![]() ![]() ![]() I know brown switches are quieter than others (blue being the noisiest), but I actually find the rhythmic clatter quite conducive to keeping up a good translating pace. Fortunately it hasn’t bothered me at all. On the other hand, I was a bit concerned that the clicky keys might invade the peace of my silent home office. What about the noisy reputation that mechanical keyboards have? Well, for a start, many freelance translators work from home and not in an office, so there’s not much of a chance of bothering coworkers (unless you count your cat). I don’t think I’m typing faster now, but I’m definitely typing more lightly. It was actually quite hard not to bottom out the keys on my Filco to begin with, but after a few days I’d learnt to exert just the right pressure. With a mechanical keyboard you can type more lightly. That’s totally different from a membrane keyboard, where you have to press each key right down to the base (bottoming out, as the experts say). They have a bright, crisp feeling, with a slight bump (tactile feedback) to tell you when the keypress has registered just half way through the key travel. The Cherry MX Brown switches are a joy to type on. If you’ve ever tried mechanical switches, you’ll know what I’m talking about. From the very first test run, I was smiling. Mechanical keyboards are completely different. It’s a bit like putting on weight: you don’t notice until you get on the scales one day or try to squeeze into last year’s jeans. It happens gradually so you’re not aware of the change. ![]() Well, a membrane keyboard gets harder to type on as time goes by because the rubber domes under each key get stiffer. Why splash out on a new keyboard if you’re getting on OK with your present one? I wasn’t getting any aches or pains and I could type fairly fast on it (I average about 75 words per minute). I’d spent years typing on a mushy keyboard, not realising how much effort I had to make for each keypress. Remember what it’s like when you buy a new kitchen knife? You suddenly realise how blunt your old knives are. Fascinated to discover what I had been missing all these years, I bought a Filco Majestouch-2. Six months ago, I was asked to give a webinar on typing tips for translators (on touch typing, shortcuts and other time-saving solutions) and I exchanged a few emails on keyboards and layouts with The Keyboard Company experts, who casually mentioned that “mechanicals are like the old car advert… Once driven, forever smitten”. After all, I thought, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I switched happily between a basic external keyboard – the sort that comes bundled with a desktop computer – and my laptop keyboard when I was out and about. As a translator, I spend many hours a day at my computer, yet for years I didn’t give my keyboard a second thought. ![]()
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