In Praise of Cheap Keyboards

I’m typing this with a keyboard that is cheap and looks cheap, and I’m loving it.

It all started with my first Chromebook, an Acer C720 I got to learn about and explore Chrome OS. I loved it so much I switched to using Chrome OS as my only desktop operating system. Back then my daily driver was an i3 ASUS Chromebox 2 hooked to the Logitech K120 full travel keyboard I had kept around from my last PC.

Having a main desktop machine, I put aside the Chromebook for a while. But later something motivated me to play with the Chromebook more: its keyboard.

The screen of the Acer C720 has notoriously poor viewing angles. But I realized I could view it more comfortably by setting the Chromebook on a slightly taller desk, which made the angle optimal. This led me to use the device more and appreciate its chiclet keyboard with its good feedback.

Atlantis Chocolate 1300 chichlet keyboard
The Atlantis Chocolate 1300 keyboard I had with my ASUS Chromebox 2.

To have a similar experience on the Chromebox I bought the only low profile chiclet unit I found that had the extended Italian layout with accented letters I wanted, an Atlantis Chocolate 1300 wired keyboard. It was cheap and came from a no name brand, but it worked great. I began enjoying typing on the Chromebox more and more.

When I upgraded to my current i7 ASUS Chromebox 3, I plugged the Atlantis keyboard into it. However, its cable and that of the mouse contributed to the mess on my desk, so I replaced these input devices with wireless units. I bought a Logitech M220 mouse and, again, the only low profile, chiclet keyboard with the required layout I found, a Nilox Kt40W.

Nilox Kt40W wireless chiclet keyboard
The Nilox Kt40W wireless keyboard I use with my ASUS Chromebox 3.

The keyboard cost me all of €14.69. Besides being cheap and from an unknown brand, its plastic finish and feel make it also look cheap.

But I really enjoy using the Nilox keyboard.

Pressing the keys makes a clunky noise, a satisfying kind of clunky with a pleasant feedback. At first the pressure of the keys felt hard, slightly more than the Atlantis. But I eventually got used to the keyboard and came to love it.

Comments

Post a Comment

All comments are moderated and they are published only if approved by the blog owner. Comments that are spammy, trolling, hateful, malicious, or otherwise inappropriate will be removed without notice at the sole discretion of the blog owner.

Popular posts from this blog

My Favorite Image Annotation Android App

Image
I loved Skitch, the handy little image annotation Android app Evernote discontinued in 2015. It took a while but I eventually found a full replacement that’s even better than Skitch.

Annotate - Image Annotation Tool is a vector image annotation and editing app for Android. It provides drawing tools and shapes that cover the most common annotation needs, as well as a few advanced ones such as highlighting text or image areas and creating magnified insets of specific details. These features are packaged in a clean and efficient user interface that doesn’t get in the way of quick annotations.

Here’s what an annotated screenshot looks like in the app on my Pixel 2 XL phone.


Annotate’s key feature is it’s a vector drawing app, not a bitmap one, which lets you easily edit already created graphical elements such as changing their sizes and positions. This is essential as in most cases working on an image requires some iterations and tweaks before saving the final version.

As a bonus Annotate …
Read more

Feedly's AI Assistant Misses the Point of RSS

Feedly is testing an AI assistant that short-lists selected articles based on user preferences and machine learning.

However, such an algorithmic recommendation feature misses the point of RSS and feed readers, the ability to skim all the headlines of a feed in chronological order. If I wanted algorithms to organize my feeds I might as well use a newsreader like Google News or a social platform like Twitter.

With features like this Feedly is apparently trying to differentiate, attract more users, or pivot. But they’re neglecting the core reading experience. For example, it took Feedly several years to update the Android app and some of its usability issues still have not been addressed. And search, one of the key features of paid plans, is so ineffective I gave up on it long ago.
Read more

The 10th Astronaut Anniversary of Samantha Cristoforetti

Image
Ten years ago, on May 20, 2009, I watched the live stream of a press event the European Space Agency (ESA) held in Paris to introduce an international group of candidates selected to become the new European astronauts.

As the six members of the new group entered the room I instantly recognized my friend Samantha Cristoforetti, who was the first to take the floor for a short statement.


I had known Samantha since a couple of years earlier, before she applied to become an ESA astronaut. I had the opportunity of following her progress in the selection and, as the date of the ESA event approached, I noticed something was off. She had deleted her Facebook profile a few days earlier and kept radio silence. This was a hint she had a chance, which turned out to be true.

Samantha was launched into space for the first time on November 23, 2014 and spent almost exactly 200 days on the International Space Station.
Read more