I went out and got a mechanical keyboard!

I went out to Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Wan Chai computer centers and found the cheapest mechanical keyboard with good build quality. Turns out, very few shops have these around. It's really quite a niche item, apparently. I was told that most people don't stock them because people are put off by the price.

Which I agree with, because at $680, it got me thinking too. Eventually though, I did get a deal for it at $600, which I found more appealing and less pricey than expected. The sound of typing on it was just too nice on my ears, the feel of high build quality. And there was also the option of very soft/silent typing, as the activation region of the keys are quite broad and the initial resistance feels just right.

When I got home, I found that I was able to type at least 10wpm faster on it compared with my home (and with somewhat fewer mistakes), while listening to the music of the keys. I guess that was quite worth it. The switches and keys feel very precise, and the psychological effect for me was to make me more precise, clear and structured in programing/writing.

They say that there are people who learn better with more actions and feelings are involved. I had no idea that was so important to me before I set my fingers on a mechanical keyboard. Now, I just find the keyboards the rest of the world is using to be quite interesting, but feeling somewhat less precise.