(I’m not sponsored by or affiliated to any keyboard manufacturers).

The other day I happened to listen to a podcast where The subject of keyboards came up. The discussion was about whether they can put up with a terrible keyboard at work if they have a huge salary. Their answer depended on how terrible the keyboard is. The money itself was not the sole motivator. The discussion made me think about my own keyboards over the years.

Keyboards were not something I paid much attention to when I was younger. Back then all I had used were the inexpensive ones, either from Logitech or Dell. They were alright. Unremarkable. I didn’t know something better existed.

I used a Dell Vostro during my student days which had a terrible keyboard (I think mine was defective, even after I got the keyboard replaced under warranty). That made using an external keyboard a necessity.

Around 2014 I learnt about mechanical keybooards, in particular the Das keyboard. I was enamoured by a variant that had no lettering at all. I wanted one, but I didn’t have the money, and I don’t think Das was in India at the time.

A couple of years later I went abroad for higher studies. This country happened to have the Das keyboard available for purchase via Amazon. After much deliberation I bought a model with the Cherry MX Brown switches. Cherry MX Red was also available. I chose brown because it was supposed to be quieter than red. I didn’t want the neighbors next door in my dorms to be disturbed when I’m typing, in the off-chance that my keyboard ended up being very loud.

The above photo was taken on the day I got it. Apologies for the terrible image quality.

This keyboard was better than the non-mechanical keyboards. Typing felt great. Once I got used to it, non-mechanical keyboards (that is to say, every other keyboard I had access to) felt terrible. I now dreaded having to use the cheaper ones in the common computers in the library, the labs etc.

I took the keyboard with me when I moved back to India. During the pandemic era I made good use of it while working from home. A colleague who happened to hear me type while I was on call with him pointed out that it sounds like the mrudanga. (It does not sound like the mrudanga at all. However, I later I found that when you hear it over a call along with a not-so-great noise-cancellation, yes there is a minor resemblance).

In 2022 I got a new job where they provided me with a MacBook and an Apple Magic keyboard. This was my first time using a Macbook. I would have loved to use my Das with it, but there was no cmd key, and remapping felt odd. The Mac also did not have a USB-A port. There was a lot going on that I just started using the Magic keyboard with the intention of switching back to the Das a few days later.

Except, the Magic keyboard felt like a no-nonsense straightforward keyboard. The feel was entirely different from the other mechanical keyboard. There was no tactile bump. The sound was unremarkable. But I liked it nevertheless. It was perfectly fine. My entire desk got a facelift by the mere presence of this nice sleek keyboard. The wirelessness reduced the clutter a little bit. Runs for months on a full-charge.

I no longer use the Das. It is gathering dust in a shelf in my old home. I might revive it again someday. I guess on that day I’ll find out if that thing can be thrown in a dishwasher or a washing machine like some rumours suggest!

That Das keyboard was the most feelsome keyboard I have owned. Every keystroke was a joy. However I have moved past it. I like the Magic keyboard but I’ll probably never think of it with the same fondness.