Update average price for keyboards to $250
Why is this change being made?
Previously the average price in USD recommended for a keyboard was $110. I find this to be largely under-estimated given the essential and costly nature of ergonomic keyboards. To bring the average closer to an average cost of an ergonomic mechanical board, I have updated the average to $250. I still believe this to be a little lower than it should be.
This price also brings us more in line to the Wirecutter recommendations in our handbook doc.
Process
I researched a handful of ergonomic mechanical keyboards and their prices:
Keyboard | Price |
---|---|
Kinesis freestyle edge | $200 |
Kinesis Advantage2 | $320 |
ErgoDox EZ | $270 |
Matias Ergo Pro | $200 |
Ultimate Hacking Keyboard | $275 |
Mistel Barocco Ergo | $155 |
Atreus62 | $225 |
Mean Average | ~$225 |
Even including the outlying Mistel Barocco Ergo, the average price is still over double our current recommendation and still lower than some of the available options. For another data point, the GitLab-branded WASD Keyboard is $160, $50 over the currently listed average. I rounded the average up to $250 in order to lessen team-member anxiety when selecting a more costly keyboard for work.
Mechanical vs. non-mechanical
The original average of $110 is much closer to the cost of a non-mechanical keyboard, however it is my (biased) opinion that in terms of quality, ergonomics and lifecycle, a mechanical keyboard should always be recommended over the alternative.
Author Checklist
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