Chiclet style is the end of keyboard evolution

In the recent posts, we saw many parameters of keyboard ergonomics.

• key pitch
• keytop size
• step
• travel
• readability of legends
• footprint of whole keyboard

These parameters relates each other. Some parameters are irrelevant for heavy users.

From these parameters, I reached a conclution that recent chiclet style is the end of keyboard evolution. We will never see any next style in fashion while we are alive. This is just like IBM Model M layout. If you want the best one-size-fits-all style, chiclet is it, and this will be true after a hundred years.

I want to point out the readability of legends. The age of professional typists is gone. Most people have to read legends of keytops very often. The keytop width / depth of MacBook is 16.5 mm. As mentioned in the previous post, mechanical keyboards' keycaps have much smaller keytops, and the smallness is inevitable for ergonomics.

(BTW I don't believe large keytop is good for heavy users. If so, IBM should make Model F keytops larger in 1980. Large keytop is good for readability, and this is a decisive factor.)

Of course chiclet style is good for laptops, and a human being is an animal of habituation, we are comfortable with the same style between laptop and stationary. Why do we want different thing?

The answer is simple. Because we are perverse, weird, attention seeking geeks. Comfortable? That is for couch potatoes. We can't stand one-size-fits-all keyboards and overcome any hardships to seek the Golden Fleece! We are Jason!

Calming down...

The quest of the Golden Fleece is not comfortable, but the Golden Fleece itself should be comfortable (just for the owner), hopefully more comfortable than one-size-fits-all things.

I don't expect we will reach the same conclusion about what is the Golden Fleece. If I expect so, I'll produce and sell my Golden Fleece instead of P2PPCB components. However I believe we are curious with the Golden Fleeces of others and use as references for the quest of ourselves. In the next post I will describe some (not all) features of my Golden Fleece.