About two years ago, I was searching for a new keyboard. I didn't know much about keyboards back then and was exclusively using those made by Apple. I even used them on my Windows machine at work (with a few tweaks and hacks to get the macOS shortcuts working). They felt great, they were quiet, and I enjoyed typing on them. Although typing meant using my two index fingers, with the occasional glance at the keyboard. Not very fast or efficient, but most people type that way, I guess.
While searching, two separate thoughts crossed my mind, reshaping how I viewed keyboards. First, I decided that I wanted to regain the ability to type with all ten fingers – something I had learned as a child on a typewriter but had since forgotten. Second, I suddenly felt the urge to learn a programming language, preferably something not too complex, like Python.
So I did a little research, and it didn't take long until I stumbled into the world of mechanical keyboards. And boy, oh boy, was I instantly hooked. Until that moment, I wasn't aware that this was still a thing. Of course, growing up, my first keyboards were all mechanical, but they were loud and clicky and eventually got replaced by cheap rubber dome keyboards. But as I stepped deeper into this rabbit hole, I quickly realised that they were very much alive and came in all kinds of sizes and forms.
This was it. This was what I needed: a mechanical keyboard.
Two reasons brought me to that conclusion. The first reason was the feel, the haptic feedback, and the sound of a mechanical keyboard. Oh, especially the sound. The more videos I watched (and I watched for hours; you'd be surprised how many videos exist of people just typing in front of a microphone), the more I fell in love with this deep, kind of soft sound of some of these keyboards (I later learned that this sound is called thocky). I wanted that. Like, really wanted that. Suddenly, my Apple keyboard felt dull and boring to me.
There are a few different sound profiles that members of the keyboard community try to achieve. They largely depend on the size and material of the keycaps, the choice of switches, and the materials of some of the keyboard's parts as well. Besides the mentioned thocky sound profile (my favourite), there are also profiles that are described as creamy, marbly, or clacky. And of course, almost no sound, if you prefer a more silent keyboard.
The second reason was that I was solely used to a German keyboard layout. I was aware that other layouts existed, but that was about it. In my research about how to best learn Python, though, I quickly found out that the German layout might not be the best for programming because characters like ;, [, {, }, and ] were harder to type; whereas on a US layout keyboard, those characters were easy to reach with the right pinky. And what do you know, there are a lot more options for mechanical keyboards (and keycaps) on the market for the US layout than there are for the German layout.
So I ordered a mechanical keyboard. My choice fell on a budget-friendly product from Keychron (the Q1 Pro, which was just released at the time). After a few modifications to improve the sound and some trial and error with the choice of keycaps and switches, I now have a keyboard that feels and sounds amazing. And my research was right. It took me only a few weeks to get accustomed to the new layout and at the same time learn to type blind with all ten fingers, not the least because of how easy it was to type on the Q1 and how much joy it gave me. And still does.
I'm actually not using the US layout but rather the EurKey layout, which is very similar but allows me to use the German umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the ß without too much trouble.
Every morning when I sit down in front of my computer and my fingers touch my keyboard for the first time to enter my login credentials, in this moment I feel pure happiness and joy. This might sound cheesy or weird, but sometimes something as simple as that can make your day. I can only recommend trying it out for yourself and getting a mechanical keyboard. They come in many different sizes, the most popular (besides full-size) being 80% or TKL (without the numpad), 75% (without the numpad and with less navigation keys) and 65% (no numpad, sometimes even less navigation keys and no F-keys), and in many different profiles, from high and sculpted keycaps like the SA profile to really low-profile keycaps that still have mechanical switches underneath. And of course, there is a really wide price range, from cheap plastic keyboards to expensive CNC-machined full metal keyboards with lots of options. There's a keyboard for everyone, even ergonomic versions for those who suffer from chronic pain in their hands, arms, or shoulders. The sky is the limit.