# Is this a joke - A blank keyboard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734 "2005-05-27T07:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/21 "2005-05-27T18:43:31Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > And how many keyboards and laptops have you destroyed with cans of Coke over the years? I killed my work keyboard two months ago with an errant splash of milk from my breakfast cereal. Admittedly, it’s the first one I have so destroyed, but it does happen occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/22 "2005-05-27T18:58:12Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > I know people who spent much more for a [Happy Hacking Keyboard](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/pfuca-store/). Wow…$249.00 for a keyboard?! Now THAT has to be a joke?! But regarding Das Keyboard…as others have mentioned, it is a great way to learn to type and increase your speed. Plus I do like the fact that most people will only try to use your computer once - and you don’t have to worry about them coming back and use it when you aren’t there. I will consider it for my next keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/23 "2005-05-27T19:44:16Z")
Can’t wait til they come out with a lightless monitor and cursorless mouse. “You’re so damn smart, you just \*\*know \*\*what’s there.” ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/24 "2005-05-27T20:10:52Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Wow…$249.00 for a keyboard?! Now THAT has to be a joke?! People pay thousands of dollars extra for a car that handles slightly better, and only drive an hour or two a day. What’s so extraordinary about spending $249 for a keyboard that feels better, especially for people who use the keyboard all day for their job? (Although I don’t care much for the HHK - it’s a bit TOO minimalist. Not even function keys or arrow keys.) ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/25 "2005-05-27T20:31:14Z")
🙂 Damn! I want one too. Backlight? Black keyboard! Is it cordless? Sounds good for nightime computerfuckingarounding. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/26 "2005-05-27T20:47:33Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > People pay thousands of dollars extra for a car that handles slightly better, and only drive an hour or two a day. What’s so extraordinary about spending $249 for a keyboard that feels better, especially for people who use the keyboard all day for their job? > > (Although I don’t care much for the HHK - it’s a bit TOO minimalist. Not even function keys or arrow keys.) See, a cording keyboard that _also_ had normal keys on it would be excellent. I’d love to try that one out, I must admit, but there are times when your fingers are not in typing position, and you don’t necessarily want them to be. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/27 "2005-05-27T20:48:51Z")
$79.95 for a $25 keyboard, and some sheep are actually lining up to get it. I’m not sure what’s sadder; that people will throw their money away that quickly, or that some people are so nerdy they actually think they an intimidate normal humans with this thing. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/28 "2005-05-27T21:00:57Z")
I just bought a $14.95 Kensington keyboard (all black) to use with my work laptop at home. It occurs to me that if I went after it with some nail polish remover, I could have something very similar to Das Keyboard for a fraction of the price. Okay, it wouldn’t have cool backlighting or weighted keys, but hey, it’d be $14.95 instead of $80. And it’s a pretty nice keyboard, ergonomically-speaking, too. Maybe I should do it…I haven’t had to look at my keys in years… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/29 "2005-05-27T21:24:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > $79.95 for a $25 keyboard, and some sheep are actually lining up to get it. What’s the basis of your assertion that it’s a “$25 keyboard”? The blank keytops don’t cost any extra money, but high-quality keyboards can easily cost over $80, as I’ve shown. And the “individually weighted keys” sounds like it may be a genuinely useful feature (i.e. measurably faster, or noticeably more comfortable). ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/30 "2005-05-27T21:28:39Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Why wouldn’t you spend $80 on a piece of equipment you interact with directly for \>8 hours a day? Actually $80 seems pretty cheap for a fancy geek keyboard. I’ve spent that much for an IBM keyboard with TrackPoint. I know people who spent much more for a [Happy Hacking Keyboard](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/pfuca-store/). The Happy Hackers have a [blank keyboard](http://store.yahoo.com/pfuca-store/hhkbblank.html), too. Less keys for an even higher price! I might just get one. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/31 "2005-05-27T21:47:15Z")
From all the reviews I’ve read, Das Keyboard is genuinely a good keyboard. Probably not $80 good but around the $50 mark, certainly better than your generic $5 keyboards. And they do sell custom keycaps you can stick onto it if you feel like having a properly labeled dvorak keyboard or a gaming keyboard or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/32 "2005-05-28T00:44:36Z")
Back in 1984, IBM made the [Model M keyboard](http://www.clickykeyboard.com/buyersguide.htm) that had removable key caps, so a keyboard with no markings on the keys isn’t anything new. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/33 "2005-05-28T03:46:38Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > It’s the cool way the black light appears on the black keyboard to let you know you’ve pressed the black Caps Lock key that’s labelled in black lettering. Look out! Your chair is evolving into the Hagunenon Fleet Capt! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/34 "2005-05-28T04:15:37Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > I just bought a $14.95 Kensington keyboard (all black) to use with my work laptop at home. It occurs to me that if I went after it with some nail polish remover, I could have something very similar to Das Keyboard for a fraction of the price. Okay, it wouldn’t have cool backlighting or weighted keys, but hey, it’d be $14.95 instead of $80. And it’s a pretty nice keyboard, ergonomically-speaking, too. > > Maybe I should do it…I haven’t had to look at my keys in years… Or you could just wait for Time to take its toll on the letters. I’ve worn the markings off a few of the keys on my keyboard. A, S, E, and L, in case you’re wondering. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/35 "2005-05-28T07:19:02Z")
When I learned touch typing, I was forced to cover my hands with a light piece of cloth. Worked like a charm, and probably only cost about $0.20. Plus, after you learned the layout, sometimes its nice to have the keys marked, especially for hotkeys and such. Sometimes the low-tech solutions work best. I, too, like a poster mentioned above, use the Dvorak layout and have a problem hitting hotkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/36 "2005-05-28T07:56:52Z")
I don’t touch-type in the traditional sense; I also don’t look at the keyboard very often, either. I go about 45 wpm or faster (depending on how much caffeine I’ve had and what I’m doing) and for my purposes that’s enough. (I’m a command-line geek and general-purpose \*nix hacker, not a data-entry guy or a stenographer.) What I’d really want is a keyboard with lots of keys and programmable bindings. I can rebind keys at the OS level but it would be nice if the keyboard was capable of meeting me halfway, and an Emacs geek can _never_ have enough bucky bits to play with. Having Control, Alt, Meta, Hyper, Super, and Front with F1-F20 sounds about right. 😉 Is anyone making keyboards like that for PCs these days? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/37 "2005-05-28T08:02:47Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I want one. Then I can put my own damn letters on it. Canadian Multilingual/Esperanto keyboard, here we come! 😉 I think that is why the keys are blank. So you can stick your own letters on. I work with Koreans and they buy stickers with Korean characters to stick on English language keyboards. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/38 "2005-05-28T08:51:40Z")
I didn’t notice anyone point out that Das Keyboard has keypress force thresholds that vary across the keyboard. (It takes less force to depress a pinky key like “[” than a thumb key like \.) I think this feature is a large part of the keyboard’s pricetag. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/39 "2005-05-28T19:19:13Z")
> [@Pasta](#): > > I didn’t notice anyone point out that Das Keyboard has keypress force thresholds that vary across the keyboard. You didn’t read the thread then. Lots of people pointed it out. In case anyone is still wondering, Slashdot carried this story a few days ago, so it is real. The geeks over there that no doubt rushed out to buy one would be quite up in arms if it turned out to be a hoax. Also, I’ve never really given it much thought, but in typing this post I’ve noticed that I don’t look at the keys when I type. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734/40 "2005-05-28T20:11:45Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > Or you could just wait for Time to take its toll on the letters. I’ve worn the markings off a few of the keys on my keyboard. A, S, E, and L, in case you’re wondering. Huh. I would have thought the letters "B, A, N, E, and D would have worn away faster… 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-joke-a-blank-keyboard/305734.md?page=3)