Some time ago I realized that the computer I was using at the moment was less important than the peripherals it had connected. It heavily depends on the kind of tasks you use your computer for, but for me the additional performance provided by a hardware upgrade does not usually have a noticeable effect in my day to day. However, using a low resolution monitor or an uncomfortable mouse completely ruins the experience.
This thought is very nicely put in words in this famous quote from Professor Eiiti Wada:
Cowboys in the western United States leave their horses when they die. But never leave their saddles, regardless of how long they need to walk in the desert. Saddles are interfaces that are deeply adapted to our bodies whereas horses are consumable items. It should not be forgotten that computers are consumables nowadays, but keyboards are interfaces that we can use through our lives.
I couldn’t agree more. Good peripherals last way longer than the computers they are connected to, and are our interface with the system.
Professor Wada is one of the creators of the Happy Hacking Keyboard (HHKB). If you don’t know anything about the keyboard, it looks like this:
A very quick summary of its features:
- 60% keyboard (it’s small).
- Uses Topre switches. They are electrocapacitive switches that cannot be fully considered mechanical switches.
- UNIX oriented layout. For example, a Control key in place of Caps Lock and some keys in different places.
- Supports Bluetooth (only in Hybrid variants) and there is a silenced version (named Type-S).
How it all started
In 2020, I had been using mechanical keyboards for some time already. Then I got curious about HHKBs, and after giving it a lot of thought, I ordered a Hybrid Type-S in black (charcoal) with legends. It was (and still is) expensive, around 330€ in Europe, so the buyer’s remorse after using it for the first time kicked in.
It was very lightweight and to some extent it felt cheap. Legends were almost impossible to read in the charcoal model, and that was a problem in the first few days because the layout is not standard… I considered returning it. I fortunately decided to try using it as my daily keyboard, and after a couple of days I realized I was in love with the layout.
HHKBs are something that you either love or hate. From time to time I switch to one of my other keyboards (MX Brown / MX Clear), but I always return to the HHKB. It is very comfortable to type on it, it is very compact and really quiet, which makes it very pleasurable to use.
Drawbacks
If we forget about the price, there are still a few drawbacks:
- Legends: they are impossible to read in the black model unless you have plenty of light in the room. This might be a problem when you are starting out.
- Arrow keys: arrow keys are in a different layer (Fn needs to be pressed) and follow a diamond shape. At first this felt very strange, especially when using combinations of different keys, but you get used to them. In any case, requiring a combination of keys can be annoying sometimes.
- Missing keys: I am a heavy user of the Home/End/PgDown/PgUp cluster when using a browser. They are present in the HHKB but in a different layer (again, keeping Fn pressed) but I have never gotten used to their position.
Remapping some keys
The last item from the list of drawback has been haunting me until very recently, when I realized I could remap some keys using HHKB’s official Keymap tool! I have been sporting the keymap shown in the screenshot, and I am happier than ever with the keys I have remapped:
