I don’t get it though. What’s the payoff, marginally better comfort and typing speed or is it like having collectibles to own and show off? Personally, sure a mechanical keyboard is a little more satisfying to type on but who really cares.
There's another side to the mechanical keyboard community that is focused on ergonomics [1]. I personally use a Kinesis Advantage 2 [2] with an Adantage 360 [3] on preorder. These are not marginal improvements to my quality of life, they enable me to continue using a keyboard at all.
As for the very expensive, mostly standard layout keyboards... it's an expensive hobby with marginal improvements at best, but the same could be said about furniture purchases. Most people don't choose furniture based solely off its functional characteristics. They want something pleasant to look at, especially since it's something they're using every day for a long period of time. I think there's plenty of utility in that, though personally I would never pay the prices that these people do.
Same, split keyboard (with thumb cluster) may take some time to get used to, but it does improve the QoL for me. The major problem with this is that either the keyboards are relatively expensive or you have to DIY. I'm looking to clone the moonlander keyboard but modify its layout to redox, and print it by myself. DIY can cut down a lot of the cost.
Would love to get one (actually any split one), but they are crazy expensive. Add duties (I’m in the EU) and it goes beyond what I would be willing to spend for something that I can’t even try first. I don’t even need mechanical switches, wireless, backlight or programmability, but I will probably need two of them in the end.
DIY can lower the price, but it is a hustle and in the time needed is not free.
Maybe at some point Logitech will offer a split one for a more reasonable price, but I won’t hold my breath.
Be careful with split keyboards, or any keyboards with fewer keys or columns than usual, if you’re a European user. Many split layouts have a missing column on the right, where accent keys are located. One has to assign them to different keys or combos, which results in a substantially different typing habits with a steep learning curve, in my experience.
The unfortunate reality is you can't have both an inexpensive and prebuilt keyboard in this space. I'd suggest looking for a used Kinesis Advantage 1 or 2 on ebay as that might be a little more palatable and the used prices are fairly stable so you won't lose too much money if you find you don't like it.
