[Maxburn]

I guess if you value your time far less than money you can save a couple bucks on cheap keyboards? I guess they now have a cherry brown based keyboard and can experience the different between that and awful membrane boards. Personally I think a little extra money is worth it for a keyboard that lasts years instead of dumping a membrane board in the landfill like OP apparently does.

[antiterra]

OP got the membrane board from a dumpster, it was already headed for the landfill. Not sure how that deserves any shame?

[Maxburn]

It's not shame, but IMO if you value your time very little than sure dumpster diving can pay off.

[BoorishBears]

If you know how to value time you don't say stuff like this: the point of time is to live life meaningfully by your own standards (which may or may not align with society's standard)

Our brains all generate relatively the same amount of happy/sad chemicals, so it turns out the satisfaction of winning a nobel peace prize and the satisfaction this person feels fixing their dumpster dived keyboard can only be so different in magnitude.

It's not like doing universally meaningful things unlocks some kind of super-happiness, so there's no reason to shy away from "unmeaningful" things if they bring you joy.

[tom_]

I assumed the point was that your comment "dumping a membrane board in the landfill like OP apparently does" was a misrepresentation, as the author was doing the exact opposite of dumping the keyboard in the landfill!

Whether this represents a good or bad use of one's time, who can say. Some things, people do because they enjoy them, even if the activity doesn't make complete economic sense.

[Maxburn]

OK, you are right. I was focused in on "that’s a decade of $20 keyboards lasting a year each." BUT they didn't actually do that, which is good.

[alyandon]

I've been moderately happy with Tecware Phantom series keyboards. Per-key RGB, socketed switches, etc for $40-$50 USD.

I'll never go back to membrane keyboards.

[Maxburn]

They are totally worth it. The cost is almost secondary to me, it's an excellent typing experience and it reduces reparative stress injury.

I have a rosewill that is made from cherry brown switches and apparently the minimum electronics to make it work reliably unlike the low end one OP wound up with. Probably cost me $80 six years ago but it works the same as it was new, and I expect to get a decade out of it no problem.