ClickyKeyboards guy interviewed Wired magazine

[vivalarevolución]

Did anybody post this article. I didn't see it in a couple of the subforms, so I'm posting it here.

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/meet-maste ... -keyboard/

[seebart]

Ermita may be a nice guy and know a lot about IBM keyboards, but he is certainty not "the Master of the Old-School Clicky-Clacky Keyboard".

[Muirium]

So who is?

[seebart]

No one. IBM themselves if anyone.

[Muirium]

That's too Buddhist for a journalist to comprehend. (Or even just a coffee addled, page view praying blogger.) If someone can tack two lines together and sound credible, it's truthy enough to publish, and theyre a bone fide expert. Hell, they're a global authority unless you find a better one before hitting Publish.

Anyway, ClickyKeyboards is as legit as enthusiasts come. I'm not reading the article, it'll just annoy me*. But I think we can forgive them this time.


*Hey kids, you heard about that keyboard craze that's sweeping the cyberinformationsuperweb? Where passably well groomed, non homeless knowledgeartisans actually choose to have a hateful 1990s lump sat in prime of place in their workspace? Crayzee! Well, TURNS OUT there's a guy who's their goo-roo par excellence. And we got to talk to him. Barely! Above all the CLICKY CLACK noise!!

[seebart]

Oh I'm not saying Ermita or his business are not legit in any way. But let's not emulate him into some pre god like figure like this article and their creative writing are doing. Of course they have to"offer" their readers a good story.

...Where passably well groomed, non homeless knowledgeartisans actually choose to have a hateful 1990s lump...

That's your best line right there. But you forget we also like 1970's and 80's lumps. Preferably the really heavy bulky lumps.

[vivalarevolución]

The claim is a little much, but he certainly has done a lot for the Model M and their enthusiasts. I think that you would struggle to find another person with as extensive of knowledge. I suspect that Brandon himself would never call himself the one and only master, as I've never seen him take much to self promotion. I think Wired is just looking for a catchy title. It's journalism, gotta get those clicks.

[Muirium]

Just overlap the first two letters in your last word there, and you're describing my view of the first and second oldest professions perfectly!

[vivalarevolución]

Just overlap the first two letters in your last word there, and you're describing my view of the first and second oldest professions perfectly!

That's why I basically can't read the news anymore. Constant crisis! Click here!

[Muirium]

I especially appreciate the fact that every section in every publication now is an appropriate place to run stories in the sidebar featuring a picture of big boobs, and a headline about them too, JUST IN CASE YOU DIDNT NOTICE MUST SEE THIS!!

It's like my favourite plublication, age 13: Viz. The dirty English equivalent to Mad Magazine, that's full of wank jokes. Sorry, Journalism! Did they know they were prophets of the future?

[seebart]

Mad Magazine is a classic that I grew up on. Still love it. 90% of publications today are fluffy junk. Or fluffy feel good junk. Or look how smart you can manage your life junk interlaced with plenty of sales pitches.

[Muirium]

Hey, Life Hacks are an endless pool of interest. To those who want to find something else to procrastinate about. Or rather the Top 11 of the day.

Here's my life hack: Turn away from the self help books. Slowly! Both hands where we can see them!

Of course, I'm a natural born procrastinator. No need for assistance… speaking of which.

Mad:

Spoiler:

Viz

Spoiler:

As fine an example of the difference between American and English culture as you'll see. They're aimed at the same smart young sarcastic audience, but yet are completely different. Mad is more crafty and zany, while Viz is filthy and really bleak in its cynicism. I suppose Charlie Hebdo was the French equivalent of them both!

[vivalarevolución]

No one. IBM themselves if anyone.

Forgot to say that corporations are people in the United States, so you could be right.

[XMIT]

I think it's an open secret that you may see some Keypocalypse keyboards on ClickyKeyboards at some point. Brandon always posts serial numbers, etc. anyway. Having chatted with him a fair amount I think he makes a sincere effort to restore Model Ms for his buyers. It's a family effort. He does some great restoration work in volume. This is something I cannot hope do to in the near future.

It certainly helps that the Model M is a particularly serviceable and durable keyboard. I wish all keyboards were made of PVC and PBT. Restoring anything with Alps switches is a special pain.

That said, Brandon is a Model M specialist. I deal with everything, scan esoteric things with logic analyzers and sometimes make contributions to controller projects (maybe, nothing more than local hacks so far). We serve slightly different markets.

[sth]

"Mechanical (or clicky) keyboards improve typing speed and help eliminate carpal tunnel syndrome"

[Muirium]

Clinical studies prove Model M also helps guard against bad mojo, monkey karma, and genital warts. Hearing loss was not tested.

I don't get keyboard RSI. But hammering away on a Model M for more than about 3 hours straight sure does start to make my fingers weary. I love me some SSK, but when I've epic typing to do it moves over for a Topre.

[clickykeyboards]

"Mechanical (or clicky) keyboards improve typing speed and help eliminate carpal tunnel syndrome—but the real draw is the tactile feel of typing on a real keyboard; it’s the reaction of feeling the physical switches under the keys."

It's been more than a month since I did the 2 hour interview with Matt Jancer for WIRED magazine. Matt had a professional audio recorder running when we did the interview, and I don't remember the exact question but I think the journalist's question was specifically regarding typing on touch LCD screens vs. mechanical key switches. Certainly, many people would agree that they can type faster and more accurately on a real keyboard with switches that physically move and actuate and/or click versus tapping on a pane of glass and relying on the software to guess and auto-correct.

I don't remember commenting specifically on carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive strain injury (RSI), but I have spoken with some neurology MDs, occupational therapists, and had some nice extended emails with end users who have fine-control motor problems (Parkinson's) or others with ataxia issues and I was surprised to find that they found the relatively heavy switch for a model M keyboard to be just the prescriptive fix. One anecdote that I remember was from a writer who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (paralysis agitans) and he reported that he could not use the currently available Apple USB keyboards on his iMac because of the extremely flat profile and sensitivity with the low-key travel. He reported that his hands and fingers would rest on the Apple keyboard and that he had to exert more force from keeping his fingers elevated (resting position), than from the force of pressing keys down (accurate typing). Moving to the model M which arranges the keys in a cupped, curved base and has stronger keys that require a fixed amount of force to actuate, has helped him to be able to use his years of typing experience and allowed him to continue to be a productive writer.

I was happy for the opportunity to be an advocate for our shared niche hobby in a mass-media format like WIRED or THE VERGE and I've always strived to bring more attention to vintage mechanical keyboards.

(Although.. to be honest, I LOL'ed when I saw the string of words used by WIRED for the headline. Not sure how commonplace it is, but I don't think that the reporter, Matt Jancer, wrote the headline.. but it was instead probably written by a copy editor or other third-party production assistant in the San Francisco corporate offices who never interviewed me).

[vivalarevolución]

Just take the title and run with it. You are now The Master. We all must bow down in your presence.