I see many fellow programmers buy and use the cheapest peripherals they find, and it bothers me. They are tools of our trade, and we will spend thousands of hours glued to our peripherals.
Getting a decent keyboard/mouse/headphones/monitor will make life a little more pleasant for a very small upfront investment.
I know a lot of people like this. I am a major keyboard geek; I started with a Model M, and moved to a HHKB professional. Then I bought a Realforce (same keyswitches as the HHKB, but different weighting depending on the strength of the finger that presses the key. great design.)
I showed my coworkers these, and they agreed that the keyboards were significantly nicer than any they had used. And at around $250 for either, they were pricey, but that could be gotten over.
The end result was that one coworker bought a Cherry Brown-based keyboard that was $120 cheaper. "I don't really like it very much. It's not as good as yours." Well, yeah. Another coworker decided, "I am definitely going to get a HHKB", and ended up with a $30 Sun type-7. Acceptable layout, $1 keyboard level "keyswitches". "I don't like it very much." Well, yeah, it's a $1 keyboard that you paid $30 for.
Topre keyboards cost $250 because they are worth $250. When you make that in a few hours of typing on one, it's silly to try and save a few bucks. My only regret is that I can't get the Realforce keys in a HHKB form factor :)
I also wish that people would learn where the keys are without looking, and how to press them with the correct finger. I did that, and it has improved my comfort greatly. (Actually, it made my left pinky hurt, since it is responsible for a metric fuckton of keys. Hence the Realforce.)
I see many fellow programmers buy and use the cheapest peripherals they find, and it bothers me. They are tools of our trade, and we will spend thousands of hours glued to our peripherals.
Getting a decent keyboard/mouse/headphones/monitor will make life a little more pleasant for a very small upfront investment.