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Top-level
Marcin Wichary

21.
This is one of the most rare keyboards I have – the strange abKey Evolution imported through a friend from Singapore – a keyboard that tried to reinvent perhaps one thing too many. Wrote more about it here: newsletter.shifthappens.site/a

48 comments
Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

22.

And this one from Commodore is not really that unique, except it has this fun property – it reverses the usual beige colour scheme making the keys inside darker. It’s kinda neat!

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

23.
This is a really cheap Bulgarian keyboard with such a poor build quality it cannot be unseen! I wrote more about it here: newsletter.shifthappens.site/a

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

24.
Oh, it gets worse. This calculator keyboard is so cheap it’s not a keyboard at all – just an exposed PCB with a pen to complete the circuit. More about it here: newsletter.shifthappens.site/a

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

25.
And this is the opposite, an incredibly well-built IBM Model F banking typewriter with an enclosure made out of zinc. Hefty enough to stop a bank robbery? Perhaps. More here: newsletter.shifthappens.site/a

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

Halfway through! I need a bit of a break. Is this interesting? Should I keep going!?

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

26.
If your bank robbery goes poorly, you probably end up typing on this Swintec, transparent so that no contraband could be hidden inside. More about transparent tech for prisons in this Techmoan video: youtube.com/watch?v=O3Pfsndsih

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

27.
This simple braille keyboard – Tellatouch – was gorgeous and important. Type a key on one side, and the right braille letter assembles itself on the other.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

28.
This is a more modern version of an adjacent idea. Connect this device to a phone line, and you can speak even if you cannot talk. (Also, I just love any time a keyboard lands itself next to a segmented display.)

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

29.
The creators of this Seiko keyboard recognized a watch with a keyboard wouldn’t make sense – so you could dock your watch and type this way. (I don’t have the watch itself. Too expensive!)

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

30.
Just kidding! Here’s a keyboard on another Seiko watch. It’s an index keyboard – you don’t touch the keys directly, just move the cursor left and right like on Apple TV – since the keys are smaller than 1mm.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

31.
This TI calculator for school use has tiny keys… in between other keys. What a strange thing.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

32.
This calculator went… a different way.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

33.
I love hybrid things and in-betweeners. This tiny Panasonic Toughbook asks a question: what if a BlackBerry keyboard, but twice the width?

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

34.
This one, for TermiFlex, is a one-hand operation, inspired by phone keypads. There are three shifts under your long fingers!

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

35.
Speaking of complex shortcuts, look at this Apple keyboard with Avid software keycaps. The icon on Z is my favourite. I don’t even wanna know what this function does.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

36.
One among many foldable keyboards – this one for Palm devices (RIP).

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

37.
This Sony remote had a built-in keyboard for typing in MiniDisc titles.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

38.
And *this* Sony keyboard had two numeric keypads going in two different directions! One for typical calculator use, and one inspired by mobile phones to allow to chat as easily for people who got used to chatting that way.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

39.
Very happy (and also maybe also a little concerned) to report I am in possession of the entire ProHance lineup of the strange pointing device/keyboard hybrids!

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

40.
But it’s amazing how rarely the graphical user interfaces and keyboards intersect. This here – an old AT&T terminal keyboard – is an exception, providing dedicated keys for window management.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

41.
I had to get this keyboard for a now-obscure Harris word processor, just because LOOK AT THE SHAPE OF THIS ENTER KEY.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

42.
I have seen so many keyboards, but only this one – from a strange titling device meant to be connected to your TV – treats uppercase and lowercase exactly like all the other shifted and unshifted symbols. (With the exception of keyboards for kids, I assume!)

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

43.
Back in the day, keyboards were so expensive that you often started on a “training” keyboard that came without the machine connected to it. Here’s a training keyboard for a Linotype, which is itself a fascinating machine.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

44.
Here’s another one for the first popular line of desk calculators that predates a 10-key keypad.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

45.
(I also have the actual calculator, called a Comptometer. It’s beautiful, really fun to use, and honestly a work of art. A truly impressive machine from the bygone era. I bought it because I was so impressed reading what it can do.)

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

46.
Here’s another practice keyboard, with a record to play to teach you how to type!

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

47.
And here’s the most modern version of a practice keyboard I know of – itself a small computer. After that, the likes of Mavis Beacon took over teaching typing in software.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

48.
Speaking of the 1980s, keyboards from failed computers often found a second life as Radio Shack components you could reuse in your DIY projects. Here’s one from a home computer called Coleco Adam.

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

49.
While we’re speaking about failed computers, this is One Laptop Per Child’s interesting-looking keyboard. (I think OLPC is considered a failure? I’m not 100% sure. This computer is not in the book, so I haven’t researched that carefully.)

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

50. And here is Canon Cat, maybe my favourite failed machine of all time. Look at these Leap keys! I’m somewhat in love with this machine.

newsletter.shifthappens.site/a

Marcin Wichary replied to Marcin

That’s it! I hope you liked this sneak peek of my collection– if you did, consider backing the book since this is the level of quality I’ve been aiming at for the visual side… there are a lot more photos like these, and of course a lot more great stories attached to them.

kickstarter.com/projects/mwich

Sara Joy :happy_pepper: replied to Marcin

@mwichary gah. I really want this book but can't really justify it. Maybe there'll be an edition in future that I will treat myself to ❤️

Kyle Bradbury replied to Marcin

@mwichary I loved it, and I’m so excited for the book. Thank you!

Axel ⌨🐧🐪🚴😷 | R.I.P Natenom replied to Marcin

@mwichary: Thanks for that thread. Gives me much more of an idea what to expect from your book.

knack replied to Marcin

@mwichary On the "Strange Ergonomics" front, I'm strongly considering the KeyMouse, which has a concept I've not seen anywhere else...

e.pilot replied to Marcin
annaraven replied to Marcin

@mwichary How cool! Looking forward to the book coming out just around the time for my sweetie's birthday...

Brandon Kennedy replied to Marcin

@mwichary LOVED this and am super-excited for the book!

Bill Dunbar :verified_coffee: replied to Marcin

@mwichary this was awesome! Thank you! I can’t wait to get the book.

Paolo Amoroso replied to Marcin

@mwichary Your book is gorgeous, I backed your kickstarter within minutes of being notified, and I look forward to receiving it.

But perhaps a photo gallery (e.g. Flickr or Google Photos) or a traditional blog may be better for publishing dozens of photos. Doing so on a microblogging platform saturates the feed.

Marcin Wichary replied to Paolo

@amoroso What’s really nice in this scenario is the engagement – people can comment and share individual photos or talk to each other about a specific keyboard that resonated with them. With a blog post or Flickr or whatever you get a monolithic dead gallery.

Thanks for backing!

Paolo Amoroso replied to Marcin

@mwichary Good point. Still, it may help to announce you're going to post a lot so that your followers are prepared.

stojg replied to Marcin

@mwichary sir, you are as absolutely bonkers as some of these keyboards.

Tom replied to Marcin

@mwichary Any keyboards out there with a dedicated “quit vi” key?

nemo20000 replied to Marcin

@mwichary Here’s a keyboard you won’t have seen.
Prototype typesetting system. PS2 interface.

Marcin Wichary replied to nemo20000

@nemo20000 Where could I learn more about this!?

nemo20000 replied to Marcin

@mwichary I don’t know. This one came to me from someone who had it in their garage for a long time after getting it from someone else. Professionally made metal case and PCBs with a couple of wire patches. socketed PIC16C73A microcrontroller, 7 other 74 logic chips. Bears the serial number 1015 which suggests a couple of dozen were made.
Numeric keypad and 3×4 above are separate PCBs on ribbon cables but ALL the rest is a single PCB so perhaps there were (intended) options.
192 keys!

nemo20000 replied to nemo20000

@mwichary Four LEDs, including “S2” which is one of the red keys on the left.
PS2 to USB interfaces simply can’t cope with the custom PS2 codes produced by the nonstandard keys, resulting in ghosting, persistent held keys and other horrors. I could drag out one of my old machines with a PS2 interface and write a driver, but to what end?
The plan is to replace the PIC with a Pi or equivalent and do a proper USB interface. It’s a good plan and has been for years! One day, one day.

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