ChoJin’s Quarter

Couple of years ago I bought a Contoured Kinesis Keyboard due to a carpal tunnel syndrome (or at least my thumb was starting to feel numb on a regular basis).

I can’t tell you, in spite of its very strange look, how wonderful this keyboard is. Not only it solved my pain/sensation issues, but it’s really a very comfortable keyboard. Most people would expect it very hard to get used to it (or switch to normal keyboard afterward), but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. It only took about a week to get used to it, and after 2 weeks I was even typing faster than before. After a month or so, I even decided to switch to dvorak mapping to further deepen the ergonomic experience. Since then (so roughly 6 years now), I’ve been writing with a dvorak mapping on this very same keyboard (maybe I should replace the pads btw…). If you want a great keyboard, I strongly recommend this one.

But 2 years ago or so, two keys started to behave strangely. Not working or getting stuck (the alt/option and command keys on my left thumb). So I opened my keyboard, and the key switches, and quickly realized the best would just be to replace the key switches. Reading from the constructor’s specs I could see they were selling different models/versions with slight dimension variations.

Thus, I emailed Kinesis to ask them for the exact key switch references, figuring I could just replace them myself since the soldering skills involved were not too high ^^ (and my warranty had expired). Someone promptly answered me, asking me whether or not I was sure it was just a key switch issue. And finally, to my surprise, I was astonished couple of days later to receive by mail, free of charge (no cost at all, not even shipping), without even asking for it (I was just asking for the technical references so I could order some from the constructor) three key switches. That is what I would call a great customer service experience

I’m only talking about it now, because it actually took me 2 years to get my motivation together to actually use them and repair my keyboard (I was using a workaround involving hard-pressing the key, or punching it when stuck ). So anyway, prop’ to Kinesis for its great customer service!