OCT.10.2026 - #85

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been watching Google Japan continue the 10/1 wacky keyboard day tradition, reading the #1's of Marvel's horror Midnight universe as news of its upcoming issues are announced at NYCC, diving deep into the differences between Mac and Windows keyboard evolutions, and finally starting to play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — with the co-op mod for my partner and I!

Let jump right into the features!

→ I love my iPod classic, however, when I first got it a few years ago, I greatly underestimated how difficult and annoying it would be to use modern Macs + old iTunes in order to load it up with my music. I struggled to even get the device recognized on my Macbook, and I was only saved when I had access to a Windows machine with an older version of iTunes installed. I even weighed the cost of loading the iPod with custom firmware — my concern was bricking this new device I just got my hands on, so I held off. And oh boy am I glad I did. This week I came across Clickwill, an iTunes/music manager alternative specifically made for iPod Classics rocking OG Apple firmware. Some of the legacy → modern Apple headaches still apply, but Clickwheel — even in its Alpha stage — has made it 10x easier. I can change album artwork, re-order tracks, fix metadata typos, and ensure I don't have any duplicate files. The nicest feature here is the automatic backup, meaning save states of the iPod and tracks are made so you can revert to a previous state at any time, before any new changes are applied. Can't wait to see how this niche piece of software grows and what updates are in store!

→ Creating a “second brain” using something like Obsidian, Craft, or even Apple Notes can be a daunting task. I am always touting the payoff once it's all set up, as most of my life, notes, journal, and work live in Obsidian, but it took a lot of setup and tweaking to get it to its optimized state. That high barrier of entry is why I can never recommend many of these apps — but Gather was created by Kerri Brillinger to combat that exact problem. It's a personal dashboard for your life to take notes, tackle tasks, track hobbies, and reflect on whatever you need. Onboarding was super simple, drops you right into a workspace to record and hit the ground running right away — super local, runs on every device, no plugins or setup required, you can just hop right in. It's the perfect recommendation for anyone who's looked at those other apps and immediately felt overwhelmed.

→ KeebKit, a one-man independent keyboard publication that produces build guides, reviews, best-of lists, and other cool keeb finding tools, just released an in-depth study into the RGB tax. This is a very common marketing tactic I see all over keyboard advertising — the battery/longevity of a device is often promoted using the “lights off” number, but for many manufacturers, the default RGB setting is one where the light are on. KeebKit found that 24 out of the 30 wireless boards they tested used this “lights off” statistic, even though those very same boards ship with RGB blasting right out the box. I've always found this interesting, but of course never had the time to comb through all the data provided by the manufacturers. Hats off to KeebKit, especially for all the due diligence they put into disclosing how they got their data and how it can affect a buyer's decision. Highly recommend giving this one a read if you're in the market for a new board, or if you want to see just how outlandish the claims of some companies can get. The nifty chart above was provided by KeebKit exclusively for the newsletter and gives a quick breakdown of the ratio between on versus off stats for some major boards!

→ Ending off the week is a huge collection from The Kap Co and Hot Wheels. Over 20 speed-themed keyboard products are packed into this release — including 1 keyboard, 2 keycaps sets, 2 artisans, and tons of deskmats! My favourites here have to be the classic deskmat with the iconic Hot Wheels logo and the checkered flag wrist-rest to match. I think the keycaps are a little kitschy, but regardless I think they fit the vibe of this official collection very well. If you're a big baller and want it all, they even have a legendary collector's edition available to pick up every item in the collection in one fell swoop!

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it, and now it’s time to hear from YOU 🫵. I want to know your opinion—what you liked, what you loved, what you didn’t like, what you skipped. Email [email protected] (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!