Flat vs Raised

Most people are used to flat or low-cut keys on their keyboards – mostly, because Apple made it fashionable. But are they actually of value to the writing process?

Flat keys are economical, ubiquitous among laptop users. Low-cut keys are standard in workplaces, going hand in hand with the Microsoft office. And then you have raised keys, standard on ancient keyboards yet also common on modern gaming keyboards. That always struck me as odd. Why do gamers need keyboards with raised keys? What’s so special about raised keys? What’s better for the writer?

When I was getting distracted while typing on the macbook, I started to realise that it was the setup causing much of the problem. It wasn’t conducive of creativity. It was small, not comfortable, oddly positioned and ugly. I then brought home a low-cut keyboard and quickly realised the way I type at work isn’t conducive of creativity either. Then I saw somewhere that raised keys on gaming keyboards are made for keystroke precision. Voila, the answer started to form.

I researched gaming keyboards: mechanical, metal, high-quality. They were made for that needed their fingers to feel comfortable while also free to move quickly around the space they were working on. But they were only ever marketed to gamers, never writers. Writers get fountain pens if they want a high-quality writing experience, which they give whenever writing on paper, but what about when you need to type stuff up?

I did some research then went out and bought myself a mechnical gaming keyboard with raised “brown” keys. The “brown” classification signifies the sound they make when you type on them. For brown, read: not annoying. It took a week maybe two to get used to the keys and since then I’ve never looked back. Typing on raised keys has helped me tremendously. My keystrokes are accurate, my typing is faster, my hands are much more comfortable, the experience always feels conducive of creativity and it’s fun. It’s actually fun writing on this thing.

So, even though I typed on flat keys for a long time, having my macbook since 2009. Low-cut keys for even longer and still use daily at work; I really dislike my work keyboard. I now use a mechanical keyboard with raised keys at home. And I’m never looking back. I even bought the mouse that goes with it.