There were once many alternative suppliers for full-height "SA-style" keycaps. Made in the USA, too. Then everyone decided that $5 was the right amount to spend on the only part of a computer that requires tactile feedback all day. And so all but very few of the US manufacturers were driven out of the country or out of business.
The fact that SP survived
at all is wonderful. And the fact that now they have enough business to keep the factory running is fantastic. This was not the case when Nuclear Data Green was first produced. Some of the molds had to be found in nooks and crannies as very few people were interested in the original designs.
So, as people who appreciate the sweet goodness of proper keyboards, we should celebrate SP's success. And perhaps pause to remember that we are asking a custom plastic molding factory with decades of history to stop what it is doing and satisfy our immediate cravings. Go try to get Unicomp (née IBM Keyboards) to do that for you!
Some GeekHack history from 07 March 2014.Such lovely things, now shiny and new, are worth the wait.
- Ron | samwisekoi
Auto-typed by my GH-122 keyboard.
