nuqneH! Taking a look at this 80s(?) Klingon keyboard holder device. Which is really just a couple of plastic antlers that adhere to the side of a monitor to make a keyboard stand, ha. Testing with an IBM Model M as the company intended!
Commenters: “You’re using it wrong, they clearly did NOT intend for you to ever use the keyboard while it’s mounted!” The packaging shown in the video at 0:55 sure implies otherwise.
thats a bullet point use, but i think its *primary* use is to be able to pick your keyboard up and out of the way so you can do paperwork where the keyboard would normally sit, while also not making the computer *entirely* useless by leaving the keyboard in a...barely usable position
@@arcticrevrus9883 Maybe it would be useful in some lab environment or something. And people saying that it wasn't meant for using your keyboard when it sits in the holder are dumb.
No kidding. I literally paused the video and exclaimed, "Wait, what?!" when he revealed that. So we know that in his past lives he was a picture framer and now a puppeteer, as well as his turn refurbing and selling old computers which contributed to him eventually starting LGR. He's a man of many vocations, it would seem.
YAY! OMG we made it on LGR! Here is some more backstory: My VERY eccentric Uncle Bob (yes, Bob is, or was, my uncle) passed away and Tony and I were helping my mother clean out the house when we found this gem. We looked at each other and went "LGR" . What Clint didn't mention, and I can't remember if we put in the letter, is that part of the reason we checked the patents was, for a somewhat horrified moment, it occurred to me that Uncle Bob might have BEEN the inventor/patent filer (he was not). But given he actually had a few patents on random items it was not out of the realm of possibility. He was _that_ type of eccentric Uncle, mad inventor type of guy. Thanks Clint - great to know we were able to contribute in a small way to the channel!
Thanks for sending this Clint's way! It was certainly oddly entertaining. A bit of shame he didn't use it for his Christmas gadget special, these moose antlers would hold that festive lights perfectly:D
the claimed trademark on the package got me curious so i looked it up with the US Patent and Trademark office. They filed for a trademark on Oct 4th 1990 and Paramount Pictures challenged the filing and the trademark was terminated in under a year on August 8th 1991.
That seems really odd. First of all, this product in not in the same discipline as paramount and the wording actually makes sense. Phonetically calling it "cling on", albeit with a K and no space is apparent.
@@Diggnuts That's adorable you think laws apply to people with money :p Some people can't legally use their own last name on anything business related regardless of industry
@@sanityormadness Rules of acquisition! Yes Quark! Apart from that, many (civilized) countries have rules of such nature. Just do not know about CA or the USA.
This keyboard holder has proven its strength by holding the keyboard in place during battle with Clint, it is truly a warrior worthy of the Klingon name. Qapla'!
Only if you are a ghost and can look through your appendages, though that would defeat the purpose since being a ghost makes you incorporeal and that means you wouldn't be able to interact with a keyboard anyway.
So, I think the idea is that there was a time (back in the day) when your computer was just used for certain things in your workday. And, desks were not sized (deep enough) to have a full sized IBM (with the monitor on top) and the keyboard in front, to allow you to do your "paper-work" in front of your computer. The keyboard was always in the way. And, you needed a place to have your printed "report" or whatever right in front of you so you could read through it, mark it up, etc, etc. So, it was a work-space saving device. The keyboard would only be up there when you weren't using your computer. Which, believe it or not, back in the early days of the office PC, would be 50% to 75% of your day. You only used your work PC to "compute" (not to communicate, etc.).
@Jake Tucker yeah, she has a peice of paper in front of her at the time too. Like if you were working some reports and you had a spreadsheet open, you could jot some relevant notes down on your spreadsheet as you work.
I used to eat meals in front of my PC, and the keyboard was always in the way of my plate, so it would be useful to park it in these holders. But even then it's not much better than just shoving the keyboard to the side
@@MrJakeTucker And its still stupid. Hanging the keyboard below, maybe. But above? You're literally putting your arms and hands in the way of seeing what you are doing. There is a reason this didnt catch on and keyboard trays did.
There was a Next Generation episode where Worf kept traveling through different realities and in one of them he didn’t understand how to use his station on the bridge. Maybe he’s used to using a keyboard sitting on one of these things and they didn’t have one.
This could also be useful for a PC used to control something like a C&C machine or large printer; you need it there to configure and start the machine but not much else, so you'd use this to help it have a smaller footprint.
Oh damn, I'm totally making one. At work I literally hang my keyboard off my monitor by the wire when I need extra desk space for paper and books and whatnot. This makes so much more sense
If had known those things existed, I definitely would have bought them. They'd free up space on my desk for me to do other things. A related product, I had, was a stick-on copy holder. That was pretty handy for when I was typing up parts from printed documents.
Until I saw the back picture I thought it was only to hold the monitor while you used the desk space for something else. Using the keyboard like this is really awkward.I see it on a terminal and pulling down the keyboard to put on your lap when needed and then returned. Using the keyboard while it is in the holder is a little insane.
That tartan pattern on the backing lets us know that it was Scotch brand adhesive, before they were bought out by 3M. The Scotch brand still exists but I think it's 3M co-branded now.
I like the idea, it's simple and it works, although I would not want to use it with the keyboard up there, but for getting your keyboard out of the way for documents and such, it's neat! I would just sell a sort of box (flat tiles you can put together yourself, so it's compact when not in use) with room inside for accessoires and a slanted front for the keyboard to put up against, but it would also elevate your monitor, so no clue if it would actually be better ^^'
If you watch The Computer Chronicles, there were all kinds of ergonomic sins in the mid-late 80s. I cringe every time I see someone typing away at their keyboard with the monitor 45° to the left of them... makes my neck hurt just to watch.
now that monitor needs one of those screen filters, side mounted speakers, some kind of pen or document holder, and one of those fluffy "computer virus" stickies to reach peak early 90s
To quote one of the riffs from the MST3K episode "Space Mutiny": Wall mounted keyboards, it must be the future! I would suppose that it's mainly just to get the keyboard out of the way so you can reclaim at times desk space to pay bills or paint miniatures.
I don't care if it's stupid! I like that it gives the monitor ears and now it looks like a japanese anime robot. I do work a lot on my desk and the keyboard is always in the way, so for a quick out of the way solush it's actually kinda useful.
Personally I don't get how anyone can use a computer without a dedicated keyboard tray underneath the desk, as I always use my desk surface for other things while also using the keyboard and mouse.
I could see this potentially for use in a school where you might want to put the keyboard up out of the way to clear desk space when the computer was not in use (you see, back in the 80s and 90s students did not tend to do all their classwork and research on a computer, we also used books, paper and pens/pencils).
Its nice to get the keyboard out of the way when setting up a steering wheel, but a monitor shelf wide enough for a keyboard to slide under also makes sure the wheel doesn't block the bottom of the screen.
dang man, So many uses for klingon keyboard holder. like you said xmasfestive antlers for your computer, or plastic dagger fight in front of computer, shotgun holder plus many more uses! 🤣
I *hope* most people that had these treated it more like a keyboard garage that allowed the keyboard to be used occasionally while they used the desk space for a different primary task, but yeah. Glad under-desk keyboard trays won out for this scenario; just watching this video makes me feel phantom RSI :P
Compared to those awful little pull out shelves they expected you to use for your keyboard on 80's/90's desks, which caused awful RSI and wrist problems due to lack of support, this actually seems like a pretty sane way to clear desk space when needed.
I feel like this could be useful for students studying. Like you could use your note book in front of the monitor and just use the keyboard for quick google searches and stuff. Also could be nice with drawing tables.
Not much internet access back then and sites like Altavista were not modern Google :) But it would been useful for something like that on a small desk.
@@drupiROM gawd, I still remember how revolutionary Google was. A search engine which actually worked! And displaced the need for Yahoo! portals. Though I still kept bookmarks to a bunch of portal sites until 2001.
Oh my goodness, I had no idea this existed. Though oddly enough I had a vivid dream a few years back. Where I was still working at the small computer repair shop and in the dream all of the keyboards were mounted over the monitor like this for each of the diagnostics stations. It became the reason I knew I was in a dream and it became a lucid dream where I could explore and control the dream space all inception like.
Greetings from Belleville, Ontario! Wasn't really expecting a shout-out from LGR today! DID YOU KNOW your favourite Rampage and Duck Hunt shadow boxes were also made in Belleville Ontario? By ME?
I remember these things, I think I had it back in the day but I never knew that its intended use was for space saving whilst in actual operation. I could see it maybe being useful at a terminal where minimal keyboard input would be required but certainly not much beyond that!
The first environment I see this being used is for workbenches that worked on ESD product repair/assembly, where they required the keyboard to be away from any static mats or the product itself, yet were too cheap to purchase benches with enough space, or with a keyboard tray underneath. My current bench requires the display to be sat towards the back of the bench, and has a tray retrofitted underneath.
If you ever set up a museum, you should have an old early 90's PC setup with all the whacky monitor, keyboard, and mouse gadgets in one crazy setup surrounded by tons of cheesy desk tchotchkes. In a cubicle full of motivational posters. And cat posters. Like the secretary from hell. Corny coffee mug too. Like someone bought out the entire accessory aisle at Comp USA. Add in a few "dummies" books for basic computer tasks, and a fancy framed certificate for something very un-difficult.
omg every computer in my junior school computer lab had these when i was 5 and the teachers would make us put the keyboards up when they wanted us to listen to them or if they wanted us to write things on paper
The sheer amount of weird, cheap, beige plastic junk that was produced to serve the PC market from the 80s through the 90s must be huge. Nearly all of it would be forgotten if it wasn't for LGR!
I bought a Curtis brand keyboard 'tray' off eBay a while back that these remind me of. It's two individual plastic pieces that either mount under your desk or sit under your monitor (though I can't imagine they'd be very stable under a monitor) and have slide-out bits that cradle your keyboard like a pair of arms. I am actually still using them despite the alarming amount of flex every time I strike a key.
This has the same problem touchscreens for desktops and VR controllers have: you can only keep your arms outstretched for so long before they get tired. They're literally building exoskeletons for people who have jobs that require it.
Even for a terminal/industrial solution it seems very counterintuitive to have an input device above the screen. I think most people solved this problem with the keyboard tray/monitor stand combos that existed back then. Definitely seems like a solution that's ideal for a very small amount of people.
There's a reason why writing machines have always placed the paper or screen higher than the keys. This would only be useful to someone with eyes in their abdomen.
Honestly? I like it! This is the 1980s so a lot of desk work was still paper based. To quickly and easily get the keyboard off the desk but in a position to still occasionally hit a key, like to scroll through a spreadsheet, it makes complete sense if you don't have a keyboard tray. It's looks utterly stupid, however.
Quinte Computer Accessories was a division of Quinte Computer Services at 141 William Street. They are still there. The Owner's son told me the story about how Paramount pictures caught wind of the Trademark infringement and threatened to sue them out of existence. They complied and changed the name to Clingon but it eventually faded. They had boxes of Klingons in the Basement and every terminal in the computer room was outfitted with them too. I used to work there as a programmer 100 years ago and still live in Belleville.
I like the photo on the box. Rather than a stand to hold up the sheet of paper above the monitor while she types comfortably, instead mount the keyboard so your arm is constantly blocking the screen as you type.
Putting the monitor on one of those shelves with 2 U-shaped legs on their side, then you could slip your keyboard under, made more sense to "save space" and get your monitor up at a better viewing angle. I do know lots of power plants that have limited or no keyboard use for the input of the HMI. Most of the stuff is onscreen using only a mouse to change value. I'm sure that is normal with other industrial applications. But then they push the keyboard off to the side and wouldn't want a big keyboard flopping around above the screen.
This thing would have been perfect check print jobs on a printer/plotter in a CAD Office back in the days (no internet). We had a monitor sitting on our plotter until 2018 and had to use some keyboard in midair to unlock it (password) and open exactly 1 program. Had to use an external monitor because the plotter was in a basement with no access to another monitor or laptop. As Clint mentioned, something like this would've been practical at a terminal where you only need to enter like 12 digits and enter or esc every now and then and have no space around your screen. Niche products can be handy!
All the Klingon is making me giggle - I used to use various Klingon words and numbers as passwords I could sequence easily! Also, it's killing me that the ears are just high enough so the monitor is not bearing any of the keyboard's weight - unless monitor case scratching is a concern,
Reminds me of the Cintweak, which does the same but specifically for drawing displays like the Wacom Cintiq. Great for keyboard shortcut access considering how large those drawing displays tablets have gotten.
