✍️ Why Starting the New Year with a New Keyboard is Making All the Difference for Me

or, How Full Circle is a Step Forward

Home comes in many forms.

For example, my keyboard died about a year ago. I didn’t realize exactly how big a deal that was until recently.

See, when I went to get a replacement, I found out that Microsoft had stopped making my beloved Sculpt – apparently got out of accessories altogether – a year or two before.

I want to be clear here how devastating this news was. The Microsoft Sculpt seemed to be designed just for me. I write with my feet up, keyboard on my lap. The lightweight Sculpt could be moved around easily, had a curved surface (as the name implies) that allowed my wrists to fall just so, and had the keys in perfect alignment so I can fly from “g” to “+” to “End” to “Backspace” without looking. Without thinking. My Sculpt keyboard was as close to a telepathic connection with my word processor as I ever want to curry. Plus, it fit nicely in my computer backpack, making it easy to travel with.

Then, it was gone.

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There are many bad things going on in the world, and a discontinued keyboard is nothing compared to the size and scale of global events. I have the ability to put my outrageous fortune in perspective.

On the other hand, the right tool for the job makes all the difference. And in this case, my tool is my keyboard.

I had to find a replacement, and stat. I tried everywhere for a new Sculpt. No joy. I started looking in places like Reddit. Surely, other people must have the same love for the Sculpt as I did? Yes. Yes there are. So many in fact that it is mind-boggling that Microsoft would just up and leave the market.

It was on these message boards that I first heard about InCase, a company that had essentially bought the licence to manufacture Sculpt and other Microscoft accessories. Perfect!

But not so fast... By Christmas 2024, it had been almost a year since they put their first “Coming Soon” notification on their website. Their US website, I should add. On their Canadian website, the thing didn’t exist even in theory.

“Coming (Not to Canada) Soon”

I settled on a Logitech keyboard as a replacement. Any differences, I figured, would be soon be overcome with repetitive use. Humans are highly adaptable creatures.

…except, apparently, in this case. I never really got the hang of the Logitech. It’s bigger and bulkier. Worse, my fingers never seemed to find the right keys with any consistency. I’d hit an errant key somehow, and suddenly I’m looking at a blank desktop. Other times, my whole Word doc would shut down. It was unnerving and annoying.

It’s not a bad keyboard – it’s well made and mostly comfortable to type on. If you love yours, I’m happy for you! It also means you know what I’m saying about loving mine, and maybe what it was like to lose it.

But all that’s in the past now. My wonderful wife Noël got me an InCase Sculpt keyboard this Christmas. (Even now, another year later, they are hard to find, apparently!)

And oh, how my fingers now sing on my new Sculpt! It’s like typing on air. I’m churning out word after word without a second thought. Without interruptions to backspace, fix a word, or find my way back from some seedy corner of Windows 10. Without wandering stressed in a foreign land.

It feels just like coming home.

Key(board) Takeaway: The tools you use matter! I go out of my way to make sure I get the tools that work best for me, and it makes all the difference.

Over to You

Do you have any must-have tools for writing… or otherwise? Let us know in the comments below!

Until next time, keep writing with wild abandon!

~Graham

email me if you get lost.