What’s more powerful than a regular keyboard, you ask? Well, a keyboard run by steam of course. That’s how the punks do it these days. Or those days.
This post will showcase both the cheapest keyboard knockoffs we could find as well as those that were crafted with great detail. It is your task to choose which is best for you.
Best Budget Steampunk Keyboards
It’s important to have a keyboard handy, coal-fired or not, in order to write scathing letters to the Times. “Sirs! What is this I hear about not allowing five-year-old urchins to climb inside my chimney to clean? Thundering typhoons! What is the world coming to?!”
In true Victorian style, your teeth may look like old piano keys, but the keys on the keyboard simply must be made of those lovely round retro Remington typewriter keys. Practical? Hell, no. But what’s more important – looking good or being efficient? Exactly. And that’s it. You’re done. Now go back to your job of being a pilchard spotter.
In the modern age, efficiency is just as important (if not more so) than aesthetics. Fortunately, many manufacturers still account for style in their designs. One of the easiest ways to “go steampunk” when choosing a keyboard is to select a wooden model. Why they might not have the cogs and whistles, they can look quite good surrounded by additional decor.
You can also find Bluetooth keyboards that look like typewriters. While these range in style, many of them have become quite creative in how they blend an old-fashioned look with modern necessity.
Best Luxury Steampunk Keyboards
Ah, good sir, the minute you walked through the door, I could tell you were a man of distinction, a real big spender, hey big spender! Are you a proud manager of a factory belching smoke in awe-inspiring industrial amounts? Whose company’s very name might be Amalgamated Consolidated Thermopulated Steel Bearing and Pictorial Teacup Factory. What manner of keyboard will you have? The ultimate, of course.
Fie on the plastic base of a computer keyboard. Obviously, the keys themselves will be made of the retro typewriter ones, but the base? Wood! Glorious wood! Cherry wood, tigerwood, oak, redwood – doesn’t matter. For even more panache, surround the base in gleaming copper. Add small speaker horns and a circular microphone in order to make your pronouncements. Why stop there? How about a leather tuck-and-roll mousepad? Finally, if you’re not able to train an actual mouse to do your bidding, a copper mouse will do the job nicely.
Best Steampunk Keyboard Kits
What’s that? You have no time for erecting a keyboard yourself when you must thrash your gamekeeper about the body for allowing a young fox to go unmolested? Just get a kit! There are quite a few available, for every budget, whether you’re from high society or the scum of the earth. The expensive ones are lovingly put together, and the cheap ones at least have the proper look. Whatever keyboard your get, use it wisely to vent your spleen with a well-timed screed.