It’s not often that something as well-known as the Happy Hacking Keyboard gets reworked from the ground up. And when it does happen, those changes usually draw criticism from long-time fans. Look at Porsche’s switch from air-cooled to water-cooled engines in the 911, or Microsoft’s transition to a more tablet-like interface for Windows 8. If people are used to something, they won’t appreciate seeing it change drastically, regardless of whether these changes are ultimately good or bad.
The latest iteration of the Happy Hacking Keyboard (HHKB) makes large changes to the model’s nearly 30-year-old legacy, and it can easily be seen in the same light. Besides the layout, almost every aspect of this keyboard has been altered. Thankfully, quite a few of these changes do feel like improvements over previous iterations.
The HHKB Studio is a hot-swappable 60% mechanical keyboard with…
