Bruce's Blog – August 2015

Just popping in to say Hello and share a little news from The Keyboard Company.

We’re working hard on a new website design. Many would say it is long overdue but the website feels to me like a pair of old slippers. It evolved from a one page website which itself was based on a one sheet fax that we used to have as a send out to new customers. It was a basic list of keyboards. It was never the greatest but we were comfortable with it and it served it’s purpose as a source of information very well.

So I am now all nerves, we have a new design, nothing fancy, but using the more modern tiled feel and using more ‘white space’ and all the user friendly touches that the designers are keen on. I just hope it works. We have some work to do on the back end but expect to see it live in a month or two. For those who prefer the old homepage we will run that under a link.

If any of you were present when I had an AMA on Reddit/r/mechanicalkeyboards you may have noticed that someone asked if we wanted an intern this summer. Well, we talked afterwards and the long and the short of it is that David came in and helped us for a few weeks during his university summer holidays. He was really helpful, reliable and a joy to have on the team. We tasked him with creating a format for promotional videos for the new website. He has done a great job and you will see his videos when the new website goes live. It was a shot in the arm to have someone young and enthusiastic around for a few weeks.

Talking of video, we decided that we didn’t want an unboxing video as we see so many. We didn’t want to try and do a glitzy promo type thing either so we eventually chose to have quite basic ‘showcase’ video that simply showed the keyboard with good photography (David did that too) and some descriptive text added. I hope you like them.

On the keyboard front things continue to move along at pace. We now have the Convertible from Filco which gives us the finest quality that we all know from Filco, in a wireless full size option. Alongside MiniLa (Short for Minimum Layout) or 60% as they are now known, we have all the bases covered from the finest of all keyboard makers.

Matias too have been busy and we are really excited about the Ergo Pro. We have these in stock now in various language layouts. It has given us a fully adjustable, fully split field, ergonomic keyboard with mechanical switching. This is something we have wanted for some time and already sales are looking healthy. We can recommend one to anyone who has RSI concerns, or who wants to ensure that they never have RSI concerns.

Also from Matias we have now the classic Tactile Pro in PC format. Mac users of a certain age will remember that the Tactile Pro was the keyboard Mac sold with their premium work machines back in the day. Now they don’t sell any high quality keyboards we are all indebted to Matias for keeping the Tactile Pro going, and indeed, improving and updating it. So we were thinking that this great keyboard should be available for the humble PC too. The guys at Matias were in agreement so we now have the Tactile Pro for PC. If you like your switches hardcore tactile, this is as tactile as they come. Available in UK, USA, German and Nordic layouts.

Thanks for reading. We at The Keyboard Company are all very aware how lucky we are to have such a great bunch of customers. I am always happy to answer questions, listen to suggestions or just chat on bruce@keyboardco.com or my Twitter @FilcoUK.

I’ll pop back from time to time with news and I will sign off now with a word of thanks to Will who is doing an excellent job running the blog.

Bruce.