Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
Staggered vs Ortholinear
What are Staggered and Ortholinear Layouts Before diving into the topic, a brief introduction is needed for those that might not know the terms. Staggered is a little easier to deduce from the word itself - keys are aligned vertically (going across a given row, the key to the left and right does not shift position up or down—in other words, the vertical rows are all in alignment) but are staggered horizontally (conversely, going up or down a given column, the keys above and below a key do shift position left or right). Ortholinear means that the keys are all aligned vertically as well as horizontally, most often in a perfect grid pattern. This is also sometimes referred to as a “matrix” layout, though this is less common in the keyboard hobby. There are also other types of staggering (uniform, symmetric, and columnar), but we won’t be covering those in this introductory article.
History of Staggered Layouts While not critical to understanding the difference between the two layout types, some history seems appropriate at this point. Feel free to skip below if you’d prefer. When typewriters were first developed, staggered layouts became a design necessity. Each key that the user pressed was connected to an arm (“typelever” or “keylever”) which was mechanically connected to the typebar. Pressing a given key causes the linkages to move such that the reversed character on the typebar is slammed into the ink-ribbon-covered paper, leaving that character inked onto the sheet.