Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
One of the (many) problems with ISO is that you need like 30 or 40 keyset options to cover them all and that raises prices significantly.
Also, if you include options for one country, but dare to leave out another, everyone gets mad. Including blank keys will make everyone unhappy (so it's a good compromise), but most of the other keys are incorrect.
I urge all ISO users to switch to a different layout or use blanks exclusively.
Don't be ignorant to other peoples' needs just because you get what you want.
But It is very sad, we can't get ISO layout It's extremely difficult to get enthusiast keyboard parts in Europe.
You end up with a case where you have 40 different ISO kits for every country and each one has 5-10 orders (at best). Even if Europe had a much larger enthusiast market than the US its still hard to make work. That's why I recommended getting some blanks. The reason I urged all ISO users to switch to a new layout isn't because ANSI is better, I urge everyone to switch to a new layout. Matrix KBs are way better than staggared ones.
Look I've used ISO a lot, I typed on an ISO KB exclusively for over a year, I do prefer ANSI but the prevalence of so many unique options make it really hard to support for a GB, and if you want to participate in many GBs you have three options: 1. try to go beyond all the problems and get ISO support (which would be great but sadly won't work for many) 2. learn to use blanks 3. switch to ANSI.
I'm aware the Scandinavian market aren't very large(though extremely large if counting percentage of people living here that are enthusiasts), but I also know ISO aren't so small a marked. Even if it just came with the extra caps, I would be happy :o)
I know you said, it was possible to get the few caps as one-offs, but that isn't true - Especially if it's in a special colour or if it's double shot like these are. And in my case I want it for my modifier keys. So it wouldn't even be a problem to have it with American layout as long as I could get the right caps :oP