Not All Linears Are The Same!
Figure 1: Not even all of these (mostly) KTT-made linears are the same! After all of my years of collecting, reviewing, and obsessing over switches, I can say with certainty that linear switches are the most misunderstood of all of the switch types. No, I’m not talking about mechanically either, as all of the claims of them “just going straight up and down” are somewhat kind of true. (Not too much though, don’t get that excited.) The part that is often misunderstood, though, is usually in what is being implied when people say that these switches just go straight up and down – “All linears might as well be the same.” If the title of this article didn’t make that obvious enough to you, I find that sort of idea to be completely and utterly wrong. The people who make these implications wouldn’t say that a Cherry MX Black is the same as a Novelkeys Cream switch? They also certainly wouldn’t ever claim that every Gateron-made linear is the same as every fancy TTC one out there...
May 29, 2024
Hey! I've only just stumbled onto the world of mechanical keyboards after seeing them pop up in a lot of my other hobby networks, and it gave me an idea. I'm a game & graphic designer with a love of good world & production design. I've always loved the graphic and production design by Ron Cobb for Alien (1978) and decided to do a layout inspired by his Semiotic Standard design. Yes, there are very littoral extrapolations of his work (re: copies) but I wanted to develop something unique but likely from the same universe (with a pinch of 1982's Blade Runner in there too).
So, I need help making these! I am going to do a first test set at WASD, but beyond that turnkey approach I have no idea how to have a set produced to cover more options. Some questions I need help with:
- Which companies should I contact to have these produced?
- How/where do I organize a group buy?
- What key profile pleases the most people?
- What alternate & extra keys should be included as a minimum?
- Are there any good templates out there for other keycap styles?
- Is there anything else I should know?
Thanks!Richard Flanagan
www.richardeflanagan.com