Drop Mech Keys Meetup Recap - Thanks for Visiting!
As you may have seen, we just hosted our first meetup in quite a while here at Drop HQ (Corsair HQ, but they seem to like us enough :) )! It was a blast to get to meet so many enthusiasts local to the bay area—it had been 10 years since I was last hanging out with keyboard nerds in the bay, at KeyCon 2014. We had a great time hosting everyone at the offices, checking out all the very nice boards y'all brought, and sharing some of our own projects/spaces! I knew it would be fun to host in the Game Room when I first saw it in person, but seeing it come to fruition was still so cool. Alright, I'll stop blabbering on now. xD Picture time! (Oh, real quick - there will be more of these! Stay tuned for more info and to catch the next one!)
May 15, 2024
… but that research unfortunately stopped short of discovering that people outside of ANSI land have computers, too.
I’d wager that three out of four computer keyboards in existence are ISO keyboards.
Four out of five PCs worldwide are sold outside the US. (Source: https://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-personal-computers-users-map.html)
I’ve also read that only few countries use ANSI, including the US. Can’t remember the source though. I’m not afraid to be wrong though :)
> If ISO was more used, why would manufacturers offer ANSI as the standard?
Both ANSI and ISO are standards. Manufacturers across the world offer both models, obviously. (Googling `ISO keyboard` yields over ten million results.)
Which brings me back to my original question: what is it that keeps manufacturers *in the mech scene* (and, by extension, mass-droppers) from offering both?
Total personal computer sales worldwide does not actually factor in all PCs, as I don't know a single person who has purchased a pre-built PC in the last 5 years. At best, retailers are selling laptops and portables anyway. This all ignoring the fact that other countries outside the US also use ANSI, as WindowsIME is making it a lot simpler to use PCs in other languages.
For you to have actual data, you'd first have to figure out what countries use (and purchase) ISO keyboards, and PCs that include ISO keyboards, and how many sold in those countries. And while I'm not entirely familiar with those countries, I recall there are also variants of the ISO layout which are used in different regions.
Do you have any source on that?
> Total personal computer sales worldwide does not actually factor in all PCs
Could be – but would you realistically expect that factoring in all PCs would change the 20% ratio by more than a few percentage points?
> there are also variants of the ISO layout which are used in different regions.
That’s a good point, and actually the most convincing argument I’ve read so far! All those ISO variants do share the same physical layout but there are still so many options for legends.
This fragmentation could very well explain why mech manufacturers would choose not to include ISO in small runs most of the time.
The burden of proof still remains on you, as I pointed out what was clearly necessary if you think ISO is as widespread as you think it is. I'll await your answer: "For you to have actual data, you'd first have to figure out what countries use (and purchase) ISO keyboards, and PCs that include ISO keyboards, and how many sold in those countries." Anything other than that is purely anecdotal.
2. Regardless, I have already disclosed to you what my sources are, which pieces of data I have and which I don’t. I have also acknowledged already that my guesswork might be wrong.
3. “This is not only due to the general scarcity of boards, but use of alternate formats like HHKB, 40%, etc. Has absolutely nothing to do with sales figures you think you might have.” Sorry but this looks like a complete non sequitur to me. It’s a bit like asking “why are polar bears white” and then getting as a reply: “because polar bears are generally scarce, and because they have alternative temperatures like 40 °F. Has absolutely nothing to do with colors of most other animals you think you might have.”