The mechanical keyboard hobby takes patience; just look at firmware customization: testing litterally requires keystrokes.

I'm on a Mac keyboard bent for the very reason, actually,

Mouse firmware sounds very cool, though. If you could access a layer by holding down a central button, that could open up neat possibilities.

And all of us have owned multiple keyboards that have lasted for years of daily heavy use without a single key failing. Even the $30 membranes you could buy at $local_retailer didn't fail in a month.