I have been using Apple computers for much more than a decade now, and with that the natural choice for a keyboard is the Apple Wired Keyboard. I have been typing on this keyboard since it came out as version A, on to version B. During the many years of using it I have grown extremely accustomed to its low profile keys and form factor.

Recently I have grown increasingly frustrated with the quality of the unit. Specifically, I tend to take exactly 2 years to break the right shift key - I literally punch a hole through the key cap. The key itself starts not typing accurately, and so too does some of the other keys like spacebar. So I have been buying new keyboards every 2 years - I think I am on keyboard #5 since the first one 10 years ago.

So I spend a considerable amount of time to find a good mac compatible replacement. Do not even start if you think that all keyboards work on a mac. If you believe that - you are senile. Or you only use they A-Z keys and type at 1wpm. I eventually purchased the Das Keyboard 4 Professional for Mac with cherry brown mechanical keys. It took a while to get used to it, and after adding a 3M Leatherette Gel Wrist Rest, I was enjoying the keyboard a lot. The keys are not mushy at all, they are really refreshing compared to scissor keys.

But... It seems that like some other things in life, it is almost impossible to change certain habits. I press the left Ctrl key with my left hand thumb - yes I know, that is wrong. Copy / paste (Windows VM), VI editing, Unix screen switching, IntelliJ Idea and so on all require extensive use of Control. For some reason, even though the measured distance between Ctrl and V on both the Das Keyboard and the Apple Keyboard are exactly the same, the extra key travel distance of the Das Keyboard causes my left hand to incur serious stress and subsequently cramps and pain.

I now have a keyboard that is better in all ways than the Apple Keyboard - but I cannot use it because of my poor habits in hand positioning which I find near impossible to change after typing for 24 years on computer keyboards. This sucks so hard.

Update 2017-09-28 After using the Das keyboard for a while now, my hands adjusted and I no longer experience this strain I initially had. The keyboard is fantastic.