For something with “hacking” in the name, lacking a numpad, arrow keys, and home/end/etc. is conspicuous. I use those very often in my nerdly pursuits.
Mine made me learn where all the wacky symbols used in programming languages are, like {. If there’s a key on your keyboard that you didn’t learn when you first learned to touch type, but you now use, a blank keyboard will force you to learn to type it without looking at your keyboard.
The showing off is probably more important though.
A keyboard is, for many of us, the single highest-bandwidth tool we have. Even people who’ve learned to touch-type will find they learned 80% or so of touch-typing.
There are some people who can’t learn to touch-type until they’re forced to (by removing the labels, or other ham-fisted method). For those people, a das-keyboard or a can of spray paint will be a good investment, because their typing speed and accuracy will go up.
For something with “hacking” in the name, lacking a numpad, arrow keys, and home/end/etc. is conspicuous. I use those very often in my nerdly pursuits.
I’m quite fond of my Das Keyboard.
Is there any advantage to a keyboard with no labels on the keys besides showing off?
Mine made me learn where all the wacky symbols used in programming languages are, like {. If there’s a key on your keyboard that you didn’t learn when you first learned to touch type, but you now use, a blank keyboard will force you to learn to type it without looking at your keyboard.
The showing off is probably more important though.
It levels the playing field for those who use non-standard layouts.
A keyboard is, for many of us, the single highest-bandwidth tool we have. Even people who’ve learned to touch-type will find they learned 80% or so of touch-typing.
There are some people who can’t learn to touch-type until they’re forced to (by removing the labels, or other ham-fisted method). For those people, a das-keyboard or a can of spray paint will be a good investment, because their typing speed and accuracy will go up.