Retro Typing

You can read here all the gory details of how some engineering-minded guy turned a standard computer keyboard into this:


And I won't deny, it looks kind of cool, a computer keyboard styled like a typewriter. But I have to believe that it would trick my brain to use such a thing, in ways that would be a real display of form over function. It's been years since I've used a real typewriter (and longer still since I used one that wasn't electric, and had a keyboard like this), and I remember two things about it that really slowed down my usual typing speed:

1) You know that if you go too fast, it's possible for multiple keys to get jammed up at the point of contact with the paper. (Granted, this is working on a rather subconscious level.)

2) You know that if you mess up, you can't just push "backspace" a bunch of times to correct your mistake. This, I felt very much aware of while using a typewriter.

I have to believe that if I were to use a computer keyboard that really felt like computer keyboard, there would be some level of subconscious sense memory there that kicked in and made me slow down. I suppose maybe I could get used to it, if I had to.

Fortunately, I don't have to.