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
My issue, as stated, is with misleading descriptions. Go on Amazon.com or eBay or any other site, and there are tons of listings with "Genuine Leather" in the title.....and if you hunt around carefully enough, somewhere in small print in a wall of text they clarify it's "genuine PU leather." There are tons of people that think "PU leather" is real leather. And there are tons of PU "leather" items sold at prices that would reflect a top grain leather construction (regardless of whether you approve or disapprove of leather), when polyurethane is cheap. Not the case here, obviously, the price is reasonable, but the misleading use of the word leather is still annoying and WRONG. It also makes it harder for Vegans to find animal-free products - did you ever think of that Captain SJW?
There's a reason we don't have "cotton leather" - because it's COTTON, not leather. Just like we don't have clothes advertised as being constructed of "faux cotton." If it's polyurethane, call it polyurethane. Which is environmentally harmful if you want to get technical (as is leather). Wool isn't necessarily friendly to sheep, either, who can be cut badly in the shearing process. Cotton (unless organic) is inundated with tons of pesticides. I could go on and on, but MY POINT WAS merely that the term PU leather is disingenuous at best - but is actively intended to mislead in many instances.
Sheep are rarely cut during shearing if the person doing it knows what they are doing. It's very difficult to accidentally cut an animal with an electric razor.
No, they really don't. As much of the animal is used as possible. I'm not sure where the hides from most US-raised cattle are processed but they aren't typically tossed out. Hide, skin and leather from the US comprises multi-billion dollars worth of exports.
I don't mean to argue about the ethical or environmental issues of leather but we should try to operate with good data.