Richard "Datamancer" Nagy is designing retro-tech machines.
Isn't that laptop awesome?
I've long thought that an aesthetic has been (temporarily?) lost when machines took over building everything. To build machines like they built them in the eighteen hundreds would be impossible today, by and large, simply because wages are much higher, particularly for the skilled craftsmen who would be needed.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a great loss compared to the great enhancement in overall economy and quality of life the industrial revolution has engendered.
By the way, Richard is building me one of his keyboards, I ordered it last month. I'm much looking forward to getting it.
Richard likes inventing terms like "The Nagy Magical-Movable-Type Pixello-Dynamotronic Computational Engine".
Perhaps I should get him to write lyrics for my band Rust City Neo Dada Post Punk Sunrise Orchestra.
(Formerly the Fish Out of Water Musical Time Control Coalition.)
Wayne commented:
I think we have lost much with the plastic mass-produced 'machines' we have today. The artistry of the victorian era is long gone, and what little is left, is priced way beyond the ability of the common man to own.
eolake said...
To be fair, it also was so back then.
Today's average citizen in the west can own far more nice things than he could in the victorian era. You can debate the aesthetic of many of them, but that's rather esoteric for most people.
You'll need a monitor to go with that keyboard....
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stuff!
ReplyDeleteAlso, interesting resources on his links page.
I think that machines making things have improved aestethically more than without it.
ReplyDeleteWay cool ...
ReplyDeleteI think we have lost much with the plastic mass-produced 'machines' we have today. The artistry of the victorian era is long gone, and what little is left, is priced way beyond the ability of the common man to own.
ReplyDeleteWayne
"and what little is left, is priced way beyond the ability of the common man to own."
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, it also was so back then. Even more.
Today's average citizen in the west can own far more nice things than he could in the victorian era. You can debate the aesthetic of many of them, but that's rather esoteric for most people.
Dear, dear. Oh my. I just knew the misplacing of my portable electro-thermo-dynamic dactylo-calculator-file-archiver during my last mission in Time would end up with visible results on the timestream eventually. That Herbert George Wells fellow seemed too honest to be true.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least this time those daft Romans haven't enslaved half of the Galaxy by reaching the Space Age before they perfected their society standards. Huzzah.
Right. Now, where has the Tardis landed? Let's check my Ground Position Situator. It uses geo-synchronous orbiting radio-emitters, you know. Very modern technology. "Tikrit"? Never heard of this place! Goodness, I do hope I'm still on my home planet, and not among those rabid exterminating Daleks...
That is pretty cool. Although I agree that what we've gained outweighs the loss, we have lost something. Still, I'm not going to pay $700-$1000 for one of those keyboards. For one thing, what if you spilled something on it?! :-) I mean, I'd have to treat it exactly the way Ethan Hawke did his in Gattaca.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even sure I can use it as smoothly as I can my standard keyboard (a tactilepro). Maybe it will be just a piece of art. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI agree, an interesting keyboard, but how functional? The last year or so I've been walking past second hand shops and seeing various Remingtons and Underwoods up for grabs.
ReplyDeleteEver since an injury 8 years ago I've been using a Key Ovation "GoldTouch". I can no longer use a linear keyboard for any length time.
I wonder if there are any Steampunk concave Dvorák keyboards with a properly weighted key?
Hey everyone, Datamancer here. Thanks! I'm glad you like my work. Naturally, peoples' keyboard preferences vary, but if it's any indication of their general usability, I sold a brushed aluminum keyboard to a client who is an accomplished sci-fi author and uses it every day. He says, "The keyboard is really lovely to work on- nicely responsive in a way that I have not felt on a keyboard for many years!"
ReplyDelete-~D~-
Richard,
ReplyDeletegood to hear your keyboard feel as good as they look.
One day when I'm rich I'll be a customer. I have a wish to decorate at least one room in my house like a room from Myst.
Alex