Amidst all the techy-tech at the World’s Fair Nano in San Francisco was an unassuming display of an anachronistic, but popular, series of objects: Mechanical keyboards. At Kono Mechanical Keyboards‘ table two self-professed keyboard geeks, one of them Reddit Senior Designer Michael Farrell and the other Kono CEO Andrew Lekashman were, well, geeking out over the pressure, tactility, clicks and materials choices of a variety of keys.

I followed their chat as best I could but it was all g(r)eek to me. However Kono’s design branch, Input Club, has a website with helpful descriptions of the different key types they were raving about:

Tactile Clicky Keyboard Switch

Options: Light, Medium or Heavy Actuation Force

The tactile clicky switch often referred to as the “blue” switch due to the color of the slider makes a click sound as the switch is pressed. Generally this switch has a pronounced tactile bump right before it clicks. Blue Switches have a two-part slider mechanism that produces the loud click.

Tactile Keyboard Switch

Options: Light, Medium or Heavy Actuation Force

Legend has it that the Tactile Quiet or Brown Mechanical switch was developed as a quieter alternative to the Tactile Clicky Blue switch that could be used in corporate workspaces. The primary feature of the Tactile Quiet switch is its tactile bump, which provides this wonderful feeling when you have successfully pressed down a key. There is still a slight noise that is produced, so it is not entirely without audible feedback, but this switch is more about the feeling at your fingertips than anything else.

Linear Keyboard Switch

Options: Light, Medium or Heavy Actuation Force

The linear keyboard switch has been around for a long time. It has no tactile or audible feedback for the user which means that the user has to either bottom the switch out every time to ensure they are past the actuation point or the user needs to learn where the actuation point is over time and become accustomed to it.

Kono’s programmable, customizable offerings–“you can set any key…to do anything you want,” the company writes–include the minimalist Infinity Keyboard; 

The WhiteFox Mechanical Keyboard, which can be had in DIY kit form;

The K-Type Mechanical Keyboard, which features RGB backlighting; 

And the Infinity ErgoDox Mechanical Keyboard, for those who desire a split unit.

If you’re interested in diving in, you can mess around with Kono’s Keyboard Configurator.

I was also impressed with the case each keyboard comes with; the fabric and the zipper pulls felt high-quality and the case was suitably sturdy.

“I gotta warn you,” Farrell said to me at Kono’s table, “if you get into these things, it’s a real rabbit-hole.”

When a guy who works for Reddit tells you something is a rabbit-hole, you know it’s a rabbit-hole.