What’s more is that the other variants of the keyboard don’t call back to technology of 1984: the black case with the blank keycaps looks like something that only exists in a render of a monochrome workspace. The HHKB is subtle in design, yet eye-catching by almost anyone who encounters it.
#KARABINER ELEMENTS NUMBER PAD PLUS#
The variant I have, white with printed keycaps, certainly calls back to the days of keyboards like the Macintosh Plus Keyboard, and that’s one of the reasons why I love it so much. The HHKB comes in white or black, and with either printed or blank keycaps. When people first see my keyboard, they almost always ask me if I’m using a “retro” keyboard because of the color.
#KARABINER ELEMENTS NUMBER PAD PROFESSIONAL#
Things that require one key press on a full-size keyboard almost always require more on a HHKB, so why bother?įor me, the HHKB Professional 2 is appealing not for the sake of using something obscure that requires hours/days/months/years of learning to master, but instead for its attractive design, compact size, portability, and the ability to modify it beyond the creators’ original intent. People are quick to point out that, although the layout is more compact, it’s more complicated because many functions are hidden under that fn key (or any other key, but more on that later).
Need to use the arrow keys? Sure, hit the fn key again and use the [,, ’, and / keys to navigate up, left, right or down, respectively. Want to change the song you’re currently listening to? Simply use the function layer key ( fn) and hit the corresponding F key (F9 to skip forward to the next track in my case). The appeal of the HHKB family of keyboards is that everything you could want to do is never too far from home row, thanks to its compact size. It uses a variant of rubber dome switches made by the PFU corporation in Japan called Topre switches. Subsequently, the keyboard has gotten updates, along with the “Professional” moniker at the end of its name. The original keyboard, called the Happy Hacking Keyboard, was designed by a Japanese computer science professor named Eiiti Wada in 1996. The flood gates opened: I began browsing a subreddit dedicated to banter about mechanical keyboards, and even began researching the origin of certain keyboards I found aesthetically pleasing.Īll that to say, I shortly stumbled upon the Happy Hacking Professional 2 keyboard, a 60% keyboard (containing only 60% of the keys found on a full-size keyboard that has a number pad). The term seemed silly to me all keyboards are mechanical by nature, but it became quickly apparent to me that people were referring to a special subset of keyboards that were used by a small group of enthusiasts.
I don’t even remember how I started hearing about “mechanical keyboards”. Then I bought a Happy Hacking Professional 2. I was well-aware of the age-old trope about programmers and their infatuation with keyboards, and until three years ago, I bought into that trope. I never expected myself to like something as trivial as a keyboard as much as I do.
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