I am extremely excited to announce a 3 part interview with Jacob Alexander (Haata) of the Input Club, and a very notable keyboard archivist with over 400 keyboards in his collection. In the first part of the interview I just concentrated on finding out more about Jacob, with the later parts going into detail on the Input Club and the current and future projects they have in the works.

Andy: No kidding! Well happy birthday! Thanks for taking the time to geek out and talk about keyboards with me on such a big day.

Andy: Hello Jacob, how are you doing this evening?

Jacob: I always have time to talk about keyboards.

Andy: That is a feeling I know all too well. So for those of you that may not recognize your

name or handle (Haata), do you want to give an overview of your involvement with the

mechanical keyboard community before diving headfirst into the details?

Jacob: Sure. I’ve been a relatively long-time member of the mechanical keyboard community (officially joining late 2009). Initially I joined the community searching for something better than QWERTY. Shortly after then found myself collecting rare and unusual keyboards. By that point, I’d given up on finding the “perfect keyboard” and decided it was about time to start on my journey to make it.

Andy: So you originally got involved with the community looking for a new layout? Did you ever find one that you liked enough to stick with? (Dvorak user here)

Jacob: I eventually settled on Colmak, though I did make an attempt to learn Dvorak in 2008. I couldn’t deal with the pinkie strain.

[Colemak Layout]

Andy: Very nice, I feel like I’d have stuck with Colemak had I tried it before Dvorak, but my brain couldn’t handle switching again. So you began collecting keyboards as well? I know you have amassed quite a large collection, care to go into detail about your collection?

Jacob: A bit of an embarrassing fact, I don’t actually know how many keyboards I have anymore. I estimate probably around 500 in some shape or form. I do have a spreadsheet of inventoried keyboards; however it’s a lot of work keeping it up to date.

Andy: Good grief. That is no longer collecting, that is archiving. How/where do you store them all?

Jacob: First, proper boxes. Second, heavy duty shelving. I often get free stuff from Uline for all the supplies I buy. haha