Inexperienced typists just don’t get it.

To convey proper nuance in text, I don’t always want exactly 1 letter “A” when I press the “A” key. Using uniform whole letters can seem jarring and mechanical, particularly when writing personal email. Sometimes a message composer only wants, say, 0.95 “A”, just to soften the letter out. Other times, it’s nice to smooth the letter out a bit, letting it fade out gently across the length of the word instead of being uncomfortably square.

These mechanical keyboards are usually tuned to be “warmer”, as well–when you press that “A” key, it has overtones and harmonics from other vowels. A little bit of “E” goes a long way, but true “golden fingers” agree that plenty of “O” adds mellowness and roundness.

The adoption of these digital, non-mechanical keyboards is also one of the major reasons why emotion and subtext – especially related to humor – are so often lost in text-based messaging.