Programmer Walkman Metaphysics: Mechanical Keyboard

Hello everyone, thanks for listening to the programmer's walkman.

This issue is about a kind of metaphysics among programmers: keyboard, specifically mechanical keyboard. Another kind of metaphysics is headphones. If the keyboard is the programmer's weapon, then the earphone is the programmer's armor. However, we won't talk about headphones in this issue.

Explain what metaphysics is first. Metaphysics refers to those theories that are unknowable, inconceivable, unexplained and incomprehensible to science.

In this way, metaphysics is derogatory. But in advance, this issue of metaphysics is not derogatory, but has a kind of worship, or, if you want to get close, it has no purpose and no way, but has a sour grape mood.

Speaking of which, some listeners may have come up with some flavors. Son, you are not from the circle.

Yes, I'm not from the circle. I will observe silence for three seconds, one, two, three, then dry my tears and go on.

Here, as a kind person, I have to say that if you want to acquire the teaching knowledge about mechanical keyboard through this audio, you will be disappointed, because I also want to acquire this knowledge. If you know, I hope you can tell me through Weibo. I really want to know. Here, thank you in advance.

So, what can I say? I just want to throw this topic out and talk about some of my observations and opinions. If I am lucky enough to get expert advice, I will do another instructional audio conference then.

So, get down to business.

As an input device of electronic products, keyboard appeared earlier than mouse. This is normal, because in the era of graphical interactive systems, we have the demand for mice. Until now, the keyboard is still an indispensable device for us to input content in electronic products.

As we know, generally speaking, there are two kinds of keyboards, film keyboard and mechanical keyboard. I have also heard of a keyboard called electrostatic capacitance keyboard, which is rare and never seen before. Baidu Encyclopedia says that the static capacitance keyboard uses the change of capacitance to judge the opening and closing of keys. After pressing the key, the switch capacitance changes, thus triggering, and the whole process does not need to close the switch. It is precisely because tapping without physical contact points can be realized, so the wear is less and the service life is longer. More stable, faster, all keys without conflict, extremely sensitive. Usually it can be seen on large medical equipment, and it can also be used as an expensive high-end game peripheral.

Before the electrostatic capacitance keyboard has entered the mainstream, we will not talk about it, and return to the membrane keyboard and mechanical keyboard. The difference between the two is that, in simple terms, the keys of the membrane keyboard seem to be one by one on the surface. In fact, each keycap is supported on a whole piece of film. When a key is pressed, a point on the film will be pressed to the printed circuit board and send out an electrical signal. The mechanical keyboard is actually a key and an electrical signal switch. Therefore, you will know why the mechanical keyboard is much more expensive than the membrane keyboard, because the structure of the mechanical keyboard is much more complicated than the membrane keyboard in engineering.

Although, on the whole, mechanical keyboards are more expensive than membrane keyboards, paradoxically, early keyboards were all mechanical keyboards. The bully learning machine I played as a child is the kind that makes strange sounds as soon as I turn it on-"bully, have fun", that is the mechanical keyboard. I found it difficult to type on the keyboard at that time. However, it is not surprising if we carefully observe the history of keyboard development. Just like cars, early cars were made by hand, and the parts were made by craftsmen one by one. However, with the development of the automobile industry, the cars that pursue industrialization, modularization and handwork will inevitably withdraw from the mainstream automobile market. So is the keyboard. With the development of technology and the progress of industrialization, the membrane keyboard came into being, which reduced the cost and increased the portability. Why does it increase portability? Because each key of the mechanical keyboard is a small switch, it needs a certain volume, while the membrane keyboard is only a pressing action, so the membrane keyboard can be made very thin. Why is Apple's MacBook series so thin? So even if its keyboard experience is called knocking on the iron plate, it is impossible to replace it with a mechanical keyboard. We can only find ways to improve the comfort of the keyboard on the basis of the thin film keyboard.

It stands to reason that the mechanical keyboard will quit the historical stage under the impact of the film keyboard, just as the floppy disk is replaced by a U disk, and the mechanical mouse (that is, the mouse with a ball in its belly) is replaced by a photoelectric mouse. However, sometimes, some seemingly outdated products can survive or even come back to life. Just like a hand-built car, it may still have its niche market. In history, such cases are not uncommon, such as Polaroid. Some time ago, my friend took a photo of his baby and Polaroid together. For example, broadcasting, you know, the rise of film and television is a dying impact on broadcasting, but now with the popularity of cars and the arrival of a new rhythm of life, broadcasting is full of vitality. As a programmer, I want to broadcast on Dragonfly FM.

By the way, regarding the revival of minority products, you can watch Wang Ziru's talk show "Relativity of Science and Technology" on iQiyi, in which the third issue of the first season is devoted to the revival of minority products.

Anyway, let's talk about our keyboard. Why can the mechanical keyboard be resurrected? I think one reason is very important, that is, the workload is heavy and I have to lie on the keyboard for a long time. Like an editor, like a programmer, it is rare to play a few hours a day. As a productivity tool, the keyboard is equivalent to a soldier's weapon. Who doesn't want a convenient weapon? At this time, we miss the unique feel and feedback of the mechanical keyboard, even the scratching sound. This is the important reason why I think the mechanical keyboard is resurrected.

In addition, programmers as a group have their own culture. Culture is virtual and needs to be represented by concrete things. As an important productivity tool for programmers, keyboards must be endowed with cultural symbols by programmers. In order to show personality, to pursue differentiation, and even to despise another programmer, in this way, the mechanical keyboard is surrounded by the power of the thin film keyboard and returns strongly.

Nowadays, there are not only many kinds of mechanical keyboards, but also many dazzling small functions, such as breathing light, marquee, backlight at night and so on. Next, let's talk about the sects of mechanical keyboards.

In the rivers and lakes of mechanical keyboards, there are four schools, namely red axis, tea axis, proud and straightforward green axis and straightforward black axis.

Different sects come from different views on martial arts, but after all, they are all martial arts and have the same root. What is the principle of mechanical keyboard?

First of all, no matter what shaft it is, its mechanical shaft is composed of switch cap, switch cap fixing clip, spring, contact metal sheet and base, and some mechanical shafts also have jumpers. Among these parts, the key parts are switch cap, spring and contact metal sheet, and their differences lead to different trigger pressure, feel and key life. Let's start with spring. The less the number of turns of the spring, the greater the feedback pressure of the spring. Green > tea >; Red, let's talk about the switch cap, which acts on the contact metal sheet. When pressed, it makes the contact metal plate connect or disconnect the circuit and send out an electrical signal. When the switch cap acts on the contact metal sheet, it produces resistance, which will make us feel the legendary sense of segment. In addition, different nesting structures of switch caps will bring different rhythms to the base. The red axis and the black axis are straight up and down, and the tea axis and the green axis have a certain sense of damping. Then talk about touching the metal sheet. The service life of mechanical keyboards ranges from 20 million to 80 million times. If a key is worn, it is generally that the contact metal sheet is damaged. It can be said that the contact metal sheet determines the service life of a mechanical keyboard. (You know, the life of a membrane keyboard is generally 300,000 times. If you press a key 65,438+000 times a day, 300,000 times means you can use this key for 3000 days. Ten years younger, the mechanical keyboard has a single axis for tens of millions of times. It can be said that it can't be worn out before it is tired. After that, I said keycap, and we knocked it.

Are there only four sects in the lively Jianghu? Of course not. Besides red, black, tea and green, there are green axis, orange axis, white axis, gray axis and even strange axis. Some are different from the above shaft strength, and some are used on special keys such as the space bar. They are rare, some are discontinued, such as white shafts, and some are customized by manufacturers, such as orange shafts in Lei Bai. So this Jianghu is still very lively.

After talking about the basic situation of mechanical keyboard, let's talk about metaphysics, which is the experience of mechanical keyboard.

Some people say that the green axis is the spring in the keyboard, because it has the deepest trigger depth, the strongest sense of paragraphs, the loudest crackling sound, and crisp and refreshing typing, like knocking on a drum in the spring breeze. It is said that using the green shaft is easy to be beaten by people around you. . .

Some people say that the black axis is recognized as the game axis, and playing the black axis is the best choice, because the black axis has no sense of position, straight up and down, strong explosive force, playing a game and showing passion.

Some people say that the tea shaft is a gentleman in the keyboard, elegant and calm, in charge of everything, between typing and games. Compared with the green axis, the paragraph feeling is much weaker, and compared with the black axis, it is not straight up and down. So some people will think it is moderate and has no personality.

Finally, the red axis and the red axis are generally recommended to girls, because they are as straight up and down as the black axis and are easy to type. At the same time, the pressure coefficient is the smallest and effortless.

Hearing this, I don't know if you can clearly distinguish the difference between the four axes. In fact, it really makes you feel that the four axes are not so obvious. If you add those smaller axes, such as white axis, orange axis, gray axis and green axis, you can't tell them apart. But after being expressed, this difference was artificially strengthened. This gave birth to metaphysics. The paradox of metaphysics is that you should choose your imaginary keyboard according to these experiences, and the possibility of high probability is different from your imagination. In other words, it sounds reasonable, and guiding things may be blind. So I think, if you want to buy a keyboard, you should buy one with eyes. It's not bad to be an appearance association. Feel and like when you have the chance. There is no need to choose according to the cultural orientation of the four axes. Even if you choose the black axis, the regiment will still be destroyed

As for the experience mentioned above, it may be difficult to have * * * without touching so many kinds, or without the experience of coding words on the keyboard for a long time. You may also think that these people are so melodramatic. Isn't the code word knocking on the keyboard? They talk about God and God, and they are mysterious. Yes, it's a little mysterious. Isn't that what culture is all about? True or false. Humans are such animals that like to listen to stories. If you remove the cocoon from your heart and restore the historical situation, will he still give you goose bumps? Therefore, we should understand the mechanical keyboard as a lovely culture of programmers.

To sum up, compared with the film keyboard, the mechanical keyboard has no qualitative leap in experience, and typing is not necessarily faster and more labor-saving. It may only release the instinctive desire for rhythm, but it brings great pleasure to programmers and creates topics, which is also an indispensable part of programmer culture.

Thank you for listening.