Lazerwood wooden keyboard

Wooden keyboards are usually too showy and incongruous for me, but Lazerwood's adhesive wooden key covers are a subtler option than, say, this. At $40 a set, they're not too pricey, either. They come in cherry or walnut, in sets for the U.S. Apple Extended Keyboard, Wireless Keyboard or the MacBook Pro. [via Uncrate]

Update: Aaron Newton went for it, and reports that they look great [Gallery].

Surprisingly easy [to readjust keys]. You can pull it off easily until you really press them down. Took about 45 minutes. My only complaint is that the home keys (J and F) don't have bumps on them. I added some so it's fine, but a little annoying.

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Volker

What better way to complement your skeuomorphic user interface than with skeu’ed computer hardware? http://skeu.it
- alxr
  
  Protip: ‘skeuomorphic’ does not mean ‘wood grain’. You *could* make a decent argument that the QWERTY layout on this keyboard is skeuomorphic, though, depending on what version of the QWERTY creation myth you buy into.
  - Volker
    
    Old typewriters are often a steel typing mechanism mounted on a wooden base plate, so I do claim that this is a design element that was functional in the original design. Of course the keys themselves were not wood, but it does have the smell of a Skeuomorph.
    - DewiMorgan
      
      I’m wondering if they’ll do a version with some laser-cut stitching as a border…
- Paul Renault
  
  Well, if it’s for sale, wouldn’t it also be SKUmorphic?
http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker

Never mind that by the time you’ve spent $50 on an Apple keyboard, and $40 on these, you could’ve bought an actually good keyboard.
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  Says someone that’s clearly never used an Apple keyboard.
  - http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker
    
    Says someone who doesn’t realize that this post is being typed on an Apple keyboard. (MacBook Pro 10,1, so not one of the desktop boards. I bought it for the screen, not the keyboard.)
    - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
      
      Apologies, that came across a bit as one of those ‘Apple make terrible products, it’s all marketing’ comments that you tend to find elsewhere on the internet.
      
      The desktop keyboard is definitely nicer to use than the notebook one, although compared to the 2 non-Apple laptops I have access to the keyboard is astounding.
      - http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker
        
        See, I’m just a total keyboard snob (although, Apple doesn’t come anywhere near the best laptop keyboards).
        
        My main keyboard is an IBM Model F 122-key terminal keyboard, adapted to USB. It weighs over twice as much as my Mac, and feels amazing to type on.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        I’m sure they had a couple of those at the Library when I was at uni – I loved the satisfying clunk. Was more like using a typewriter than a keyboard.
        
        Probably not to my taste, but I certainly enjoyed using it!
      - http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi
        
        7bit?
      - http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker
        
        @boingboing-66bd939ad7010829ab65a6aaf28c9a96:disqus Nope. bhtooefr.
      - townandgownie
        
        In your (it seems not so humble) opinion.
      - http://theladyfingers.blogspot.com/ Ladyfingers
        
        Try a ThinkPad keyboard.
      - Emily Bond
        
        Yeah, IBM-Lenovo has great laptop keyboards – better than most desktops’ (omg is my parents’ one awful), never mind other laptops’. I actually went to stores specifically to test the keyboards even though I planned to order online because they usually suck so bad, back when I got it, and that was one of the deciding factors in what brand I picked. The newer IBM home models are IdeaPad rather than ThinkPad, but I think they have the same keyboards.
        
        Plus when I busted the catch bit under a single key cap trying to clean under it, they sent a whole new replacement keyboard free. (It turns out to be customer-replaceable.) Their customer service is incredible… as long as you’re under warranty.
        
        The new keyboard cover thing that comes with the Windows Surface tablet is surprisingly nice, too, as it turns out. And I usually hate those really flat, soft laptop keyboards.
        
        As for these key stickers, it strikes me they would actually be very useful for people who want to type Dvorak. I don’t think they’re particularly attractive, though.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585980332 Eddie Ruminski
    
    Yeah, if he had used an Apple keyboard then his post would have also included the screams of pain coming from his wrists from using one of the most unergonomic keyboards around ;)
    - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
      
      Ah, now ergonomics is something else entirely – but that wasn’t the point – and also not an issue for 95% of computer users (no more than the 54 other ergonomic factors involved, anyway). Also, more importantly, I’m sure I read recently how those ‘ergonomic’ keyboards (the split ones that slope away from you) are actually terrible for your wrists and the design is based on a misconception [citation needed].
      
      Now if you were talking about the Magic Mouse it would be a very different conversation :) I moved to a trackball after an accident ensured that eventually I would get arthritis in my right wrist – and using anything else makes it feel imminent.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585980332 Eddie Ruminski
        
        I’ll have to dig around for the info on the spit board ergonomics you mentioned, very interesting. Though I am just going by personal comfort experience (I use a Mac keyboard at work still, and other keyboards at home)
        
        But as for the magic mouse – agreed, I can hear arthritis knocking at the door every time I even so much as look at it.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        I have a feeling it was to do with the fact it was designed around certain ‘ideal’ conditions that are met only by the most rigorous ergonomic typists. i.e. if you’re just an average person at an average desk they won’t do you any favours.
        
        But this is a vague memory, I like to leave that as a caveat just in case I dreamt it – which is ALWAYS a possibility.
      - http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi
        
        I was doing a fair chunk of coding for a while, and after a lifetime of being a complete nerd my wrists were starting to really get painful. I switched to one ergonomic keyboard and things got a little better for a few weeks, but then rapidly got much, much worse. I’d put down the initial relief to the fact that I was simply changing positions, and the much much worse to the keyboard.
        
        I then switched to a less curvy, flatter design, but still with a distinct curve. Things got much better after that.
      - Emily Bond
        
        I believe that – I find those things incredibly uncomfortable to use. How it could be ergonomic to have either have your wrists twisted 45 degrees in, or else your elbows out like a chicken? (They also seem to be designed for way bigger hands than mine, but that’s the least of their problems.)
        
        If the Magic Mouse is what Apple calls that one-button hockey puck… holy design fail, Batman!
    - http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker
      
      The interesting thing is, the ergonomic issues when using the Mac have to do with, if I’m laying down with the machine on my chest, my wrists are against the sharp edge of the machine (due to it being a 15.4″ 16:10 machine), whereas on a 15″ 4:3 machine, or a 14.1″ 16:10 machine, they aren’t.
  - Charlie B
    
    Having used a great many Apple keyboards, I prefer not to.
bumblebeeeeeee

good luck sticking them all on straight and neat.
- vonbobo
  
  My thought too… it’s going to look like garbage.
  
  Kudos to the website for full disclosure though…
  
  “This mod takes some nimble fingers and patience but the results are stunning.
  Please Note: Care should be taken to get the keys properly positioned before pressing the wood pieces in place. If you’re careful, removal is possible without damage to the keyboard.
  Difficulty Level: Advanced”
  
  I wonder if a jig would help with the process? I’m impressed if the finished result in the product photos were really done by hand and eye alone?
  - bumblebeeeeeee
    
    It’s good they say that. I would think the skill required is beyond most people. You gotta be used to working with nibble fingers.
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

$40

Very economical, almost as cost-effective as…not buying them
- bumblebeeeeeee
  
  price seems fair for the work gone in to them. Most things we buy are as non-essential as these. It’s for people to decide if they want it or not.
DewiMorgan

This is so very, very Apple-owner.
http://fallsastar.com Crashproof

This just seems tacky, whereas an actual wooden keyboard seems… well, somewhere in a range between silly and kind of maybe classy.

I want one made of Scrabble tiles. Genuine, used, well-worn Scrabble tiles.
- Andrew Pautz
  
  http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/handcrafted-scrabble-keyboard-could-stand-to-be-commercialized/
- princessalex
  
  You mean like this one?