Comments on: Clack clack clack DING

Clack clack clack DING

Artw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:59:21 -0800

By: jedicus

jedicus — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:00:49 -0800

There was a distinct lack of a satisfying DING! in that video. I'm gonna wait for version 2.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:06:37 -0800

Somehow, Engadget missed the crafter's actual website link, which has a basic how-it-works page, but it seems like there are a number of empty pages as of yet.

By: mhoye

mhoye — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:07:35 -0800

Internet, I love you.

By: Horace Rumpole

Horace Rumpole — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:09:00 -0800

The best iPad accessory ever.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:12:11 -0800

How can you tell when Steve Ballmer has been using your iPad? From the Wite-Out on the screen! Or, something like that.

By: Joe Beese

Joe Beese — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:13:33 -0800

Speaking of carpal tunnel: What are the long-term effects of typing on the unyielding iPad screen? They can't be good.

By: kmz

kmz — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:16:28 -0800

Even though I'm never getting an iPad, I was amused by the chocolate iPad thing. I hope the chocolate didn't go to waste though.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:16:46 -0800

> Speaking of carpal tunnel: What are the long-term effects of typing on the unyielding iPad screen? They can't be good. Wouldn't that be more of a question of how you're holding the iPad when you type on it? Granted, it's quite unsatisfactory to enter more than a few lines at a time on those things, but I don't know if the lack of feedback is a cause of any disorders. As long as your wrists are straight it should be about the same as a keyboard, shouldn't it?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:21:48 -0800

things achewood predicted years ago: phone balls. I've got an order in for my android N1? It's gonna make it a strap on, and I'm converting my ipad into a spanking paddle.

By: pyrex

pyrex — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:24:12 -0800

Right, someone get cracking on a typewriter keyboard made of chocolate. Go, internet.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:25:13 -0800

Man I have seen some painful looking iPad holding from people using them in cafes... buy the case and accept you might have to put your precious doodad down already, don't holding it hovering above the table like if it makes contact with the surface it'll catch germs.

By: bearwife

bearwife — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:26:09 -0800

I am such an antique. Love my Droid and laptops and all, but still miss my old selectric typewriter with auto correct, as well as my old script typewriter. And that cool smell of fresh carbon paper. This post makes me nostalgic.

By: DU

DU — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:32:54 -0800

The best iPad accessory never.

By: 7segment

7segment — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:33:16 -0800

Needs more Theora Jones

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:33:37 -0800

A version for phones incorporating a Brazil style magnifying glass would be fun. Oh god, I'm turning into some kind of Doctrowesque 30s loving cosplay steampunker type...

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:35:17 -0800

If wanting a Brazil computer is wrong, I don't want to be right.

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:36:35 -0800

That's some serious Steampunk typewriter action!

By: jedicus

jedicus — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:37:24 -0800

The best iPad accessory never. You can install Android (and thus Linux) on the iPhone. It even mostly works. Here's Android 2.2 running on an iPhone.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:38:58 -0800

A brief history of typewriters - note the "classic" typewriter wasn't around till the 20s. Not that it will stop cosplay fuckers from mixing things up.

By: briank

briank — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:41:37 -0800

Having learned how to type on a manual typewriter, I can remember how happy I was to get an electric typewriter as I was going off to college because even on my little portable banging the keys was a big effort. Personally, I would rather have the IBM Model M keyboard.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:46:21 -0800

boo_radley: "things achewood predicted years ago: phone balls." Woa, woa, woa. Let me get this straight. The Great Outdoor Fight was FOUR YEARS AGO?

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:50:39 -0800

Silly Internet! People didn't get carpal tunnel syndrome in the days of manual typewriters! The yellow fever usually got you first.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:57:49 -0800

Oh god, I'm turning into some kind of Doctrowesque 30s loving cosplay steampunker type... Only if you start thinking it would be better in brass. With extra cogs. Then start worrying.

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:59:43 -0800

Plutor: "Woa, woa, woa. Let me get this straight. The Great Outdoor Fight was FOUR YEARS AGO?" There have only been twenty new achewood comics in two years.

By: ennui.bz

ennui.bz — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:30:03 -0800

"Sorry, I'm a bit of a stickler for paperwork. Where would we be if we didn't follow the correct procedures?"

By: Ian A.T.

Ian A.T. — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:41:55 -0800

There have only been twenty new achewood comics in two years. Is this a joke I don't get? I just counted...there have been 20 Achewood comics since April 2 of this year.

By: ericbop

ericbop — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:43:38 -0800

Best iPad accessory. What's the term for 80's steampunk?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:43:55 -0800

he is a far less prolific artist than he used to be. that is the joke.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:55:54 -0800

> Speaking of carpal tunnel: What are the long-term effects of typing on the unyielding iPad screen? It's a touch screen. If you're hammering on it the way you might hammer on a keyboard, you are doing it eight wrong ways to Sunday. Nevermind that hammering on an electronic keyboard is also doing it wrong. That said, if I have to type more than a dozen words, or enter a password into a form field, I usually pull out a bluetooth keyboard. And then the risk of carpal tunnel injury is about the same as with any other keyboard.

By: littlerobothead

littlerobothead — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:06:03 -0800

Would this count as steampunk? Cause if it does, I'm here to say it stinks.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:12:44 -0800

What's the term for 80's steampunk? Electropunk. Not to be confused with Synthpunk or Electroclash.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:27:14 -0800

MetaFilter: It even mostly works.

By: BeerFilter

BeerFilter — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:51:56 -0800

The best iPad accessory ever.

By: chococat

chococat — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:58:16 -0800

The only drawback is the inevitable buildup of Liquid Paper all over the screen.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:18:28 -0800

Anyone remember the computer terminals in "Max Headroom?"

By: Sparx

Sparx — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:29:14 -0800

Beautifully retro styled, handcrafted wooden tabletop arcade cabinet and MAME emulator for your otherwise useless iPad Heh.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:33:55 -0800

How can you tell when Steve Ballmer has been using your iPad? From the Wite-Out on the screen! I originally heard this as a Commodore 64 versus Sinclair Spectrum joke.

By: chococat

chococat — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:59:42 -0800

From the Wite-Out on the screen! Oh man I'm lame because I made that same tired joke 3 hours after you did. Completely missed it.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:11:22 -0800

Ballmer would smash it with his hulk-like fists anyway...

By: sonascope

sonascope — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:18:09 -0800

You know—I get that this is probably one of those sort of Make-magazine/Instructables/cool kids making neat stuff for the heck of making neat stuff, but this is almost exactly like something I would use. I've got 26 manual typewriters in my apartment, I write my first drafts on a manual (no internet, no erasing, no distraction from the constant urge to edit as I write), and having something sit there and keep a digital record would be quite nice. Heck, I need to learn to work with Arduino boards to customize one to take this data and store it in a long text file on an SD card, so I could be away from the computer altogether until editing time. Neat. I have to chuckle, reading the various comments about this thing on sites around the net, at how many people think of a manual typewriter as this sluggish, clunky, painful tool for writing when it's actually a breezy, visceral, pleasant interface. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:30:48 -0800

That is pretty cool, but it would be cooler if it was Bluetooth rather than USB.

By: kinnakeet

kinnakeet — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:42:39 -0800

As a former typographer and a person who has used many, many keyboards, I think the best keyboard of all time came with the Quadex system (which was one hell of a powerful phototypesetter in its day and was eventually bought by CompuGraphic). A chum who also worked in the industry agrees. Sadly, few had the pleasure of operating one. Great feel, nice bouncy-clicky spring to the keys. A good operator could go blisteringly fast on a Quadex. The golden age of keyboards was probably the 70s or 80s... now, designs skew towards economy of space rather than user comfort. A good example is the current iMac keyboard, which looks sleek but is an abomination to use.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:53:51 -0800

I miss my old late 90s Thinkpad. Great keyboard on that. If I could have it back, scoop the guts out and put a netbook inside of it I totally would.

By: misha

misha — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:40:34 -0800

Am I the only one that actually searched for the iCade app in the App store after that MAME cabinet link? It isn't there. No iCade. *sniff*

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:31:17 -0800

iPad arcade cabinet brings April Fools' joke to life (video)