The Clueboard keyboard company has sadly somewhat shut down, but one of the silliest things they built every year was a keyboard for April Fools’ Day. The layout in the past few years has been a variation on the theme of too many keys in what the Clueboard folks call a 2×1800 layout, which has two sets of numpad keys, two arrow keys, and more F-keys than you will ever be able to sort out without advance notice. There are 129 keys on this board. In the past it has added rotary knobs and an etch-a-sketch mode where you could shake the keyboard in order to reset a drawing made with the knobs. This year’s version is the Clueboard 2×1800 LED Sign Edition (2021) and it has, as the name suggests, a programmable LED array. This is the most keyboard you could buy and it would probably take someone a few hours to solder in the 256 LEDs on their own. Oh, and of course this keyboard also has the rotary encoders, a speaker, a built-in breadboard for future expansion, 6 GPIO pins, and all of the 129 keys from the previous years models.
At $150 including almost everything you need to build the world’s silliest mechanical keyboard, this Clueboard 2×1800 LED Sign Edition (2021) seems like it is certainly one thing to do with your money and time but you’ll also need to get stabilizers and switches and keycaps, which is gonna be difficult with two sets of arrow keys and number pads to cover. The product page mentions that a 3D-printed case is on the way but it might just be files for you to print your own and that’s probably gonna be tough with a keyboard this size. It is also important to note that the final PCB will have a black solder mask and a white silkscreen with some other aesthetic differences to the prototype photo.
You’ll also need to decide quickly, as the sale ends on April 6th. Unlike most mechanical keyboard group buys this one is expected to ship relatively quickly in mid-May.
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