On Mon, 31 Aug 2015 08:25:25 -0400 Gene Heskett <ghesk...@wdtv.com> wrote:
> On Monday 31 August 2015 07:04:22 Joel Rees wrote: > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 4:09 PM, <rlhar...@oplink.net> wrote: > > > On Sun, August 30, 2015 8:49 pm, Martin Read wrote: > > >> Cherry still *are* (or at some point resumed) making mechanical > > >> keyswitches with a rated life in the tens of millions, and the > > >> Internet is full of mail-order vendors selling keyboards (from > > >> several different manufacturers) built with those Cherry > > >> keyswitches. > > > > > > How much do those things cost? Now that a keyboard can be had for > > > $10 or $15, is it better to pay $150 or even $250 for a quality > > > keyboard, or replace a $15 keyboard every year or even every six > > > months? > > > > > > And in our present Window$-dominated, rodent-oriented, game-addicted > > > and generally-lliterate society, is there anyone who types more than > > > a few dozen keystrokes a day for the purpose of intelligent > > > conversation -- other than subscribers to a mail list such as this, > > > and the authors of pulp fiction? (And no, I do not consider > > > messages transmitted by "texting" or "twitter" to be intelligent > > > conversation.) > > > > Petter points out the comfort benefits. For some, however, it's not > > just comfort. > > Correct. > > There is another aspect of what I call a usable keyboard. My retirement > hobbies include cnc'ing the usual machine shop stuff, like mills and > lathes. Thats a "dirty" environment, where a cut chip of metal can fly > several feet, depending on method of keeping the cutting tools workspace > reasonably clear of these chips, which will adversely effect the smooth > surface of the cut if allowed to just lay there and be recut by the > passage of the tools next cutting edge. So keyboards need to be both > protected from this debris, but also built to ignore it as much as > possible. The net result is a tendency to, when keyboard shopping, to > stay well away from keyboards whose keycaps are molded with tapered > sides surrounded by a close fitting plastic molding. I have an ACER > keyboard with vertical sided keys and no surrounding mask, keycaps are > directly on the stem of the key that if buried in this "swarf" might not > go down and register a keypress because there is something under the > keycap. That would be the much preferable failure mode, whereas the > taper sided keycap, with the usual overlay mask, allows this materiel to > follow the key down, then wedge it down. Have you seen the Apple keyboards? They have keys that are barely raised from the keyboard itself, completely flat, and are AFAIK wireless. Sandstrøm, among others, makes clones of these that are dirt cheap. If I understand your problem correctly, they might work well for you. Just a thought, I have no idea how they are for actual work. You can also get keyboards with a plastic coating that are intended for industrial use, but I haven't seen any for some time. Petter -- "I'm ionized" "Are you sure?" "I'm positive."
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