Whatever happened to ________?

User avatar
Muirium
µ

08 Jun 2023, 12:51

pyrelink wrote:
07 Jun 2023, 21:05
I have a lot of nostalgia for that same 2013-2016 period as well. Besides life just taking you in different directions with less time to put into hobbies, I think I got most of what I wanted to get out of keyboards. I like learning about and re-discovering old as dirt vintage stuff. Building and restoring old keyboards is super rewarding, but eventually you've exhausted it all.

During those golden years we kinda did it. We completed keyboards. We could convert almost all of the grail vintage stuff, we had a super fleshed out wiki, and with the graciousness of people like Cindy, if you wanted one of those grails you could have it at a super reasonable price. Outside of pursuing this hobby, how many keyboards does one really need?

Once the Model MF project burned out I felt like I could finally put the soldering iron down and move on to other things. I started collecting records and becoming more obsessed with music, fell in love with programming and became a software engineer. Still use a cool keyboard every single day, but now it's just part of the background. The 15lb F107 on my desk always makes for good conversation whenever I have guests over.

I will say though the direction of the scene has taken is disappointing to me. The explosion of the subreddit and keyboards into the mainstream really is not my cup of tea. It is such an expensive, consumerist, collection based thing now. Everyone trying to make a buck. Keyboard assembly has been dumbed down to Legos, and your measure of engagement in the community is showing off how much junk you've purchased. I realize I am just yelling at a cloud here, but I feel like hobbies should require more involvement than opening your wallet, and I see very little more than that anymore. Like imagine buying one of Ellipse's keyboards, or "building" your 5th gateron 65%. Absurd.

Anyway all that is to say that I think Deskthority was and still is in a lot of ways something special. Online communities and discourse these days is so terrible, and I don't think we (I?) realized how good we had it. Aside from like automotive communities, I feel like Deskthority and Geekhack were in the last generation of active discussion forums. Having communities siloed in synchronous Discord servers, or catering-to-the-lowest-common-denominator subreddits, with corporate overlords, just plain sucks. I have come back every now and again hoping to reignite the passion, but it has yet to take hold. I just bought a $50 SSK yesterday though so maybe there is hope for me yet...
This thread has got some of the best posts of all DT. What a fitting tribute to Blaise, who started it.

A $50 SSK, man? There's still hope! :D

User avatar
fohat
Elder Messenger

08 Jun 2023, 19:41

Muirium wrote:
08 Jun 2023, 12:51

a fitting tribute to Blaise
He was a good kid, a big strong young man to be cut down while he was in college - where my grandfather had been over a century earlier! We had traded a few pieces of keyboard gear.

User avatar
pyrelink

08 Jun 2023, 23:11

Oh wow, I didn’t realize what you meant by tribute. Similarly traded with Blaise a few times, and enjoyed his contributions. Definitely a great thread. RIP.

User avatar
guidemetothelight

09 Jun 2023, 08:48

fohat wrote:
08 Jun 2023, 19:41
He was a good kid... to be cut down while he was in college
Does that mean what I think it does ? :cry:

User avatar
Muirium
µ

09 Jun 2023, 10:41

Sadly, yes.

User avatar
guidemetothelight

09 Jun 2023, 12:54

Muirium wrote:
09 Jun 2023, 10:41
Sadly, yes.
Thats so sad to hear ... I didnt realize he was gone.
I just wrote him a week ago about a question I had about NEC boards
May he find peace wherever he is...

User avatar
kbdfr
The Tiproman

09 Jun 2023, 15:08

Muirium wrote:
08 Jun 2023, 12:51
pyrelink wrote:
07 Jun 2023, 21:05
I have a lot of nostalgia for that same 2013-2016 period as well. Besides life just taking you in different directions with less time to put into hobbies, I think I got most of what I wanted to get out of keyboards. I like learning about and re-discovering old as dirt vintage stuff. Building and restoring old keyboards is super rewarding, but eventually you've exhausted it all.

During those golden years we kinda did it. We completed keyboards. We could convert almost all of the grail vintage stuff, we had a super fleshed out wiki, and with the graciousness of people like Cindy, if you wanted one of those grails you could have it at a super reasonable price. Outside of pursuing this hobby, how many keyboards does one really need?

Once the Model MF project burned out I felt like I could finally put the soldering iron down and move on to other things. I started collecting records and becoming more obsessed with music, fell in love with programming and became a software engineer. Still use a cool keyboard every single day, but now it's just part of the background. The 15lb F107 on my desk always makes for good conversation whenever I have guests over.

I will say though the direction of the scene has taken is disappointing to me. The explosion of the subreddit and keyboards into the mainstream really is not my cup of tea. It is such an expensive, consumerist, collection based thing now. Everyone trying to make a buck. Keyboard assembly has been dumbed down to Legos, and your measure of engagement in the community is showing off how much junk you've purchased. I realize I am just yelling at a cloud here, but I feel like hobbies should require more involvement than opening your wallet, and I see very little more than that anymore. Like imagine buying one of Ellipse's keyboards, or "building" your 5th gateron 65%. Absurd.

Anyway all that is to say that I think Deskthority was and still is in a lot of ways something special. Online communities and discourse these days is so terrible, and I don't think we (I?) realized how good we had it. Aside from like automotive communities, I feel like Deskthority and Geekhack were in the last generation of active discussion forums. Having communities siloed in synchronous Discord servers, or catering-to-the-lowest-common-denominator subreddits, with corporate overlords, just plain sucks. I have come back every now and again hoping to reignite the passion, but it has yet to take hold. I just bought a $50 SSK yesterday though so maybe there is hope for me yet...
This thread has got some of the best posts of all DT. What a fitting tribute to Blaise, who started it.
[…]
I absolutely agree with both of you.

User avatar
Wodan
ISO Advocate

09 Jun 2023, 15:12

Muirium wrote:
08 Jun 2023, 12:51
This thread has got some of the best posts of all DT. What a fitting tribute to Blaise, who started it.
Ouf this really hits hard ... considering the first two users posting in this thread both died much too young

User avatar
Palatino

01 Aug 2023, 12:21

ifohancroft wrote:
23 Apr 2023, 15:14
del20nd wrote:
21 Apr 2023, 23:24
I think it's just the nature of this hobby to be in and out. I've been a member of GH since 2011, but if I look at my post history there's really only 3-4 periods where I was active on the site.
True. If it's just that he got bored or is busy or something, I'm fine with that. I guess all of us are posting here with the hope that they'll hear that the person is still alive and well. So basically I'm asking what happened to Palatino, hoping to hear some confirmation that he's alive.
Confirmation! Sorry for the prolonged absence. Had another baby. No more. Although I seem to remember saying the same about keyboards...

User avatar
Muirium
µ

01 Aug 2023, 12:39

Congratulations! :D And commiserations! ;)

User avatar
ifohancroft

01 Aug 2023, 20:57

Palatino wrote:
01 Aug 2023, 12:21
ifohancroft wrote:
23 Apr 2023, 15:14
del20nd wrote:
21 Apr 2023, 23:24
I think it's just the nature of this hobby to be in and out. I've been a member of GH since 2011, but if I look at my post history there's really only 3-4 periods where I was active on the site.
True. If it's just that he got bored or is busy or something, I'm fine with that. I guess all of us are posting here with the hope that they'll hear that the person is still alive and well. So basically I'm asking what happened to Palatino, hoping to hear some confirmation that he's alive.
Confirmation! Sorry for the prolonged absence. Had another baby. No more. Although I seem to remember saying the same about keyboards...
Congratulations! Happy to hear that you are alive and well!

User avatar
guidemetothelight

09 Aug 2023, 11:03

What happened to fricked ?
I only know him because of his F54 IBM Case
I want to contact him to maybe get the files for the case, since the gb never went anywhere :?

User avatar
Muirium
µ

09 Aug 2023, 11:16

Well, as you can see on their public profile: they were last here yesterday. ;)

User avatar
guidemetothelight

09 Aug 2023, 12:00

Muirium wrote:
09 Aug 2023, 11:16
Well, as you can see on their public profile: they were last here yesterday. ;)
Thanks ! I must have gotten confused by this:
Easy_Spinach wrote:
02 Sep 2021, 09:58
topi obviously, duh. Unban fricked and me already you cock juggling thundercunt. smh
I searched for fricked in the posts and this came up. Man, I should have taken that second morning coffee my colleague offered me :?

Thanks for clarifying

User avatar
Muirium
µ

09 Aug 2023, 12:48

Your confusion is certainly contagious. :D

User avatar
guidemetothelight

10 Aug 2023, 11:28

Muirium wrote:
09 Aug 2023, 12:48
Your confusion is certainly contagious. :D
"The requested topic does not exist."

User avatar
Muirium
µ

10 Aug 2023, 11:56

Yes, it's the link embedded in the post you quoted here yourself. Very mysterious! :lol:

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