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That LAN party back in 2003 where I first saw a custom keyboard
Went to a buddy's house in Cleveland for a Quake 3 tournament. Someone brought a hand-wired ergodox with Alps switches in a cut up cardboard case. Changed my whole view on what a keyboard could be. Anybody else remember their first encounter with a non-stock board?
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valgibson1mo ago
...and that "beige nightmare" story kills me because it describes half the boards at those early meets perfectly. I swear every third guy had something held together with duct tape and prayers. That ergodox in a cardboard case though, that was like seeing the future in a pizza box. It was so crude but so clearly intentional, like someone actually thought about where each finger landed instead of just accepting the staggered rows we all grew up on. The crazy thing is how that moment stuck with me, made me realize keyboards weren't just tools handed down from some factory, they could be personal projects. Did the tape on that nightmare ever come off, or did it become part of the board's identity forever?
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robinwalker1mo ago
Did you glue your fingers to those switches afterward or did you manage to pry them loose eventually? I had a similar awakening when some guy showed up with a keyboard covered in electrical tape and labeled "the beige nightmare." Still not sure if it was a prototype or a cry for help.
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