed, then removed, then retyped, etc.
Believe whatever you want, but I find the idea that programmers somehow don't need to care about ergonomics extremely shortsighted.
You can write 11K lines of code without continuously typing a lot, especially over a few weeks.
I have a veritable museum of failed keyboards and pointing devices in my closet. IMO there is no silver bullet here. Also to extend your automotive metaphor, my nephew's late model diesel pickup gets 30+ mpg. Appearances and brand new shiny can be deceiving.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CYX54C0/ref=oh_aui_deta...
If someone were to lend me this combo for a couple weeks, I'd be happy to evaluate it, and if it worked, I'd buy a bunch of them. But I have a working solution right now so I'm not really in the market for an upgrade.
You may have to be logged in to see it?
Cheapest I'm seeing now is $80 :( -- bummer!
(My order: http://imgur.com/fUyKeIC)
I haven't found a larger traditional mouse yet.
I had this conversation with my coworker a few minutes ago who uses an ergonomic keyboard. I believe that the amount of stress you're going to have from a non-ergonomic keyboard is directly related to your posture, which is directly related to your anatomy. For instance my coworker is very wide and he prefers to spread his elbows out while typing.
I, on the other hand don't spread out my elbows that far out, so I don't really feel that must stress while typing for long hours.
One thing which I do notice is that I type by moving my right wrist around (and most people do that to keep their wrists free for grabbing mouse and other things). But if I try doing touch typing where I keep my fingers on the homerow, then my wrists hurt.
Maybe I'm going to give ergo-dox a shot to see what am I missing.
I've definitely been on a bit of a kick lately trying to make my work setup as healthy as possible.
I think out of all of those, having the monitor at the right height, vertical mouse, kinesis advantage and then using a pomodoro timer are the best bang for buck. The standing desk is nice but not really essential in my opinion. Just getting up and walking after a 25-30m pomodoro session is good enough.
Personally I'd rather listen to mechanical keyboards rather than people having meetings at their desks, I can fairly easily tune out non-human sounds... Unfortunately not many people seem to have them despite my office being the 'geekiest' in the Seattle region. sigh
I have a mechanical keyboard at home (Corsair Gaming K95 RGB), but at work I use a Mac wired keyboard (on a PC). Super quiet and probably the best performing scissor switch keyboard.
edit: proper Mac keyboard type
I've had a friend on the wrong floor at one company who had to switch to MX Browns with o-ring dampeners.
If a company banned me from using a mech keyboard entirely, I'd start looking for another job.
If you don't like them, complain to your manager that you need walled offices.
The anecdotes are correct: with a proper mechanical keyboard, you don't have to bottom out on the keys, and only have to press enough to make them click. Once you retrain yourself to do that, then you're putting a lot less stress on your fingers, compared to rubber-dome keyboards where you're forced to mash the keys down until they bottom out.
People in the office are still using old-school typewriters for certain official documents, so I expect I can get away with it. If I can't concentrate due to existing office noise, I may as well have some fun. Thanks!
I'd recommend to get used blue and try it out.
I use green switches with o-rings in a semi-open office layout and the only people who have ever noticed it are other mech enthusiasts. Browns with o-rings would be even quieter than greens.
Still I like the newer quietened version, so I'm considering buying some more for my home keyboard (it is an identical model).
I'm so glad I did it. If I can get just a few more hours of productivity each month then the upgrade pays for itself.