[bensherman]

I have one, and I love it. It's loud, feels great and the dipswitch settings on it make me not have to worry about any software to make it work exactly as I like.

The backlighting on it is also perfect.

I don't DVORAK, but the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so inclined.

Buy one.

[cbd1984]

> the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so inclined.

You know what would be nice? If the keyboard had enough intelligence to read the keycaps and modify which codes it sent based on which keycaps are attached to which switches.

OS key remapping tends to vary from 'xmodmap' to 'worse than xmodmap', in my experience. It would be nice if the stupidly obvious thing worked for once.

[detaro]

Normally keys are scanned group-by-group digitally, but Cherry recently came out with a keyboard that uses analogue readout of the key matrix. They now put different resistors at each switch and measure the voltage (so they save delays introduced by the scanning and can sell it as "super fast" to gamers …)

If they put the resistors in the keycaps and managed to get stable contacts to the switches below working, one might be able to get a feature like that in hardware.

But allowing to reprogram the keys in the keyboard controller probably is easier. Longer initial setup time, but how often do people change their keyboard layouts?!

[cbd1984]

> Normally keys are scanned group-by-group digitally, but Cherry recently came out with a keyboard that uses analogue readout of the key matrix. They now put different resistors at each switch and measure the voltage (so they save delays introduced by the scanning and can sell it as "super fast" to gamers …)

Interesting to imagine most keyboards are that primitive.

It's also interesting to see gamers continuing to push technology forwards.

> But allowing to reprogram the keys in the keyboard controller probably is easier. Longer initial setup time, but how often do people change their keyboard layouts?!

It's worth it if the setup is obnoxious enough, and, well, this is something which should be possible, and it's annoying that it hasn't been done yet.

[indrax]

There needs to be a utility that will set the keymap for you, given a photo of your keyboard.

[detaro]

That's actually a really clever idea. Secondary levels take manual work of course, but the basic principle should be viable, especially if you have a "default" layout photo to compare.

[unfamiliar]

Saying the software is so bad you wish it was done in hardware seems like a step backwards to me. Surely a simpler answer is to write a nice xmodmap GUI.

[cbd1984]

In this case, I honestly think the hardware solution is the better UI.

A very naïve person would expect that changing where the keycaps are would change which switch corresponds to which keycode. Only they'd think of it more like "Hey, the key I want to press is over there, but if I swap things around a bit, I can put it in this more convenient location over here." This isn't stupidity, it's merely expecting the world to be more obvious in its workings than it actually is.

Obviousness is a good UI heuristic. It isn't everything, and it can lead you down some dumb blind alleys, but in this case I can't think of any non-technical reason it shouldn't be made to work.

[unfamiliar]

>A very naïve person would expect that changing where the keycaps are would change which switch corresponds to which keycode.

I don't agree with this. Nobody would expect that rearranging the buttons on their car dashboard would change the original functionality. Same for buttons in a lift, coffee machine, anything you care to name. People are very familiar with the idea that the switch is just a sticker on an underlying mechanism. They don't think the letters inscribed on the plastic magically embody some functionality. So I think your whole premise is wrong.

[adrusi]

Keycaps are somewhat standardized, so unfortunately that would make the keyboard incompatible with third party keycaps.

[cbd1984]

That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

[aesthetics1]

>> I don't DVORAK, but the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so inclined.

Unfortunately you cannot swap the keys that sit in different rows. You couldn't swap a "Q" and an "A" for example - they have different profiles. See here for more information (picture on the right if you just want a quick visual):

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Keyboard_profile

[lmz]

Don't the keys have different shapes for each row?

[thatswrong0]

I use an alternative layout and I never switched my keys around. You should never be looking at the keyboard while you type, even while learning a new layout.