When Apple announced their smorgasbord of product refreshes last week, the first thing I did was order a Mac Mini. Okay, that’s just a reflex, but after that was taken care of, I started to think; something is different, and I don’t like it. I’m fairly certain the source of my mild dissatisfaction with the recent announcements stemmed from the absence of that Steve Jobs touch.

I’m not much a fan of keyboard covers. I mean, I get their importance; I learned that on my first freelance gig for a guy who happened to be a heavy smoker. Although his walls, curtains, computer and desktop had all turned various shades of a sickly yellow color, his keyboard was sparkly clean because it was under a protective silicone cover. Made me wish I had one for my lungs.

But I’ve never liked the feel of them, aside from on laptops. The covers made the keys feel squishy, like trying to type through a balloon. And although they generally fit fairly well, there would inevitably one or two keys the cover had to stretch to fit, causing it to sit too high on the neighboring keys. Except for in the most extreme of work environments, keyboard covers just were never worth the effort.

GadgetWrap’s KeySkins have put an end to that, making them the first keyboard protectors I will continue to use once the review period is over.