I Want One!
Sunday, 6 July 2014 14:01![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsI learned to type on a Royal portable typewriter that had been modified with a chemical keyboard so my mother could type my father's Masters thesis in Chemistry at Cornell circa 1950. Yes, the action was hard, but definite. And typing on glass keys was oh so smooth. ***
Back in the PC AT era, I commented that someone needed to make an executive keyboard of wood and brass with glass keys. Not only would it look lovely, it would feel nice to type on. There have been a few, but not widespread.
The steampunk era, along with fans of typewriters, have created a few typewriter keyboards, but they have to have all those keys equipped with switches, etc. And then then don't have all the useful keys.
So in the wee hours last night I saw a link to an article about a successful Kickstarter to produce a modern typewriter style keyboard. With round glass keys. USB or Bluetooth. The platen area can be used to hold a tablet. It doesn't appear to be very large, compared to some 104-key full-size keyboards.
The Qwerkytoys Mechanical Keyboard can be seen here now. Looks like it won't be available until 2015 and the price is not set, though the Kickstarter price was some $250-300. So it's not cheap.
But oh what fun it could be if it feels nice... (grin)
Dr. Phil
*** -- A friend on Facebook asked when the last time I used it. Probably for typing envelopes and possibly when we lived on Henry Street when we first moved down here. But I know I was typing papers and stories up to 1986. After we got the IBM Personal Computer -- the last of the Model 5152s with the scorching Intel 8088 processor running at 4.77 MHz -- and later the Toshiba P321SL printer, the typewriter was set aside.
Back in the PC AT era, I commented that someone needed to make an executive keyboard of wood and brass with glass keys. Not only would it look lovely, it would feel nice to type on. There have been a few, but not widespread.
The steampunk era, along with fans of typewriters, have created a few typewriter keyboards, but they have to have all those keys equipped with switches, etc. And then then don't have all the useful keys.
So in the wee hours last night I saw a link to an article about a successful Kickstarter to produce a modern typewriter style keyboard. With round glass keys. USB or Bluetooth. The platen area can be used to hold a tablet. It doesn't appear to be very large, compared to some 104-key full-size keyboards.
The Qwerkytoys Mechanical Keyboard can be seen here now. Looks like it won't be available until 2015 and the price is not set, though the Kickstarter price was some $250-300. So it's not cheap.
But oh what fun it could be if it feels nice... (grin)
Dr. Phil
*** -- A friend on Facebook asked when the last time I used it. Probably for typing envelopes and possibly when we lived on Henry Street when we first moved down here. But I know I was typing papers and stories up to 1986. After we got the IBM Personal Computer -- the last of the Model 5152s with the scorching Intel 8088 processor running at 4.77 MHz -- and later the Toshiba P321SL printer, the typewriter was set aside.
