13 Feb 2016, 20:56
Hi everybody, I'm new here. But I have an opinion on small keyboards!
I think this thread is done with monitor talk, but I do want to point out that the term "retina" doesn't actually mean anything. It's a marketing term that has taken on a life beyond that. If we understand it to mean "a resolution where you can't see the pixels from where you're sitting," which is a fine definition, then it's absurd to claim that you can't see the pixels when you get closer. If it means that the pixels are so small that you can't see them with the natural, un-aided human eyeball, then just make a css box with a 1px line on your screen and see if you can see it.
My problem with The Koreans is just that I can't handle 27" (and last time I looked, they were all 27") - I like having 2 monitors, and 27" s just too big to have 2 of. Which brings me to the thread topic!
I have a huge desk, most of which is cluttered with crap - papers, wires, stuff I left around that my wife doesn't want to see lying around anymore. What I mean is - I have space, but all space will be cliuttered, no matter how much I have - but once you get to a 104, I just don't have enough space for the clutter I actually need and want nearby. There's also the gaming thing, which really exacerbates the arm-position problem - the "WASD-to-mouse" distance is quite far on a 104. I started using a Nostromo back before Razer acquired it, and I have a Razer model of it now - that's the ideal solution to that problem, for me. (Of course, now it's just more desk clutter, because I don't game as much anymore). I had a Wolf King briefly, like someone posted earlier, a few years ago, but I couldn't get the hang of it. I think it got carried away with itself, and went more for the *look* of ergonomics - and lost the actual ergonomics.
I would use a 60% on my desk, but my wife is addicted to dedicated arrow keys. I'm waiting on the MD Magicforce 68, which I hope will satisfy us both. Why a smaller keyboard on a larger desk? Mostly because the height of a TLK, or, the depth, I guess - the monitor stands are quite large and if I need to push the keyboard back to make room for cheetos, the smaller it is in that direction, the more cheetos I can eat.
(Just kidding. I'm a microwave popcorn with chopsticks guy.)
I also have a Planck, and I'm hoping to get an AMJ40. I really do travel with them! I take my 8" tablet (Nvidia Shield K1 ftw) and Planck to coffee shops or the library, or just onto the couch, and it's great.
Finally, as an attempt to address the core issue from the OP: I think the appeal is, for me, the elegance of a smaller keyboard. The idea of using no more than absolutely necessary is really attractive. Now, the reverse appeal - of the Hyper7 - wherein each key has only a single function - there's elegance there, too. As someone said, there's no way to objectively compare a preference or "taste" - but we can attempt to express ourselves, and, in doing so, reveal even to ourselves the nature of what appeals to us. As I like to say: the more we know about what we like, the more we understand ourselves.
I really liked Muirium's point - about how, the only reason 104 seems "full size" to us is because that's what we're used to. The chording we do there is somehow not minimalist, but the chording on a 60% is. WTB a copy button, or a paste button!
Finally, the remaining piece of interface I haven't touched on: the mouse. I think there's room for sites as dedicated as Deskthority (et al) for mice, but, unfortunately, mice are a bit harder to make in your garage - or so it seems to us today. I don't solder, so I won't be the one to start it, but there's plenty of room for improvement in mice. I'm using a logitech because I like a lot of buttons, but it'd ditch it in a minute if you showed me a custom mouse with the same elegance as the boards we see in mech threads.
).
Nothing minimalist about it.
.
