Stockpile

I've been on something of a typing spree today. Not only have I written two entries for this blog today (one very short, mind), but I've written an entry over on my WordPress site. It's been some time since I sat down at my Mac and belted out a few paragraphs on my Logitech G413 Carbon. It's still one of the best mechanical keyboards I've ever used. After dealing with replacing a keyboard for my roommate's PC, I debated getting a backup just in case anything happened to this one, but it's temporarily sold out at Logitech's website. I've even put my name in to be notified once it comes back. 

It's not even Logitech's most premium keyboard. Rather, it's probably the cheapest mechanical keyboard you can get that's worth a damn. There's plenty of others, but they're either double the price of the G413, or they're from small brands of, shall we say, a suspicious nature. There also seems to be this move away from having the number pad, which I like having for when I use SketchUp. 

I could probably do a lot better. In fact, if and when the time comes, I've got a few alternatives picked out should the Carbon not come back in time. One of them is from 8BitDo, who make lovely game controllers for the Nintendo Switch and other platforms. Likewise, its color scheme is based on the original NES console (both the US and Japanese versions). The switches for its keys are notably different than those in the Carbon. They're far less clicky, but just as responsive. 

With a typical membrane keyboard that most of you are probably used to, you have to push the keys all the way down before the letters appear on the page. With a mechanical keyboard, you don't have to do that. It's difficult to explain the sensation. The way I like to think of it is that the keyboard better reflects your mood. I can go fairly quiet on this keyboard, but if things start getting intense and I get into a fast groove, it can fill the whole house with a satisfying cacophony of clicks. I say "quiet" but the G413 Carbon is one of the louder mechanical keyboards out there even at my most delicate. I suppose it's still quieter than an electric typewriter of old, but that's a low bar to clear.

My mouse situation is a little more well-prepped. I have a Steelseries Sensei 310, one of the best truly ambidextrous mice I've ever used. In fact, it's so good that Steelseries discontinued it and its closest cousin is currently sold out. On the little shelf below my keyboard is a Corsair M55 which is something of a backup, though I'm more likely to bring my Razer Viper home from work. There, it's a backup to my Razer Naga (left-handed version). Then again, I'm more likely to just get another one of those in a few weeks in case they get discontinued out of nowhere for a second time. There's really no comparing all the keypad shortcuts on a Naga with only two buttons on my other mice, at least when it comes to my workflow in SketchUp. My vector art doesn't rely on so many keyboard shortcuts, not to where I'd like them mapped to my left thumb, anyway.

In the documentary Dreams with Sharp Teeth, writer Harlan Ellison shared his stockpile of Olympia manual typewriters with his friend, Robin Williams. Williams laughed at the sheer number of them while Ellison explained he also had a refrigerator full of ink ribbons. 

Conservative writer and intellectual William F. Buckley, Jr. was such an avid fan of the 1978 word processing program WordStar that he used it up until his death in 2008, working through the hurdles of getting it to run on newer platforms. He said of his dedication, "I'm told there are better programs, but I'm also told there are better alphabets."

These are things I think about when I sit down at my Mac mini and write away a few hours on occasion.