I used to work with a Network Admin that always carried around a Happy Hacking keyboard that he used all the time. It's probably the smallest keyboard I've ever seen but with full size keys and a great typing feel. It also cost $250. He rarely if ever used a mouse with the thing and could just fly through screens using just the keyboard. He was a vi master and could type circles around everyone. I was so envious.

I was looking again at these keyboards again a couple years ago and found that they had been updated to a cheaper $70 USB version (the Lite 2). At the time, I started to lust over them again but didn't have a real need for it. So I didn't pick one up then either.

I'm now looking again because of problems I've had with using two different laptops for work and home. In my view, if I can just get a single keyboard to lug around between both systems, I wouldn't have to switch between two different key layouts.

But now I feel like I need to grab a piece of history before it's gone. They've discontinued the Happy Hacking line of keyboards! You can still buy some from retailers online, but I don't know how long they'll last.

Update: Oops. I guess I read that wrong. The Lite 2 is still being made but the original $250 Professional is still leaving us for good. That is a mighty fine keyboard.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 3:05 pm by Joe and is filed under General, Technical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.