Talk:Happy Hacking Keyboard

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Please, how is this spam? I created the page because the Das Keyboard links to it, and because it's an unusual keyboard. As far as I can tell there's no sales pitch, just information about how the keyboard works. H3st 11:02, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, it's not spam. It's a simple description of the thing with a link to the vendor's website. -- Apotheon 11:07, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

From the Criteria for Speedy Deletion page, "Note that simply having a company, product, group, service, or person as its subject does not qualify an article for this criterion; an article that is blatant advertising should have inappropriate content as well." -- Apotheon 11:22, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

This article is not spam. In fact, it is probably the most important article on Wikipedia. --stufff 12:53, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Umm, saying that a short article on a keyboard is 'the most important article on Wikipedia' is a red flag to me. I can't see the notability of this. Why is this keyboard notable? I don't dispute that the article is based on fact. But pure facts don't make the topic notable. I'm re-marking it with notability. Some reason as to why this keyboard is notable must be given. Third party references are required to show that it is notable. peterl 01:43, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure Stufff was being "funny". As for notability, I can only guess by your skepticism that you're not a connoisseur of keyboards like some of us. It is as notable as Das Keyboard and the Optimus keyboard, in that it is designed to cater to a particular set of needs and preferences and has gained a certain cultural traction amongst enjoyers of fine input device design. -- Apotheon 14:43, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. The last sentence is great: if that is true it should go in the articl. Seems like a great keyboard: what needs and preferences does it cater to? Can we have some references? You've obviously got one; can we get a photo like Das Keyboard has? I do like a good keyboard; I'm a MS Natural person; the older ones were better than the new ones. peterl 22:22, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Alas, I don't actually have any references handy for what I've said -- which is why I haven't put something like that in the article. I just hang out with enough hackers/geeks to know something about the quietly increasing usage of the Happy Hacking keyboard amongst such types. I personally would find the Happy Hacking keyboard a little difficult to use, but I can empathize with those who favor it easily enough. Perhaps the original author of this article has a photo of a Happy Hacking keyboard that can be submitted to Wikicommons for use in this article. By the way, while there are other keyboards I prefer over it, I currently use an old Microsoft Natural Elite for my desktop system -- it's not the best, but it's better than most. I'd much prefer the IBM Model M, but don't currently have access to such a beast. -- Apotheon 09:48, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I added an image I found in the wikimedia commons. I'd gladly use a picture of my own, but I only have a crappy webcam and the pictures end up looking like this. The PFU site has promotional pictures that look better, but don't seem to be under a free license. They could probably be used like the one for Das Keyboard, though.

As for who it caters to, the first who spring to mind are people with limited desktop space. There also seems to be some ergonomic value in it: I've seen some blog posts mentioning that they'd normally have their hands shifted a little to the left when using a normal keyboard, as opposed to right in front of them when using a small one. Finally: All the keys are within a short reach. There's no numpad to move your hand to, the esc, control and delete keys are closer to the home row, and the rest are accessible with Fn. It's pretty neat if the keys outside the, um, main typing area are mostly collecting dust and you'd rather use the space for your mouse or a coffee mug. It's not for everybody, though, for instance spreadsheet wizards who use the numpad extensively would probably go mad. My only gripe with it so far has been that mine's got an American layout, which lacks a key compared to the Norwegian keyboard layout. That's due to differences in layouts, though, so I'm not sure it should be included here. H3st 19:34, 11 May 2007 (UTC)