They key(board) to my heart…
Lets divert from our main theme yet again to discuss something near and dear to the heart of any prolific writer- computer keyboards. In this day and age these are the tools of our trade, and we have a relationship with our keyboards; we probably spend more time with them than we do with our spouses.
I love Mac keyboards. They are tactile, responsive, fast and a delight to use. Even better they are about half the price of comparable aftermarket PC keyboards. But there is bad news- one infinitesimal drop of liquid and they are as dead as Marley. New ones, old ones, they are all the same. My average $50 Mac keyboard lasts two months or less because I live in the real world, drink beverages and hey, excrement occurs.
Maybe there is a solution to my woes, but it does not lie at Fry’s electronics store. I spent the better part of an hour trying to find a $40-$60 dollar keyboard because the microsoft keyboard that I replaced my most recent Mac keyboard with was crap. Seriously, I wrote a blog post this morning and I spent as much time correcting keyboard errors as I did writing. I’d tell you more about but its just… too soon.
At Fry’s in Renton Washington the problem was not the lovely, helpful sales people. The problem was not the selection. The problem was the display. They had keyboards on display that they did not have in stock. They had keyboards boxed on the shelves that weren’t on display. Most of the keyboards were not priced, and most likely the boxes which were priced were nowhere near the keyboard on display. If they even had them in stock. basically I spent an hour in their keyboard section trying in vain to find a suitable keyboard. Salespeople- who really were lovely, knowledgeable and helpful, were as confused by the hot mess that is their keyboard section as I was.
Finally in desperation I went to the stores Mac section where I found stock Mac keyboards and aftermarket keyboards from Macally (see what they did there?) I called Linda and she looked up reviews on the $20 dollar Mac-compatible keyboard and I bought one.
I am typing this post on it and it is every bit as lovely to use as a stock Mac keyboard. I am geekstatic! Will a single drop of errant liquid kill it? I don’t know, but if it does it will be $20 to replace instead of $50. There’s no way that is not an improvement. So, now that I am home happily typing on my wonderful new keyboard all is right with the world.
The product is the Macally 103 key full-sized keyboard, $19.99 at Fry’s and based on the last 458 words I’d have to give it 5 stars. We’ll see how that rating holds up over time.
Oh excellent- the coffee-maker is done…
