New keyboard is just my type
LAVA lamps and biscuit tins have had a surge of popularity with the younger generation, along with garden gnomes, Polaroid cameras and teapots. A survey from 3D printer firm Glowforge found those aged between 18 and 29 have a yearning for retro products. A spokesperson said: “It’s great to see young British adults are fully embracing vintage and home-made items.”
Four in 10 apparently make their own jam, while three in 10 prefer taking a Polaroid picture rather than capturing the moment on a smartphone, both activities I find hard to believe.
Do young adults, full of the joys of life’s possibilities, really stand at a cooker attempting to turn a bag of gooseberries into a preserve destined to be abandoned at the back of a cupboard after discovering the stuff bought from the Co-op tastes better?
Or that they carry a Polaroid camera to capture the action of their social life, then wait untold minutes for the snap to develop? Surely easier to take half a dozen pictures on their phone and post the best on Facebook.
I’m not, however, in favour of everything that is brand new and shiny. I certainly appreciate technology that has replaced 12inch black and white television sets with widescreen colour high definition. And a smartphone is so much handier to fit in your pocket than a red kiosk that needs to be coin fed before allowing you to order a takeaway from the pub or to tell the RAC you’ve broken down in Wigan.
I embraced computers after half a lifetime using typewriters that ranged from a two ton sit-up-andbeg Underwood that could snap the fingers of the unwary, to a portable Olivetti in a carry case that saw service at home and abroad.
Computers are brilliant but I began to struggle. Was it old timers disease? Was it blurred vision that caused so many mistakes? No, it was the keyboard.
In recent years I have accumulated nine keyboards in search of the perfect touch. They litter my office like a graveyard of typographical errors. Even the ultra slim, wi-fi, silent, tactile responsive version failed. It made mistakes if I looked at it the wrong way. Then I found the answer.
The Perixx Periboard-106M with “curved ergonomic keys” is known as “Classic Retro” and is connected with an old fashioned cable.
It’s like the full size piece of kit from my days in the Examiner office 15 years ago, with raised chunky keys that you bash to get a reassuringly noisy and proper response. It’s wonderfully old fashioned and mature which, I suppose, is a bit like me (although I’m not so sure about mature).
It costs a bit more than the modern ones but what price can you put on retro perfection?
DOG TV has been launched in the UK, a channel aimed especially for your canine pet, boasting programmes with “calming scenes and soothing sounds” to keep Rover relaxed, plus noises that “help your dog get accustomed to things like car rides and door bells”.
Here’s a thought. How about doing that by taking them for car rides and ringing the door bell?
This could be described as an advancement in pet care that gives paws for thought (sorry) but that some might think barking mad (sorry again).
Science tells us dogs can see the TV but have to sit close.
Researchers say it hasn’t been established whether they actually enjoy watching TV but the potential is there to relieve boredom or stress for dogs in kennels or left home alone.
The truth is dogs don’t like being left alone. One even ate my passport to show her disapproval of us taking holidays without her.
A dog’s life should never be boring, but is TV the answer?