Hmm, cool, Matias actually looks like a modern keyboard and with their own switches even. Okay, I guess it refutes some of my statements :)
Re:In praise of the mechanical keyboard
by technomancy on Tuesday April 07, 2015 @07:18AM
(#9333146)
I have to agree with you on one point though: the continued prevalence of the conventional 104-key row-staggered layout is baffling. Up to the mid-80s keyboards used to exhibit gradual evolution in the layout, (function keys on the left, arrow keys in a + shape, etc) then one design happened to take hold and everything else basically died out.
We can (and often do) come up with much better designs, but nothing seems to stick.
Yes, dramatically.
It used to be the only ergonomic keyboard with mechanical switches was the US$300 beast of the Kinesis Advantage, but the Truly Ergonomic (https://www.trulyergonomic.com) and the Ergodox (http://ergodox.org) has kicked off a wave of next-gen ergonomic keyboards featuring column-staggering, better use of thumb keys, a wide key switch selection, and reprogrammable microcontrollers.
Disclaimer: I sell DIY ergonomic mechanical keyboard kits, (http://atreus.technomancy.us) so I'm probably biased but whatever.
There also has been improvement in the switches themselves: Matias (http://matias.ca) Quiet Click switches have the same sound damping properties as the quiet Cherry switches but offer a higher actuation point and smoother action. They have also recently developed a prototype of a linear switch.