deskthority

Only … I can't remember any more. From skimming through wiki revision history, and from my own memory, highlights of the growth of knowledge in 2014 include:

• "Gundam" space invader switches finally identified — it's the original design from the Hi-Tek patent
• [wiki]Alps SKCM Green[/wiki] finally confirmed to exist, and examined
• [wiki]Alps SKFL[/wiki] named; likewise [wiki]Alps SKFR/SKFS[/wiki]
• First steps in identifying vintage tee Alps (they're SKC-something) and integrated dome (SKE-something).
• Discovery of [wiki]Cherry solid state capacitive[/wiki], their foam and foil switch
• Hirose Cherry Precision MX switches identified for what they are
• Identification of the origin of the SIIG Minitouch, as the Monterey K110, finally giving Monterey their deserved credit for it
• Discovery of catalogue adverts for Key Tronic foam and foil switches
• And more Alps clone variants of course

I'm sure there's a number of other switches that were discovered this year.

It is of course always a surprise as to what we discover. Sometimes it's something that we really wanted to know, and sometimes it's something completely unexpected.

One of my hopes for 2015 is to get a whole sample of date codes for the Monterey K110 and build a pattern of the variants: switch, keycap printing type, and country of origin. I also want to see what the Alps clone switches looked like in the ones made in the early 90s—assuming any were—to home in on the introduction date of alps.tw Type T1.

My long-standing knowledge gap is of course: who made the switches in Focus, Ortek, MacAlly, Strong Man and ELSA keyboards? I'm still hoping that a Chinese speaker can elicit this knowledge from Ortek, thereby adding or subtracting weight from the theory that anything that looks like a Himake switch, was indeed made by Himake.


What have I missed from this list?

What does everyone else have in their "things to learn or confirm" list for 2015?