So my intention isn't to whine like a little baby or anything. More so, I'd just like to put this out there so people I frequently talk to don't wonder where I've gone. Also, I'm really interested in what other peoples' perspectives are on the things I'm going to talk about in this post.
Looking back, I really enjoyed this hobby much more as a novice. And in so many ways I still am a total novice. To be honest, most of the people I correspond with know oodles more about keyboards than I do. That is something I really enjoy about the keyboard world; there's always something new being uncovered; always something interesting to learn about. Which brings me to my first point...
I am not a businessman
Yes, I buy lots of stuff. I used to buy more than I have been lately, but that's not really a factor. There are plenty of people who get enjoyment out of the "buy low, sell high" facet of the hobby, and I don't have anything against those people at all. It just doesn't interest me personally. But the buying and selling of keyboards as a commodity to be traded is the overall direction I see things going.
Whenever I've dipped my toe in the sales water, I feel like I've had to deal with "choosing beggars" trying to talk you down to the absolute lowest price possible, regardless of worth and work that's gone into an item. I understand completely that that is the world of trading, and again, have no problem with it. It just doesn't give me any pleasure and most times stresses me out.
Mostly I've sold modified items like keyboards that I've converted. Always when I've done that, I get a torrent of messages asking for help with whatever issue or question they're having. I enjoy helping people on a personal basis, but it sucks playing tech support to someone who didn't want to pay your asking price in the first place (and I've always priced things super reasonably, even at a loss -- see sub-heading, "I am not a businessman").
Rude / mean members
To use the word "toxic" would be silly. I've made a lot of friends on here and there are so many good people. But there's always the negative people who get a thrill out of bringing someone down.
I share online almost all of the keyboard stuff that I do. In fact, I should probably be more selective about what I share because sometimes it's not particularly interesting. But for me, I have a lot of fun sharing those things, asking questions, getting feedback, etc.
I hate seeing some similarly-minded person doing the same thing (sharing what they've made) and getting made fun of or even yelled at for their creation. As a personal anecdote, I shared some photos of an AEK II that I dyed the keycaps to resemble the Apple logo. I had fun doing it and I thought it was a pretty clever idea.
The user has since deleted all the negative comments but I remember the basic bullet points (he sounded like a lunatic tbh):
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... aps_on_my/
- User: You don't dye vintage
- Me: Sorry, I literally got this from the recycling center. It was going to be trashed
- User: Doesn't matter. If you go on sites like DT and GH, where they take keyboards seriously, they'll tell you the exact same thing.
- ** some other users chime in saying it's fine / not really his concern **
- User: Still doesn't matter. He has no business doing this shitty dye job to a vintage piece. + some other stuff I can't remember
Yeah, it's pretty minor and not the end of the world. But I just react to that stuff so negatively. My reaction is to try to flip it around and bring the other guy down. That's a pretty shitty way to be and not how I want to spend my energy.
I kind of suck at it
This touches back on point number 1 but deserves it's own call out.
Most people who have traded messages with me know that I'm awful at getting back to them. And it's really gotten worse over time. It's not that I want to blow anyone off or leave them hanging for a long time, it just gives me extreme anxiety for some reason. And that's kind of a sucky way to feel over something so trivial.
I also don't really know where I fit in the community. I've never been passionate about layouts (sorry Miguel bb) or keycaps; mainly I like to learn new things about how they work. There is a portion of the community that share this interest, but they are (for the most part) much more educated on the topic. I'm guessing most have EE degrees and I'm just not on the same plane. That sort of leaves me in a weird spot where I know a little about a lot of things, but don't really know a lot about anything (if that makes sense).
So I don't really have many people to talk to unless I (a) start upping my electronics knowledge bigly or (b) force myself into topics that I'm not passionate about. The former is easier said than done and the latter is unappealing.
Tldr
- Taking a break to reset
- Read the three headings
- If we're in the middle of a deal, don't worry; I'll make sure we finish up smoothly
See ya later, dudes.
) everything you said. Although in my case it's more with PC building and other communities online rather than keyboard (still relatively new for me). I routinely take breaks and think a larger "digital detox" is healthy, especially the closer you get to social media proper where toxicity level is higher, and the group-think is more dominant (turns everyone into jerks in some communities).
I just assumed you thought I was insane, busily constructing a Terminator (out of old keyboard parts) to go to your house and eliminate you to stop Skynet from having converted vintage keyboards in the future. (...and I'm not saying I'm not...)
Seriously, it's nice to see you here, as well as some other familiar names.
