I love how each additional link just descends more and more into trolling him with increasingly ridiculous keyboards. That grid layout keyboard at the end killed me. By the time you get to the bottom row every key is shifted 1 entire key further left than where it should be.
@@nonamenolastname8501 Not saying its "THE BEST" but better than the other ones or at least the one I'm more likely to use. For reference, my daily driver is a tented split ortholinear Colemak keyboard with a thumb cluster.
I love how he conflates his opinion with general sentiment of all users... he is a smart guy but keyboards are super personal so there will never be a one size fits all..
The state of computer tech is abyssmal. He is right. I bought a laptop that, for some reason, as an extremely large '*' key that eats up on the Enter key. It also has no function key (so you cannot right click via keyboard which is extremely convenient), is completely flat (so it's harder to type without looking) and also has no carret keys (ever heard of programming?). But wow it has cool red backlight!!! Just insane design decisions all over the place. Everything is like this now.
I have bought so many expensive yet flawed keyboards over the years in hopes of finding the best typing feel, or the most game-enhancing feel. Every one seems to be missing something or needs additional money to get it to look and sound right, but it never does... Eventually, I threw my hands up at the hopelessness of it all and bought a $20 membrane keyboard with white and grey keys. It looks like it's from 1998 and reminds me of my first computer from that era, and I am a happy guy.
I'm in the same boat. I bought the Logitech K120 about a decade ago because it was the one we used at work and I wanted to get the same feel at home. I've since spent a couple hundred euros on other keyboards - ergonomic, split, mechanical switches, an apple keyboard. But my daily driver remains the K120, which is a bog-standard membrane keyboard without any switches. And when it dies, I'll buy the next membrane keyboard for ~20 bucks and used that until it dies, because the familiarity is priceless and I type error free and at a decent speed. There's no rational argument for me to spend more. Keyboards are the running shoes of the programmers - you spend a lot on them, but in the end, if you're comfy with your current one and it doesn give you RSI, just stay with it. I can recommend getting an ergonomic mouse, though. That is definitely much more comfortable.
Jon needs the Hot-Wheels™ racer keyboard with a built-in air bag and drag shoots for when he gets into the flow state and starts power typing away at the game industry. I don't understand how he gets away with it... but he does regardless, so a keyboard to keep him "in-check" is a good contingency in case things go bad. But if he gets the keyboard that comes with Visual Studio support I guess that's fine too, as long as he's delivering value to the people and smashing those puzzles the C++ committee will be happy.
The fundamental issue is that you need a way to sort by layout before caring about anything else. You would think that would be the first feature implemented on a website for keyboard nerds.
I like that Mr Blow is a man of culture who has his taskbar on the side and slightly wider so that the day of the week is visible. I recommend this configuration every chance I get. Mine is on the left though
Though for maximum efficiency, you should find the right width where 1px less and it no longer shows the extra info lol Bothers me a bit when it's too wide.
Hilarious. This is exactly the feeling I had/have looking into the gatekeeping that is keyboard culture. I got lucky to have a friend to try switches on his keyboard so I picked out my favorite and resoldered the switches on my kb I already like for just $25 and called it a day.
I use a black Cherry with flat keys, no shiny colors, and it's just 10 bucks. I bought at least 5 of them over the span of a decade. Yeah, they do not last very long... most often the space key starts to get stuck, or won't work properly any more... but I use them extensively to be fair.
Lmao, same. Tried a few that were on display in a tech shop, the one I picked felt better than any other keyboard there. Linear optical switches for ~30$. A couple days ago E key stopped responding to keypresses. After almost 3 years. Unfortunately it's not a hot-swap keyboard so I'll have to use soldering iron to swap E and PB key for now. (i'm obviously typing this from an older keyboard that i have as backup :) )
@@zhulikkulik sometimes just blowing air into the switch can make it work again if it got dust on the wrong spot that made it not register. It won't help if the switch itself just broke ofc
@@Vitis-n2v nah, i tried evertything. I think i accidentally got water inside because I was washing caps and I guess I didn't fully blow water out of +shaped slots.
As someone who actually bought the Ducky one 3 TKL white with MX Brown switches. I love the macro capability being fully built into the keyboard(therefore it works with any OS) so you don't need any software to adjust RGB or macros. The media keys you have to program via macros since they're not setup by default on the TKL or smaller but you CAN add them. In that sense the keyboard is really great but he's right about modern keyboards being just a total clusterfuck xDDD
I switched to a split keyboard with layers (Dygma Defy) and love it. The ‘has no key’ complaint is so weird to me. I still have all the keys I want mapped where I want them (navigation, numpad, f-keys, delete), got rid of wrist pain and gained a lot of desk space.
fantastic; spend 100-200 on a keyboard, then spend 2 hours fucking with it, just so you can do acrobatics to type function keys. Because IDE shortcuts weren't complicated enough already. Oh but you gained desk space you say. Do you work in a fucking submarine?
The best part about 4:26 -- aside from hearing JB's indignant "what?!" just before the keyboard pops up -- is that the voyager couldn't even fit the box teal switches he was looking to try, since it's a low profile board that uses chocs. Pure troll suggestion.
When it comes to reviewers and what people say about a device, I take a good long look at what I could tell it would do for me. For stuff like keyboards, I really don't need anything that goes beyond ordinary. I just need it to work. Somehow a logitech K120 has lasted me 8 years and it still has no issues taking all of my keypresses. While that's good for me, it might not be so great to someone else. I take harsh looks at people who are just paid to promote some product.
I went on AliExpress and bought every oddball keyboard combo, and got a 60% kb with the lame Fn-W to toggle WASD nag/no function keys + a totally retro IBM looking 33-key, glued them all together on a piece of wood, and remapped each key as I want and got my ideal keyboard now. Function keys are a separate single row at top, with keys to spare for copy/paste, another set on left of main keyboard like the old Omnikey Ultras.
Careful though! They click on the press _and_ return, he might arbitrarily hate that 😂 That being said, box whites are awesome. I also like Kailh Speed Bronze switches for faster/lighter actuation if you're into that. Only problem is they can be actuated without a click, which is not great. Nothing wrong with a blue though. I've designed and built my own custom keyboard PCB and firmware, but if I were tasked with giving this man a keyboard, I would just get him another TKL with MX Blues because he clearly likes it.
@@brianschwind6530 I don't really care about the sound at all, in fact I'm annoyed by noisy keys and always wear over-ear phones. :) I just like the way clicky switches feel, the sharp snappy actuation or something.
Although if you type for a living, if it's too sharp/stiff it probably brings on carpal tunnel faster.. the less pressure needed the better :-) @@c0xb0x
I felt this video so hard. I ended up picking the Das 4Q and while it's not ideal it at least overcomes the issues Jonathan mentions in this video. But the bar is low
I have the same exact problem with keyboards in my native country of pooland where no one seems to be selling keyboards with blue switches and all there is available are brows and reds. I am also a fan of the numpad and use it extensively when it comes to typing in numbers and finding a keyboard with blue switches AND with a full set of keys is borderline impossible. I hope to god that my current keyboard that fits all these criteria that i bought like 7 years ago will live on forever.
@@Sammysapphira the most popular argument I hear from people who don't like them is that they are very loud. I always thought that this is the entire point, that mechanical keyboards are loud and have a satisfying snap. But it seems to me that most people want a mechanical keyboard that feels like a regular one.
What's worse is I agree with him on most of those points. When my wife wanted a nice keyboard we had to import a ducky one from Asia (not sold where we live) as it was the only one with what she wanted. I just relegated myself to not having what I want until I can build my own keyboard or something.
Perfect example of why you have to know someone's needs before being able to make a good recommendation. Dude who recommended Kailh Box Whites did him dirty, not because the switches would be a bad match, but because you can't really just buy a basic pre-built keyboard with them. Meanwhile there are many quality non-backlit TKLs with MX Blues.
sometimes I forget jonathan blow is an actual real human being, and not a nebulous concept ...but then, every once in a while, I get recommended random clips of his stream on youtube and I remember ... he's just like us
The problem with keyboards is that they are intrinsically personal. There's a reason there are so many keyboards now and 90% of them are trash for most people. I have the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard v2 and it's the best keyboard I've ever owned and used. However, that's because of my preferences that it does so well. I only require a 60% because everything else I need is already on the keyboard for most applications. It's only the weird ones that would need a numpad (Blender, hammer). But, I can just get a separate numpad and bring that in whenever I need it. Something like the Das Keyboard would be enough for most people that just want a standard keyboard layout but still want a nice quality keyboard. There's been a weird trend of 60% keyboards the past couple of years and it's super weird. Especially because all these manufacturers keep trying to market them as ~~gAmInG~~ keyboards when that makes no sense. For gaming, you would want arrow keys, function keys, and maybe even a numpad. I don't even want to get into laptop keyboards either. That cesspool is a whole other topic. I agree with Johnathan for most of these takes, but I also want to say that in my experience, you cannot truly know what keyboard is best for you without trying them, even the weird ones.
who uses arrows for gaming anymore? i haven't touched arrows for years. i don't even use them for editing anymore since i customize editors to use emacs bindings.
@@androth1502 lots of 2d games have some defaults to arrow keys. I've definitely played some other smaller games that utilized them. I think gta5 uses them too.
Keyboards are one of those things that you just have to try out in person in some tech store. You can't buy shoes, musical instruments and keyboards with only a heavily edited photo of it.
@@publicalias8172 nah. I can't. I need to feel it. Whatever it says - until I press some buttons and type some words - I can't tell if it's the right thing for me.
Yeah.. it turns out when you play games with friends they'll make a point to mock every click clack your mic picks up lmao. I now prefer softer strokes anyway as the reason you pointed out.
I barely know anything about keyboards and their customization options, but I've got a Keychron K8 with brown switches. I quite like it, sounds fine and types quite nicely. It's a decent keyboard, at least for those who know nothing about them
I share the hatred of keyboards without function keys. My work issued me a dell that hides the function keys behind the fn. Normally, I'd just turn fn-lock on. However, the function keys share the same keys with the home and end keys which I also use. So I have to use key combinations to do anything. Also the down arrow key is tiny when there is plenty of room to make it full-sized. Everyone is copying Apple on getting rid of keys until the keyboard is perfectly rectangular. Well maybe it would look prettier if you got rid of all the keys!
i 100% agree with him , i went the keyboard rabbit hole , my keyboard needs , del , print screen , ~ , a volume nob , arrows . i have a 65% LK67 , browns , spring modified to 68g , next one will be a full keyboard with num pad cause of blender shortcuts , from Ajazz , with browns that i ll modifie with 78g springs
I thought I finally found a JB take I agree with until he said "blue is the only acceptable keyboard switch". They call em browns because they feel like browning your pants when you gamble on a fart and lose.
The solution is simple: buy every keyboard in existence with every possible option of switches and somewhere in that pile of keyboards will be the right one. Or you can do what I do and just buy one knowing it's not really the right one and never will be.
I don't know why he hates cherry browns, heavier switches are great if all you do is write stuff all day. I have cherry black switches on my keyboards and I program as much as he does, but I guess it's a less common switch since I never see keyboards with black switches in stores. Cherry blues seem like a weird choice to me for someone who doesn't game since the entire point of their clickyness is gaming-related. Maybe he just doesn't know what he's talking about (again)
He should be serious enough to consider a custom board. A Corne or Sofle. Row stagger is for plebs. Edit: programmers have the escape key bound to capslock. Also just learn vim.
Get a WASD CODE 3, it's just a bog standard 1990s style unmoddable keyboard with whatever mechanical switch you want and there's numpadless versions if that's your thing.
Very interesting -I wonder what you guys use function keys for? I mean I understand the numpad people which is fine, but what the function key people do it with? I barely never use it (maybe because I am mostly on linux?)
designing and manufacturing a custom keyboard is not that expensive. he can have exactly what he wants, that'll last for years, if he just spends a few hundred. seems worth it given his very high standards and specific interests
I use the Microsoft ergonomic Desktop keyboard. I have a lot of criticism about it, like the huge gap in the middle, it being a bit too big for my hands (usually I have the opposite problem), the media keys not being distinct by touch (the old one had them very distinct so I didn't have to look when using them), no gap between function keys etc., but given everything else it's the best compromise I could find. Sad, really. Why is there no keyboard that is really actually good?
I think you'd like the Freebird TKL jon xD what I got with Boba U4T switches it's amazing, only issue is I don't have the numpad but don't really use it anyway at this point
I have some random chinese knockoff keyboard bought for like $20 almost a decade ago. I don't know if I should buy a new one or live oblivious to having problems like these. It works and does the job I guess?
Kids today have gone overboard with keyboards. I use a 24 year old Compaq membrane keyboard... coding, gaming, never fails. This is one of those things where people do more work getting ready to work than just actually working. 100% confirmed by hours of actual work relative to achievements.
I find it funny because it's true. No one actually makes a great keyboard that is the right layout with the right switches and the right colour with the right legend. Like damn. You literally have to build your own to get anything good and I really CBA.
@@Thezftw That is true, you have to build it. But that can land you something perfect. It's not hard. Hard part is choosing from 10,000 different switches.
Still using old IBM P/S2 keyboard as.. it has in theory shorter run to interrupter.. no i am kidding its glorious design and i dont need more. I saved this when i was in school from school trash bin lol.
I use the cheapo £20 keyboard I got from the local PC shop. I've tried pricey keyboards and I don't think they are worth the extra money. The best laptop keyboard I've use is some old Dell E series. Really nice keyboard super easy to type on.
keychron V1max for wired or Q1 max for wireless. nice keyboards 75% with knob and nice placement of delete key above backspace. their new lemokey l3 custom looks pretty good too. knob on the left, a little bit bigger but has 4 customizable macro keys. only problem with them is they use archaic switches i've never heard of. wtf is gateron jupiter banana? really? lol.
Can't wait for JB to manufacture his own keyboards, specifically designed for game development.
it will be out for beta testing in 2043
Including a Activision/EA Version which only contains "control", "C" and "V".
That will probably only happen after JB will manufacture an OS and then a PC.
If you want to succeed in the gaming industry
Old man yells at keyboards
He's such a grumpy sod and I love him.
Very relatable. F-keys not being grouped by 4 with proper spacing would make me ragequit so hard with Alt+F5
I love how each additional link just descends more and more into trolling him with increasingly ridiculous keyboards.
That grid layout keyboard at the end killed me. By the time you get to the bottom row every key is shifted 1 entire key further left than where it should be.
Grid keyboard are great
i'd have linked the dactyl manuform
i think i would be okay with it if they kept the arrow keys, ctrl, shift and such intact
I want to give Jonathan a hug and buy him a nice keyboard for Christmas.
Are you sure you'd find a keyboard he'd enjoy? xD
@@jessevos3986 Just choose the most generic one without numpad. JB is not picky, at all.
"Ideas about new keyboard material science for making games"
He needs a hug
i love his reaction to the art major keyboard, that thing broke his brain
It was low key the best keyboard on the list too.
Yeah as someone who's infant sized hands were fused together at birth this keyboard is perfect tbh.@@willmedrano98
@@nonamenolastname8501 Not saying its "THE BEST" but better than the other ones or at least the one I'm more likely to use. For reference, my daily driver is a tented split ortholinear Colemak keyboard with a thumb cluster.
Note: I don't recommend anyone good with QWERTY switch over to Colemak. Too much work, some drawbacks and not enough benefits lol
"PBT ... is that gonna poison me?"
this man is fucking hilarious
I love how he conflates his opinion with general sentiment of all users... he is a smart guy but keyboards are super personal so there will never be a one size fits all..
Yes, although it's fair to say some keyboards are by definition Shit, and others are more universally praised.@@l_combo
The state of computer tech is abyssmal. He is right.
I bought a laptop that, for some reason, as an extremely large '*' key that eats up on the Enter key. It also has no function key (so you cannot right click via keyboard which is extremely convenient), is completely flat (so it's harder to type without looking) and also has no carret keys (ever heard of programming?). But wow it has cool red backlight!!! Just insane design decisions all over the place. Everything is like this now.
Microsoft is replacing the function key with the AI assistant hotkey... sad
@baglayan no, they aren't
"I don't know what PBT is, is that going to poison me?"
I realized it might not be a joke.
He's probably half-jokingly confusing this with PFAS ("forever chemicals").
I was wheezing through the whole video, you're doing god's work
I have bought so many expensive yet flawed keyboards over the years in hopes of finding the best typing feel, or the most game-enhancing feel. Every one seems to be missing something or needs additional money to get it to look and sound right, but it never does... Eventually, I threw my hands up at the hopelessness of it all and bought a $20 membrane keyboard with white and grey keys. It looks like it's from 1998 and reminds me of my first computer from that era, and I am a happy guy.
link please
I'm in the same boat. I bought the Logitech K120 about a decade ago because it was the one we used at work and I wanted to get the same feel at home. I've since spent a couple hundred euros on other keyboards - ergonomic, split, mechanical switches, an apple keyboard. But my daily driver remains the K120, which is a bog-standard membrane keyboard without any switches.
And when it dies, I'll buy the next membrane keyboard for ~20 bucks and used that until it dies, because the familiarity is priceless and I type error free and at a decent speed. There's no rational argument for me to spend more.
Keyboards are the running shoes of the programmers - you spend a lot on them, but in the end, if you're comfy with your current one and it doesn give you RSI, just stay with it.
I can recommend getting an ergonomic mouse, though. That is definitely much more comfortable.
Steelseries Merc Stealth ❤
Of course he likes clicky switches. Even his keyboard has to be annoying
there is no escape from the ultimate hacker keyboard
5:34 LMFAO thanks to whoever sent that link
Jon needs the Hot-Wheels™ racer keyboard with a built-in air bag and drag shoots for when he gets into the flow state and starts power typing away at the game industry. I don't understand how he gets away with it... but he does regardless, so a keyboard to keep him "in-check" is a good contingency in case things go bad. But if he gets the keyboard that comes with Visual Studio support I guess that's fine too, as long as he's delivering value to the people and smashing those puzzles the C++ committee will be happy.
he said he can do without the numpad and didn't like the special keys on the left on that cyberpunk looking keyboard, so I doubt he cares for features
“Who is making these?!!” 😂
Chatgpt
The fundamental issue is that you need a way to sort by layout before caring about anything else. You would think that would be the first feature implemented on a website for keyboard nerds.
tenkeyless(TKL) is the layout he wants (basically like a full keyboard but without numpad), usually you can look for that.
I like that Mr Blow is a man of culture who has his taskbar on the side and slightly wider so that the day of the week is visible. I recommend this configuration every chance I get. Mine is on the left though
Though for maximum efficiency, you should find the right width where 1px less and it no longer shows the extra info lol
Bothers me a bit when it's too wide.
Hilarious. This is exactly the feeling I had/have looking into the gatekeeping that is keyboard culture.
I got lucky to have a friend to try switches on his keyboard so I picked out my favorite and resoldered the switches on my kb I already like for just $25 and called it a day.
Wonder if I could solder red or blue Cherry MX to my Ducky Shine 4 that now has clear switches? Are they compatible? I know I can solder.
I use a black Cherry with flat keys, no shiny colors, and it's just 10 bucks. I bought at least 5 of them over the span of a decade. Yeah, they do not last very long... most often the space key starts to get stuck, or won't work properly any more... but I use them extensively to be fair.
The best mechanical keyboard I ever had was some 20$ chinese bootleg one. I just bought the cheapest in the shop lmao
Lmao, same. Tried a few that were on display in a tech shop, the one I picked felt better than any other keyboard there. Linear optical switches for ~30$.
A couple days ago E key stopped responding to keypresses. After almost 3 years.
Unfortunately it's not a hot-swap keyboard so I'll have to use soldering iron to swap E and PB key for now. (i'm obviously typing this from an older keyboard that i have as backup :) )
@@zhulikkulik sometimes just blowing air into the switch can make it work again if it got dust on the wrong spot that made it not register. It won't help if the switch itself just broke ofc
@@Vitis-n2v nah, i tried evertything. I think i accidentally got water inside because I was washing caps and I guess I didn't fully blow water out of +shaped slots.
Having used a Das Keyboard at work, This thing is built like a tank. Dont choose the blank version obviously but they have a lot of options.
As someone who actually bought the Ducky one 3 TKL white with MX Brown switches. I love the macro capability being fully built into the keyboard(therefore it works with any OS) so you don't need any software to adjust RGB or macros. The media keys you have to program via macros since they're not setup by default on the TKL or smaller but you CAN add them. In that sense the keyboard is really great but he's right about modern keyboards being just a total clusterfuck xDDD
To be fair people were recommending some bad keyboards to troll there are some really good ones that should have been mentioned.
I switched to a split keyboard with layers (Dygma Defy) and love it. The ‘has no key’ complaint is so weird to me. I still have all the keys I want mapped where I want them (navigation, numpad, f-keys, delete), got rid of wrist pain and gained a lot of desk space.
fantastic; spend 100-200 on a keyboard, then spend 2 hours fucking with it, just so you can do acrobatics to type function keys. Because IDE shortcuts weren't complicated enough already. Oh but you gained desk space you say. Do you work in a fucking submarine?
The best part about 4:26 -- aside from hearing JB's indignant "what?!" just before the keyboard pops up -- is that the voyager couldn't even fit the box teal switches he was looking to try, since it's a low profile board that uses chocs. Pure troll suggestion.
When it comes to reviewers and what people say about a device, I take a good long look at what I could tell it would do for me. For stuff like keyboards, I really don't need anything that goes beyond ordinary. I just need it to work. Somehow a logitech K120 has lasted me 8 years and it still has no issues taking all of my keypresses. While that's good for me, it might not be so great to someone else. I take harsh looks at people who are just paid to promote some product.
I went on AliExpress and bought every oddball keyboard combo, and got a 60% kb with the lame Fn-W to toggle WASD nag/no function keys + a totally retro IBM looking 33-key, glued them all together on a piece of wood, and remapped each key as I want and got my ideal keyboard now. Function keys are a separate single row at top, with keys to spare for copy/paste, another set on left of main keyboard like the old Omnikey Ultras.
I was the one recommending him Kailh box whites, I said they're like the mx blues that he likes, but less raspy and wobbly.
Careful though! They click on the press _and_ return, he might arbitrarily hate that 😂
That being said, box whites are awesome. I also like Kailh Speed Bronze switches for faster/lighter actuation if you're into that. Only problem is they can be actuated without a click, which is not great. Nothing wrong with a blue though. I've designed and built my own custom keyboard PCB and firmware, but if I were tasked with giving this man a keyboard, I would just get him another TKL with MX Blues because he clearly likes it.
@@brianschwind6530 I don't really care about the sound at all, in fact I'm annoyed by noisy keys and always wear over-ear phones. :) I just like the way clicky switches feel, the sharp snappy actuation or something.
@@c0xb0xAgreed, it's very satisfying.
Although if you type for a living, if it's too sharp/stiff it probably brings on carpal tunnel faster.. the less pressure needed the better :-) @@c0xb0x
I felt this video so hard. I ended up picking the Das 4Q and while it's not ideal it at least overcomes the issues Jonathan mentions in this video. But the bar is low
music at the end... I love you editor.
I have the same exact problem with keyboards in my native country of pooland where no one seems to be selling keyboards with blue switches and all there is available are brows and reds. I am also a fan of the numpad and use it extensively when it comes to typing in numbers and finding a keyboard with blue switches AND with a full set of keys is borderline impossible. I hope to god that my current keyboard that fits all these criteria that i bought like 7 years ago will live on forever.
People gaslit themselves into believing blue switches are bad
@@Sammysapphira the most popular argument I hear from people who don't like them is that they are very loud. I always thought that this is the entire point, that mechanical keyboards are loud and have a satisfying snap. But it seems to me that most people want a mechanical keyboard that feels like a regular one.
What's worse is I agree with him on most of those points. When my wife wanted a nice keyboard we had to import a ducky one from Asia (not sold where we live) as it was the only one with what she wanted. I just relegated myself to not having what I want until I can build my own keyboard or something.
Perfect example of why you have to know someone's needs before being able to make a good recommendation. Dude who recommended Kailh Box Whites did him dirty, not because the switches would be a bad match, but because you can't really just buy a basic pre-built keyboard with them. Meanwhile there are many quality non-backlit TKLs with MX Blues.
I bought myself a Chinese knockoff keyboard with generic blue switches 10 years ago. Still works like a charm. No firmwares. Couldn't be happier.
sometimes I forget jonathan blow is an actual real human being, and not a nebulous concept ...but then, every once in a while, I get recommended random clips of his stream on youtube and I remember ... he's just like us
the keyboard market reminds me of the audiophile market ugh lol
I heard this guy is unreasonable but this is the most sane discussion on keyboards from any UA-camr
Bruh who recommended him the preonic one XD epic troll
"art major keyboard" hahaha, i use plank btw, studied art though...
The problem with keyboards is that they are intrinsically personal. There's a reason there are so many keyboards now and 90% of them are trash for most people.
I have the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard v2 and it's the best keyboard I've ever owned and used.
However, that's because of my preferences that it does so well. I only require a 60% because everything else I need is already on the keyboard for most applications. It's only the weird ones that would need a numpad (Blender, hammer). But, I can just get a separate numpad and bring that in whenever I need it.
Something like the Das Keyboard would be enough for most people that just want a standard keyboard layout but still want a nice quality keyboard. There's been a weird trend of 60% keyboards the past couple of years and it's super weird. Especially because all these manufacturers keep trying to market them as ~~gAmInG~~ keyboards when that makes no sense. For gaming, you would want arrow keys, function keys, and maybe even a numpad.
I don't even want to get into laptop keyboards either. That cesspool is a whole other topic.
I agree with Johnathan for most of these takes, but I also want to say that in my experience, you cannot truly know what keyboard is best for you without trying them, even the weird ones.
who uses arrows for gaming anymore? i haven't touched arrows for years. i don't even use them for editing anymore since i customize editors to use emacs bindings.
@@androth1502 lots of 2d games have some defaults to arrow keys. I've definitely played some other smaller games that utilized them. I think gta5 uses them too.
Keyboards are one of those things that you just have to try out in person in some tech store.
You can't buy shoes, musical instruments and keyboards with only a heavily edited photo of it.
Lmfao bro is this a real comment? You can tell if a keyboard is right for you by the material of the keys as advertised, and the layout in clear view.
@@publicalias8172 nah. I can't. I need to feel it. Whatever it says - until I press some buttons and type some words - I can't tell if it's the right thing for me.
@@zhulikkulik Im with you is like shoes
I'm in tears watching this. Just destroyed everyone's favorite stuff.
I chose Brown because I don’t want to be murdered by my colleagues. Also, hearing myself think is a nice bonus.
Yeah.. it turns out when you play games with friends they'll make a point to mock every click clack your mic picks up lmao. I now prefer softer strokes anyway as the reason you pointed out.
I barely know anything about keyboards and their customization options, but I've got a Keychron K8 with brown switches. I quite like it, sounds fine and types quite nicely. It's a decent keyboard, at least for those who know nothing about them
I share the hatred of keyboards without function keys. My work issued me a dell that hides the function keys behind the fn. Normally, I'd just turn fn-lock on. However, the function keys share the same keys with the home and end keys which I also use. So I have to use key combinations to do anything. Also the down arrow key is tiny when there is plenty of room to make it full-sized.
Everyone is copying Apple on getting rid of keys until the keyboard is perfectly rectangular. Well maybe it would look prettier if you got rid of all the keys!
Somehow needs to show him the Keymacs, specifically made for Emacs.
"hotswap?! What does that even mean?" lmfao
How does Jon not own a unicomp board yet? Seems that would be the one for him.
sounds like he would like the "Ducky One 2 Phantom Black"
it's a very standard layout with nothing flashy or weird about it
could someone point me to the video where blow makes the face in the thumbnail?
Random Jonathan Blow Moments 2: ua-cam.com/video/UNucRn2uKlU/v-deo.html
Me on my 40% ortholinear keyboard (one less row than the last keyboard), LOL'ing at his commentary.
i 100% agree with him , i went the keyboard rabbit hole , my keyboard needs , del , print screen , ~ , a volume nob , arrows . i have a 65% LK67 , browns , spring modified to 68g , next one will be a full keyboard with num pad cause of blender shortcuts , from Ajazz , with browns that i ll modifie with 78g springs
as a professional programmer I prefer a $10 membrane keyboard
as an user of 34 silent keys custom made keyboard i pretty much disagree with him
How, with his experience, has he still not gotten to the ortholinear split keyboard?
I thought I finally found a JB take I agree with until he said "blue is the only acceptable keyboard switch".
They call em browns because they feel like browning your pants when you gamble on a fart and lose.
The solution is simple: buy every keyboard in existence with every possible option of switches and somewhere in that pile of keyboards will be the right one. Or you can do what I do and just buy one knowing it's not really the right one and never will be.
How is using two thumbs for one key is still acceptable ?
If Jon things cherry blue is good, just wait until he tries a clicky switch that is actually good, like kailh box white v2.
I don't know why he hates cherry browns, heavier switches are great if all you do is write stuff all day. I have cherry black switches on my keyboards and I program as much as he does, but I guess it's a less common switch since I never see keyboards with black switches in stores. Cherry blues seem like a weird choice to me for someone who doesn't game since the entire point of their clickyness is gaming-related. Maybe he just doesn't know what he's talking about (again)
@@bokunogentoo4420I thought that the general consensus was that linears are favoured for gaming, whereas clicky switches are favoured for typing.
JBlow is my spirit animal.
He should be serious enough to consider a custom board. A Corne or Sofle. Row stagger is for plebs.
Edit: programmers have the escape key bound to capslock. Also just learn vim.
This man would love box jades
The only true step forward for us are self-built 3D printed split keyboards. Let's face it.
Get a WASD CODE 3, it's just a bog standard 1990s style unmoddable keyboard with whatever mechanical switch you want and there's numpadless versions if that's your thing.
Very interesting -I wonder what you guys use function keys for? I mean I understand the numpad people which is fine, but what the function key people do it with? I barely never use it (maybe because I am mostly on linux?)
Default bindings for debuggers.
@@luminousmonkey4512 I guess I am basically only using gdb and lldb so really not feel the need on linux...
He's also using it to open the dev console and other features in his engine I think (F1 for console, I believe)
A colleague of mine *disabled* the function keys. Why do people restrict themselves like that?
Das Keyboard is not too bad for typing. It has good mechanical switches.
There are versions with and without key labels.
designing and manufacturing a custom keyboard is not that expensive. he can have exactly what he wants, that'll last for years, if he just spends a few hundred. seems worth it given his very high standards and specific interests
My thoughts exactly.
Can you upload the raw VODs somewhere? I should finf some to get a script that automatically records his stuff :/
so he just wants a redragon keyboard
the preonic one got me laughing for minutes
So ridiculous that someone would want to use that...
Is Jon Blow upset about everything? I mean god damn man.
I used a Filco with Cherry blues for 10 years
I use the Microsoft ergonomic Desktop keyboard. I have a lot of criticism about it, like the huge gap in the middle, it being a bit too big for my hands (usually I have the opposite problem), the media keys not being distinct by touch (the old one had them very distinct so I didn't have to look when using them), no gap between function keys etc., but given everything else it's the best compromise I could find. Sad, really. Why is there no keyboard that is really actually good?
The old Microsoft ergo ones were so underrated, just the switches let them down and the wrist rest inevitably getting destroyed
Jonathan Blow Every Keyboard
Vortex Race 3 or Keychron K2 are what he's looking for.
6:00 me too, when I try to find a new keyboard
Hilarious! Are you trolling me? 😂
I think you'd like the Freebird TKL jon xD what I got with Boba U4T switches it's amazing, only issue is I don't have the numpad but don't really use it anyway at this point
Boba U4T. Yes, just yes.
I have some random chinese knockoff keyboard bought for like $20 almost a decade ago. I don't know if I should buy a new one or live oblivious to having problems like these. It works and does the job I guess?
Kailh Red Pro are my favourite switches. I defy anyone to name a better switch.
What is Jon using function keys for? I’ve never used them.
Kids today have gone overboard with keyboards. I use a 24 year old Compaq membrane keyboard... coding, gaming, never fails. This is one of those things where people do more work getting ready to work than just actually working. 100% confirmed by hours of actual work relative to achievements.
I'm pretty sure he literally uses a Kinesis Advantage, so I'm not sure why he finds so many of these keyboards exotic 🤣
For the love of god someone send this man a link to a Keychron tkl
Nowadays there are so many different switches, it takes way too long to find ones you like.
Also, browns suck. Probably most cherries do
As a person that is in the custom mechanical keyboard hobby, I find this funny.
I find it funny because it's true. No one actually makes a great keyboard that is the right layout with the right switches and the right colour with the right legend. Like damn. You literally have to build your own to get anything good and I really CBA.
@@Thezftw That is true, you have to build it. But that can land you something perfect. It's not hard. Hard part is choosing from 10,000 different switches.
So true. Keyboard designers should go away forever and never come back to the industry
Still using old IBM P/S2 keyboard as.. it has in theory shorter run to interrupter.. no i am kidding its glorious design and i dont need more.
I saved this when i was in school from school trash bin lol.
I also hate when there's no spaces between the fuck that...
Look like he might like
Akko Black&Silver 5075B Plus, mayby with different switches that offer..
I use the cheapo £20 keyboard I got from the local PC shop. I've tried pricey keyboards and I don't think they are worth the extra money. The best laptop keyboard I've use is some old Dell E series. Really nice keyboard super easy to type on.
Non-troll recommendation: Apex 3 membrane. Silent, accurate, feels cozy, full standard key set.
He likes clicky though
ew membrane...
grow up it's time to be an adult. you must accept membrane.@@progste
He should buy RealForce Topre
I'm fine with my $2 membrane keyboard(bought a used one from a guy that lives in the same building), not worth the hassle to find something better
keychron V1max for wired or Q1 max for wireless. nice keyboards 75% with knob and nice placement of delete key above backspace. their new lemokey l3 custom looks pretty good too. knob on the left, a little bit bigger but has 4 customizable macro keys.
only problem with them is they use archaic switches i've never heard of. wtf is gateron jupiter banana? really? lol.
love jblow hes like norm macdonald SWE edition