A thing of beauty...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I find that I must inform you of the latest "must have" item identified by the Athenaeum Club. It must be possible to commission one from somewhere, or one supposes one could have the butler follow the methodology outlined.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to the Steampunk Keyboard.



I think you will agree, it is an absolute necessity for any lady or gentleman of refinement and taste.

Pip, pip!

A thing of beauty...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I find that I must inform you of the latest "must have" item identified by the Athenaeum Club. It must be possible to commission one from somewhere, or one supposes one could have the butler follow the methodology outlined.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to the Steampunk Keyboard.



I think you will agree, it is an absolute necessity for any lady or gentleman of refinement and taste.

Pip, pip!

Baroque and Roll

Finding the baroque goodness that is the steampunk keyboard for my last posting, I have been thinking about technology and how dull so much of it is. A number of people commented along the lines that the keyboard is 'gorgeous' and some said that they want all their tech to look like it. Well, so do I.

Going back for a moment, to the mid 1980s, I used regularly to sit in the pub amidst pools of beer and clouds of smoke with boroshan (back in the days before he was, indeed, boroshan and before I was caddyman or any of the roots that name derived from)and regularly lambast his computer-programming soul with my frustration at the small green and black screened terminal in the recess at the end of the corridor at work. He told me a number of times that my descriptions of my trials with that unco-operative brute made him think of a darkened cell containing a large gothic thing with a small screen, teak and ivory keys and large brass piping leading off into the ceiling like some cathedral organ, probably with faint airs from Bach being played on the edge of hearing. We agreed then and there that technology should look like that; I don't know if steampunk had been devised at that point, but I wasn't aware of the concept as such. Nonetheless, it felt right and it feels right now.

There is a lot to be said for modern minimalist design, but a bit of rococo gilt still has its place and I don't see why technology shouldn't be disguised to look more homely and inviting.Why shouldn't we be able to switch the telly on by flipping the head on an ornate bronze statue and pressing a button concealed in the neck?

Baroque and Roll

Finding the baroque goodness that is the steampunk keyboard for my last posting, I have been thinking about technology and how dull so much of it is. A number of people commented along the lines that the keyboard is 'gorgeous' and some said that they want all their tech to look like it. Well, so do I.

Going back for a moment, to the mid 1980s, I used regularly to sit in the pub amidst pools of beer and clouds of smoke with boroshan (back in the days before he was, indeed, boroshan and before I was caddyman or any of the roots that name derived from)and regularly lambast his computer-programming soul with my frustration at the small green and black screened terminal in the recess at the end of the corridor at work. He told me a number of times that my descriptions of my trials with that unco-operative brute made him think of a darkened cell containing a large gothic thing with a small screen, teak and ivory keys and large brass piping leading off into the ceiling like some cathedral organ, probably with faint airs from Bach being played on the edge of hearing. We agreed then and there that technology should look like that; I don't know if steampunk had been devised at that point, but I wasn't aware of the concept as such. Nonetheless, it felt right and it feels right now.

There is a lot to be said for modern minimalist design, but a bit of rococo gilt still has its place and I don't see why technology shouldn't be disguised to look more homely and inviting.Why shouldn't we be able to switch the telly on by flipping the head on an ornate bronze statue and pressing a button concealed in the neck?

My Dears, it gets worse (or better)

One arrived back at the Athenaeum Club after a hard day's running the country, to find the inestimable colonel_maxim in something of a lather.

It seems that someone from his friends' list had gone one better than the steampunk keyboard. Sadly, one does not have access to that journal, but rarely does Google let one down in times of extremis. I therefore present the steampunk computer



And as it says on the chap's site, ( the obligatory sepia shot )

My Dears, it gets worse (or better)

One arrived back at the Athenaeum Club after a hard day's running the country, to find the inestimable colonel_maxim in something of a lather.

It seems that someone from his friends' list had gone one better than the steampunk keyboard. Sadly, one does not have access to that journal, but rarely does Google let one down in times of extremis. I therefore present the steampunk computer



And as it says on the chap's site, ( the obligatory sepia shot )

Great name!

I have just received spam email from one Napoleon Klinghoffer!

Fantastic!

Great name!

I have just received spam email from one Napoleon Klinghoffer!

Fantastic!