This old KLINGON Keyboard Holder for CRTs
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- 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.
That same document even says "Allows keyboard use in place".
It was designed for the alternate reality in which the light pen became the preferred input device.
It's a relic, you could not have known!
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
@@arcticrevrus 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.
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
Thank you for contributing so we could all enjoy!
Sounds like a cool guy! Do you have any of his inventions that might be the topic of an lgr video or blerb? If so send it in!!
@@JaredConnell Unfortunately not. I think he invented some sort of device for holding brooms, rakes, etc in a garage or shed. Nothing LGR appropriate.
it's these types of people that keep the world spinnin nobody ever thinks about the inventors of these cute lil gadgets.
'I haven't been a puppeteer in years, but when I _did_ do that..." - New LGR Lore unlocked
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.
Big TIL moment
@@Squonk06 spoiler alert; he was doing frames and selling computers _while_ wearing the puppets
@@Squonk06and lived in the Caribbean
a puppeteer _in_ the Caribbean, no less
It hurts to use but a Klingon warrior does not complain about physical discomfort
What? isn't that why they are always grumpy though..?
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.
The question is, did you need to get your keyboard out of the way, to accomplish this sleuthing? LOL!
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
@@Diggnuts The legal system works by Rules of Acquisition, not codes of honour.
@@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'!
Holding your keyboard in the most glorious way possible. Kahless himself would use these.
Qapla'!
👌
Perhaps today is a good day to type.
Glory to you and your keyboard.
And it's out of the way in case you spill your blood wine!
If the adhesive fails, your keyboard is going to Sto'Vo'Kor!
You are correct about the adhesive tape being 3M.
The pattern of the protective film is a match for Scotch 3M 311DC Mounting Squares.
God bless you sir and your tape information
I got excited there for a minute: I thought it was a keyboard for the Klingon language. 😂
Same. Simultaneously disappointed and elated.
Same
Now there's a business idea for Unicomp: Model M/F keycaps in Klingon.
"I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it." - creators of the KLINGON keyboard holder
Isn't that from Back to the Future 😁
@@-INFERNUS- yes it is 🙂
@@-INFERNUS- No,Klingons are from Star Trek 😉
@@ffwast 😁
@@ffwast Klingons are from the β quadrant.
"You Klingon ------ you killed my keyboard!"
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.).
Copying what I wrote in another post - The packaging has a picture of a woman using the keyboard, around 1 minute in.
If we were still using CRTs today this would be great for having a meal at your pc while watching youtube
@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.
Haha. Hello in Klingon. To introduce the Klingon. Marvelous mate
The opening line made me google "Klingon for greetings" and sure enough, I was not disappointed. 😀
I recognized the greeting immediately. Said in such a cheerful voice! Literally translates to, “What do you want?!?” 😂
@@thewiirocks Google just gives the rough approximation but of course THAT would be the actual translation.
LGR is a RUclips OG. It's exactly what RUclips was originally made for
And we love him for it.
I thought it was made for cat videos!
@@DapperProfo, oy was made for "day at the zoo" videos 😂
He and Ashens embody this in my mind. Pure video making with you as the subject or your interests.
This could have been useful for a point of sale terminal for someone who was standing most of the day.
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.
I think it was for industrial computers that control cnc machines and other machine tools in factories. I saw similar set ups in factories before.
oooo yahh
I swear they had this at the Homedepot paint terminal back in the day!...
The Honorable way to use a keyboard. Any true Klingon scientist on Qo'noS uses this for their keyboard.
wait is that that spaceship alien from Spacetrack..
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.
Yup, they also saw a lot of use in machine rooms "back in the day" as there was no desk to put the keyboard on.
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
Notification cut off the"holder" bit and I really thought LGR was reviewing some old Klingon keyboard
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.
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.
I can see this being good for a desk you were standing at
Glory to you and your mounted keyboard! QUAPLA!
this seems more like a storage solution than a working solution despite what the packaging would show... also amazed the adhesive was good!
I thought so too. Keep the keyboard off the desk until needed, allowing the desk to be used for other things and more easily cleaned.
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.
We put our faith in blast hardcheese!
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?
Not to far away from where I live. Nice to see a Canadian product back in the day on the channel. Thanks for sharing
I was hoping to hear you say "Qapla'" and my dream has come true.
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.
"Get the keyboard off the desk... Or it gets the hose again." - LOL, what a way to start the episode :D
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.
Huh? Scotch brand has always been a 3M product.
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 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).
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 could be it's actual intended use as designed. Using it while on the monitor still could be the result of the marketing team.
I was about to write the same
Dishonorable P'takh! A true warrior uses a Dvorak keyboard!
That holder sure does hold a thing!
It holds like nobody's business!
Finally! This clears up more room on my desk for my bat’leth!
If I ever come across a Duke Nukem handpuppet, it's yours.
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.
As a proud owner of a framed "Microcomputer User Licence" certificate from the 90's, I fully support this idea 😎👍
Only a dishonourable petaQ would doubt the might of the glorious Klingon keyboard holder!
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.
Looks like a solution in search of a problem.
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
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.
Need speaker hangers, a mouse hanger, a mirror, microphone, webcam, and a decorative screen surround to completely outfit the monitor.
Damn, that's some pretty strong old adhesive! Honestly impressive.
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!
Dude! You were a puppeteer! You need to share some stories from that! I spent about 7 years in competitive puppetry!
This would have been good if a joystick was used a lot. The keyboard above while playing would free up a lot of desk space.
Would've try with with X-wing back in the day
yep they saw the future of keybordless computing
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.
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
"Theeeeere's Klingons on the monitor, monitor monitor, there's klingons on the monitor, monitor Jim!!!" :P
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.
right especially with the old giant monitors
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.
@@Freak80MC omg {there's a joke in tha comment} lolz
then yor @ name omg lolz
LGR displaying those typing skills! Nice!!
Mavis beacon and Mario have nothing on Clint's typing skills.
Aw man as soon as I saw those strips I knew they would be rock solid. 3M is the king of adhesives!
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.
Eldritch Horrors with arms coming out of their heads really needed this, thanks guys.
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.
Only a pa'tahk would be caught without their keyboard holder
Your desklamp makes me homesick and nostalgic but I don't know why.
8:02 The patten on the backing paper is reminiscent of the tartan branding for "Scotch Tape" (3M) so one would assume it is just that.
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!
You have so much more in common with Techmoan than we ever knew. How fascinating! Puppetry. Also, not the worst way to store a keyboard, I suppose.
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.
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.
nawwww it would have gum on it in 1sec lolz
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 Astalavista!
@@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.
krish krush.
you used to do puppeteering? yeah the arm tiredness really makes me discouraged. plus i'd soak every puppet in sweat and you can't really wash em..
it took me ages to get used to an upright screen-tablet for drawing. for years I had used the non-screen variety digitizer sitting at a very shallow angle over my mousepad zone..
I can add this thing to the list of items I would really make good use of if I still had a big ol CRT to put things atop. because for a while I was using two keyboards, one for the separate computer hooked up to my TV, and it was annoying having to reach around behind the TV to grab the keyboard.
"Impractically practical" You just described Canada lol
Yes, it really is a sight to behold!
We need to see this puppeteer skill in action asap
I a person who is out of the era of old stuff older than around x58/x79 era (2009-2011) love the bumpy tan grey plastic of this
I'm surprised no one else has an antique Klingon computer... I do... its a 1994 Com' paQ... lol 😆
I could see a use case, kinda like you say, in a industrial application back in the day. Like you needed the PC to control some kind of machine, but there was no desk and you only needed limited key presses.
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.
I could see using this as a way to stow the keyboard to free up desk space for an activity that requires little keyboard use like reading, studying, watching a video, eating, etc. Useful if you have limited space. I don't think it's a terrible idea.
I could have seen this being used back in the day for any time you wanted to use a racing wheel or joystick and had limited desk space. When major gameplay controls were on the wheel/stick but you still needed the keyboard for some things.
I LIKE IT!! Now I can clean my desk every so often!
Truly, the keyboard mount of a warrior!
Niiiice! Was watching TNG clips when this gem popped up in my feed. Joy!
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.
There's LGR on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow.
Slow mo Photon torpedo... away!
So I have to assume that this was on the Klingon ship when Kirk when back in time and it got left behind in the past.
honestly... i could see this working for some lab settings i've been in. often you just need the keyboard out of the way and only for 3 key strokes to start a run or something... buuut even then.. we literally just put it ontop of the instrument.
one thing i think would improve the use is if it were at a desk ppl stood at frequently and you tilted it back more.
There is a town called "Vulcan" in Canada and it's name came from you know what in Star Trek.
I can see this being primarily targeted at industrial workstations where space is limited, and as you stated the amount of data needed to be input is limited.
We use maple syrup in all of our adhesives here in Canada
I love semi-usefull pieces of plastic. Such fun
This looks like great excercise
You know what? I'd probably find it handy as I am constantly trying to find an "out of the way" place for my keyboard to make room for an A4-sized drawing pad on my quite small computer table. Drawbacks are getting those "moose antlers" to stick to a flat panel monitor and my keyboard without a numeric pad is much shorter than the width of the monitor anyway.
A Warriors keyboard holder
This looks like it would have been useful if I needed to get the keyboard out of the way temporarily and didn't have a keyboard tray.
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.
That's an old Canada Post mailing label, last used in the 1980s, if that helps date the things. So it was before 1987 based on a quickie google lookup.
I can see this been used in an old style server room or data centre area etc. Where they may have to mount keyboards for other systems,
This actually makes sense for storing the keyboard when not in use and you're short on desk space. It will gather less dust and remain clean. I don't think you're supposed to type on it.
The ergonomics are no worse than the asinine vertical touch screen displays that Microsoft based an entire OS update around.
Lack of Klingon knowledge here threatens Clint’s geek cred… joking of course
Honestly I could see this being useful - Right now I am using a mouse, digitizer/drawing pad and the keyboard; if I had one of these I could draw more comfortably, instead of having to lean over towards the digitizer... Would also be useful if using larger controllers like a steering wheel or arcade stick.
I might print a near vertical holder for my keyboard but one which would stand it on the desk rather than on the monitor. I have my monitor on an articulated arm and I usually have it pretty high up. It's a North Bayou H100 and it cost me all of 30€ and it solves so many problems and frees up so much desk space.
On top of the monitor I need to build myself a rig which would hold a desk light, IR lights for Wii Remote, and IR camera for head tracking. I wouldn't mount a keyboard there as well.
You can get sit stand conversion systems as well which float the keyboard under the display, but I don't know how great that might be.
If I didn’t Dell up my panel of a modern monitor with USB port hubs, I would give this a try.
usb lolzzz
I would have loved one of those 20yrs ago. I could get some music playing / downloading on limewire. Then set the keyboard up and do my homework.
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.
Oh we need those just for the name it's too close to "Clint"