this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2024
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Mechanical Keyboards

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Hail Mary question here, in case someone somewhere knows something:

In the late 90s, I lived in the UK in Hampshire. One weekend, I went to a local computer show in Portsmouth or Southampton. You know, a few tables in a community center with people selling all kinds of computer bits.

A small UK company had a booth there and sold a really interesting keyboard. It might have been the manufacturer, or a local importer. I don't remember. But the keyboard had a UK layout. I bought one.

The keyboard was a folding full-size beige 102-key mechanical keyboard with a chunky coiled cable and an AT interface. It was built like a tank and had really good clicky switches. Basically imagine a slightly lighter model-M sawed in two with a mechanical hinge in the middle, allowing the keyboard to fold in two, with the keys on the inside facing each other.

It was a great keyboard, and while it didn't fold into a particularly compact package and wasn't light by any stretch of the imagination, it fit great in a small suitcase and protected itself naturally by sandwiching the keys in the middle. And it folded with a loud, satisfying clunk 🙂

I loved that keyboard, but I lost it in a move 20 years ago. I've been trying to find out who made it and what it was for years, but I was never able to find anything at all. The only hits that come up when I search for folding mechanical keyboards are those awful miniature battery-powered bluetooth keyboards for cellphones.

Does anybody know what that keyboard might have been?

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[–] otter@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

That sounds really cool! This likely doesn't answer your question, but I found some things while googling that might be of interest to you / others seeing this post.

While looking for any old foldable keyboards with a UK layout, I found this company and their website looked outdated (footer last updated in 2011?): https://matias.ca/foldingkeyboard/

On their about page:

Matias began in 1989, in Edgar Matias’ parents’ basement, in a suburb of Toronto. Since that time, it has survived the dot-com boom & bust, the Great Recession, and every other manner of calamity.

The two main co-founders (Edgar Matias and Steve McGowan) have grown it into a globally recognized brand, known for high quality and [...]

Matias has also gained a reputation for “rescuing” lost technologies, the most famous example being the ALPS mechanical keyswitches in its award-winning Tactile Pro Keyboards.

I also found this article/video from the CBC archives from 33 years ago, about how Edgar was trying to make a better one-handed keyboard: https://www.cbc.ca/archives/one-handed-keyboard-1991-1.5902406

Since their website looked outdated I went looking to see if the company died, but it turn out they ARE still alive, and not only that, but they were at CES this year!

This week at CES, Matias debuted a whole new line of keyboards and mice for fans of wireless USB‑C — and they all connect to the world’s smallest wireless receiver for USB‑C, a first for the industry

Link: https://matias.ca/wireless-usbc/pr/PR%20-%20Matias%20Wireless%20USB-C.pdf

Cool that they are still doing stuff :)

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

~~Again sorry this doesn't answer your question, I looked through their products and didn't spot something matching what you described. This is more just me sharing something cool I learned.~~

~~Although, if the company was working on similar things way back then, maybe they might be able to lead you in the right direction if you got in touch :)~~

Refreshed the page and saw others got the right one! Enjoy the story anyways 😄