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Das Keyboard: Hit Any Key
Black hardware just can't help looking cool (think TIE fighters, NeXT Cubes, and the hard-to-find black SE/30 case you might have lusted for in 1994), but have you ever wanted an all-black keyboard? Das Keyboard, from Austin-based Metadot, fills the craving for those so afflicted, and by "all-black," I mean something very nearly that: except a small white label ("Das Keyboard") in the upper left corner and labels for the three usual indicator lights -- num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock -- there's nothing but black to see. The keys are unlabeled in any conventional sense, though the index-finger keys of the conventional home row (F and J) are marked with the usual small bumps; theoretically, this should make typing more accurate after a time, just because cheating with one's eyeballs isn't a possibility. It's the aesthetic opposite of the recently announced Optimus keyboard; this is high minimalism applied to the modern keyboard. The truth is, I wanted to like Das Keyboard. It looks cool, and the concept sounds, well, sound. The thing itself left me a bit disappointed, though; I've outlined my reasoning below.
The problem with inviting comparison
Metadot borrowed from the best in the design of their keyboard: dimensionally, it's just about a dead ringer for an IBM Model M. Compared to my 1984 Model M, Das Keyboard's chassis is less than a half-inch shy of the M's longest dimension, and that half inch is shaved off the the outermost edge; key size, curvature and placement are identical to that of the Model M, at least to the limit of the measuring instruments mounted to each side of my nose. (The underside looks quite a bit different, though: A fair amount of Das Keyboard's undercarriage is just empty space, because the plastic underneath follows the curve of the keys themselves, leaving a small wedge of air.) The board's 6-foot USB cable (nice and chunky) exits to the rear through a neat slot straight up from the Caps Lock indicator.
However, the dimensions are unfortunately where the resemblance ends, because the great thing about older, mechanical-action keyboards like the Model M is not so much how they look, but how they feel beneath the hand. Instead of the clacking, snapping action of buckling-spring keyboards, manufacturers have mostly moved to cheaper, less-complicated membrane keyboards, some of which feel better than others. My impression on opening the box and giving the black keyboard a lengthy groping was that the Das Keyboard's action is a bit squishy. To be fair, in the current keyboard market, most of the competition feels no better, and many competitors feel worse. Some people prefer the feel of membrane keyboards, though, so don't take my word for it -- taste in keyboards is idiosyncratic at best. As membrane boards go, Das Keyboard is on the good side of average.
About that extreme makeover ...
So what does the all-black color scheme do for one's typing speed? According to the company, by taking away the crutch of key labels, the user is forced to learn better typing skills and concentrate on their computer's screen.
This may be true for some people, and it sounds like a good theory, but in several weeks of use, I never quite swam, and mostly sank. Whenever I'd hit a wrong key (which was often), I found myself either hunting-and-pecking or craning my neck to peek at a conventional keyboard a few feet away for guidance. I'm an untutored typist, but several years of moderately heavy keyboarding mean I'm at least not a newcomer to entering text with a keyboard -- I even rather enjoy it, most days. However, maybe I'm just a slow learner, but I haven't had as much frustration with a keyboard since I played with a Twiddler a few years ago. Maybe I glance at my keys more than I realize on my conventional keyboard, or maybe it's simply that I had a hard time getting used to the feel of the board, but in the end I ended up disappointed with my speed using Das Keyboard. That's not to say that a better typist would feel the same; maybe I'm just not to the threshold of typing skill that Das Keyboard requires.
According to a company representative, the keys on Das Keyboard are divided into several distinct groups, each with their own response. I tried in vain to detect the difference between keys in various groups, and think I faintly detected it, sometimes. But the difference between any two of the keys on this keyboard (harping, I know) seems far less than that between any of Das Keyboard's keys and its equivalent key on a mechanical-action board. An exception is the space bar, which really did take the promised extra effort to press down: this is a welcome change, and I hope other keyboard makers license (or at least copy!) the idea, because I tend to keep my thumbs on the space bar. (I'd like to see a mechanical-switch version of Das Keyboard, which would retain the neat looks but do away with the milquetoast response.) My muscle memory isn't what it used to be The upshot, at least to me, is that Das Keyboard has a feel slightly better than the run-of-the-mill keyboards on offer at mass-market retailers, and much cooler looks, but costs a bit more than those differences justify, at least to my wallet. The industrial approach of this keyboard would be a perfect match for a gaming or overclocking system built for clean, industrial looks, and a better deal than most "high tech" sculpture, but I'm unconvinced that it's truly a practical improvement. If I wanted a keyboard with the claimed advantages of an absence of key-cap labels, I think I'd hit local thrift stores until I found a model that felt acceptable to my hands, and pick up can apiece of spray paint and lacquer.
This may be true for some people, and it sounds like a good theory, but in several weeks of use, I never quite swam, and mostly sank. Whenever I'd hit a wrong key (which was often), I found myself either hunting-and-pecking or craning my neck to peek at a conventional keyboard a few feet away for guidance. I'm an untutored typist, but several years of moderately heavy keyboarding mean I'm at least not a newcomer to entering text with a keyboard -- I even rather enjoy it, most days. However, maybe I'm just a slow learner, but I haven't had as much frustration with a keyboard since I played with a Twiddler a few years ago. Maybe I glance at my keys more than I realize on my conventional keyboard, or maybe it's simply that I had a hard time getting used to the feel of the board, but in the end I ended up disappointed with my speed using Das Keyboard. That's not to say that a better typist would feel the same; maybe I'm just not to the threshold of typing skill that Das Keyboard requires.
According to a company representative, the keys on Das Keyboard are divided into several distinct groups, each with their own response. I tried in vain to detect the difference between keys in various groups, and think I faintly detected it, sometimes. But the difference between any two of the keys on this keyboard (harping, I know) seems far less than that between any of Das Keyboard's keys and its equivalent key on a mechanical-action board. An exception is the space bar, which really did take the promised extra effort to press down: this is a welcome change, and I hope other keyboard makers license (or at least copy!) the idea, because I tend to keep my thumbs on the space bar. (I'd like to see a mechanical-switch version of Das Keyboard, which would retain the neat looks but do away with the milquetoast response.) My muscle memory isn't what it used to be The upshot, at least to me, is that Das Keyboard has a feel slightly better than the run-of-the-mill keyboards on offer at mass-market retailers, and much cooler looks, but costs a bit more than those differences justify, at least to my wallet. The industrial approach of this keyboard would be a perfect match for a gaming or overclocking system built for clean, industrial looks, and a better deal than most "high tech" sculpture, but I'm unconvinced that it's truly a practical improvement. If I wanted a keyboard with the claimed advantages of an absence of key-cap labels, I think I'd hit local thrift stores until I found a model that felt acceptable to my hands, and pick up can apiece of spray paint and lacquer.
Want to do something more practical? Get a Braille keyboard and learn that while typing. It's a skill, right?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Das Keyboard: For people whose desks are a complete Disaster Area.
Though I hear it works best on the new Sun "Diver" systems.
"Its this wild colour scheme that freaks me, you know.
When you press one of these black buttons that are labeled
in black on a black background, a little black light lights
up black to let you know you've done it!"
that was the longest thinkgeek advertisement ever.
But how many times do we have to see this fucking thing posted on slashdot?
It's a keyboard.
It's black.
Wow.
Awesome.
Can we please move on now? Seriously!
i mrsn drtioudly@ my typing had gtrsyrly imptobrd sibce u started ysubg ut!@
"If you are going to get one; get two: one for you and one for your best friend."
Because I know my friends would just love it if I secretly replaced their keyboard with one that had no labels on it. Of course they wouldn't be able to email me their problems any more.... hmmm maybe it is a good idea after all.
Spinal Tapish...
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Das right!
ThinkGeek doesn't sell black paint.
For 80 bux I will gladly gouge out your eyes. Your typing will increase and you may develope super sonic hearing, which you can then use to fight crime vigilante style.
Solvent wouldn't work on a good quality "double shot" keycap where the letter is actually molded through the cap in a different color plastic.
... I have a limited number of dollars in my computer peripheral "upgrade" budget and this thing is definitely gonna get any. I'm more concerned with the feel of the keys and whether it's comfortable to use. Of course, maybe that's just me ... I don't look at my hands while typing. Heck, when I got back from vacation last year one of my coworkers had switched a bunch of my keycaps around. Took me two weeks to even notice. I was taking a break and stretching when I looked down and saw that my arrow keys were all pointed inward and some other keys were not where they were supposed to be at all. I think I said "What the F**K?" and I heard somebody say, "Just noticed your keyboard, huh." Doh!
But yeah
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
How very bourgeois of them.
Deleted
Hans, would you like to touch my keyboard? Touch my keyboard! Touch him! Love him! Liebe mein Tastatur!
Now is the time on Sprockets when we enter data.
Then there's these mice, I am quite happy with my Logitech 3 button mouse circa 1995. It works perfectly for me (of course you need to periodically clean them) and doesn't have that stupid scroll device that everyone seems so intent in putting in them these days. That reminds me, I need to go to the local computer recycling place and dig around in their bins to find some good keyboards and mice to stockpile that have a reasonable layout before the entire earth is plagued with these new marvels that annoy me so much.
I don't expect everyone here to agree with me, i know quite a few people who love their scroll wheels and fancy optical mice. I'm just not one of them.
When this was first posted to Slashdot I cut up some blank stickers and covered my keys. Have I noticed an improvement in my typing? Well, it took four tries to type the word typing just there. It's a pain. That's the last time I try something I read here. Also, the home made air conditioner sucked.
Great! Now all my keys are sticky and have fingerprints on them and my fingers are covered with gunk...Got any other bright ideas?
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable" - JFK
It's the black one.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Great! Now all my keys are sticky and have fingerprints on them and my fingers are covered with gunk...Got any other bright ideas?
surfing more family-friendly sites?
How much more black could it be?
None. None more black.
Slashvertisement isn't cheap. They could have brought it down to $25 if they'd gone for a sidebar, but they needed several mid-page ads^H^Hrticles over the course of several months.
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
I want a keyboard that changes color based on how hard I'm banging the keys. :)
Black and blue is the color of the day.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
TIE Fighters aren't black.
Sorry. It's Slashdot. I had to say it.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
Sophisticated Nerd #2: Ah yes, 1984. The vintage is most excellent.
Nerd 1: Can you believe that some people actually type on (shocked whisper) PS/2 keyboards?
Nerd 2: That's positively scandalous! Worse yet, I was at my financial institution (banks are for the unwashed masses) yesterday, and the teller was actually typing on a Logitech USB keyboard. Every time he hit the Windows key, I wanted to lecture him on real keyboards and the proper volume of key clack, but it would have been completely lost on the brute.
Nerd 1: It's completely ridiculous. There should be laws against such mindless use mundane computer components.
Or did nobody else think it was odd how the author compared it to a 20 year old design as if it were a car or a fine wine?
maybe it costs more than you think not to print characters ;)
Actually, there are sweat shops in Malaysia staffed by trained cats that work around the clock applying their sandpaperlike tongues to carefully polish the letters off of standard black keyboards. Cats are very hard to train, you see, so that gets expensive. They also spend most of their lives sleeping, so it takes several days for a particular cat to finish the work on one keyboard. But the craftsmanship is stunning. To help with the training, they spray on a specially formulated catnip mist that is designed to leave no traces on the finished keyboard once it is dry. They use this to entice the cats to lick the keys, and because it's specially formulated that's automatically, like, $30 a unit right there. Then there's all the litter to change, crates of fresh mice brought in daily, and an in-house addiction clinic. Done in America, that could easily pop the per unit price to $150 easily, and that's why it's done in Malaysia, so you get to save a lot of money on all this hard work. So it's a pretty good value, all things considered.
If you never use the pipe key, you ain't a programmer, and this keyboard ain't for you.
No offence, but || is madetory. I typed this whole post with my eyes closed. Even had to hit backspace once or twice.
Not that it isn't a waste of money, but not knowing where pipe is? Dayam!
"Old man yells at systemd"
Black keyboards are silly anyway.
What real geeks want is :
Das Screen!
A 21" slab of matte black plastic !
Only $3500!
Get yours now!
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Just use it for a year and you'll get your own white Das Keyboard, with the benefit that less used keys will have markings on. The best of both worlds! That's Apple for you :p