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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: wmcbrine on Tue, 14 January 2020, 04:38:19

Title: "Intecolor keyboards", or, an Unexpected Tension between Communities
Post by: wmcbrine on Tue, 14 January 2020, 04:38:19

Over on vcfed.org, I was surprised to read a post that began "So I bought this with the intent of keeping it out of the hands of the keyboard people." Ouch. I'm pretty new to both of these forums, and I hope I'm not expected to choose sides. I'm more of a vintage computer guy myself, if anything; but of course, I recognize that the main part of (some) old computers that's still useful for anything beyond nostalgia is... the keyboard.

Anyway, I hadn't heard of the Intecolor, and wondered what would make it interesting to "the keyboard people". Check it out:

(https://oldcomputers.net/pics/compucolor-8001-keyboard.jpg)

Quote

The Compucolor 8001 keyboard, from Collimation, Inc., is very unique. It does not have any mechanical contact or switches to wear out or get dirty. The keys are all optically-encoded - they move coded masks which either pass on interrupt light beams emanating from light emitting diodes (LEDs) at one end of the keyboard, and detected by an array of photo-diodes at the other end.

-- https://oldcomputers.net/compucolor-8001.html

Title: Re: "Intecolor keyboards", or, an Unexpected Tension between Communities
Post by: yui on Tue, 14 January 2020, 05:28:16

I guess the guy fear of the keyswitch/keycap collector who would detroy the keyboard to get one switch, or the keycaps (peoples like old timey multicolored keycaps), depending on the price of the board, those peoples are most likely rare, the most likely was that he would have been sold to someone who would have not done much with it.
Or he might know someone with the machine that this should plug into (given the size of those cables not a modern PC) and wanted one for a while. those are only guesses only the guy you quote know for sure what he feared for this keyboard.

Title: Re: "Intecolor keyboards", or, an Unexpected Tension between Communities
Post by: Sup on Tue, 14 January 2020, 05:57:16

It's not really sought after in the keyboard community. If it had super nice key-caps and switches you could use on a modern keyboard then people would be hunting these keyboards. Look at the old Alps keyboards with WKL lay-out those are the most sought after keyboards to be harvested for there key-caps and stabilizers to be used on customs.

Or they are talking about Deskthority they do hunt almost any vintage keyboard just to hoard them  :)) but they would never destroy history they would document it instead or maybe try to convert it to USB.

Title: Re: "Intecolor keyboards", or, an Unexpected Tension between Communities
Post by: jacethesaltsculptor on Tue, 14 January 2020, 10:55:55

I've seen to a degree how other Keyboard communities can be more, "high strung" if I can even describe it that way.

/r/Mechanicalkeyboards, likes new tiny keyboards, most anything else is pushed to the side.

Deskthority loves it's old keyboards,

and here we tinker.

Of the lot I think Geekhack is the most laid back, and most general. It's also got a good history to back it up.

But no, I'm sure no-one is going to give you problems for posting anywhere you like, I do frequently.