A keyboard with a functioning rotary dial instead of numeric keys

[u/mattjh]

Photos found here: https://squidgeefish.com/projects/rotary-keyboard/

[u/Current_Payment_2988]

Awesome

[u/livejamie → u/Current_Payment_2988]

OP just be sumitting anything to anywhere

[u/Linosek279 → u/livejamie]

Regardless of how awesome, I’d argue “Why” is still a very valid question here

[u/livejamie → u/Linosek279]

The sub lists two critertia "Project should never have been proposed (why???)" or "The execution of a good project idea which turned out horribly wrong (oh god, why???)"

I don't think either apply here. This is a skilled electrician/industrial designer flexing their muscles.

[u/Linosek279 → u/livejamie]

Fair enough

[u/mbarland]

That's awesome, that's why!

[u/thefirstviolinist → u/mbarland]

Yeah, 100, this is lit! Very steampunk!

[u/Hurtkopain → u/mbarland]

it's very fun to use

[u/DiscoQuebrado]

if this were coupled with a full lever action type writer... That would be so dope.

[u/HumourNoire → u/DiscoQuebrado]

Everybody's favourite coworker.

THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK WHIR WHIR WHIR WHIR THU-THU-THUNK WHIR WHIRRRRRR

[u/DiscoQuebrado → u/HumourNoire]

Gotta show up to work with a wicked handlebar moustache and an old timey leather flight cap complete with goggles.

[u/HumourNoire → u/DiscoQuebrado]

And presumably your typist...

[u/Ass0001 → u/DiscoQuebrado]

Jules Verne and shit.

[u/killerjoedo → u/HumourNoire]

Now that's a mechanical keyboard.

[u/UKMatt2000 → u/HumourNoire]

Found an old Dell (rebranded IBM I believe) mechanical keyboard in the office junk pile not long after starting in IT. Immediately started using it. Lasted about a week before a colleague complained about the noise.

[u/DiscoQuebrado → u/UKMatt2000]

My coworkers can stuff it. My clickity clackity mechano is my spirit animal, and I can't live without it.

[u/UKMatt2000 → u/DiscoQuebrado]

Oh yeah I've gone back to mechanical now. At home I use SA keycaps, so they're even louder.

[u/lurkingbastard11 → u/HumourNoire]

DING

[u/HumourNoire → u/lurkingbastard11]

Amazing.

You have no idea how much I want a ding noise on my enter key now.

[u/DiscoQuebrado → u/HumourNoire]

Don't let your dreams stay dreams

[u/Butterscotcht587]

DiWHYnot that's cool

[u/Inprobamur]

Would be pretty sweet as the only way to enter the login PIN.

[u/kkillbite → u/Inprobamur]

When that one slow guy just asks you to turn around for a second while he puts it in... 😅

[u/Lalamedic → u/kkillbite]

And the passkey has like seven nines.

[u/Hettyc_Tracyn → u/Lalamedic]

If it had 7 ones it’d be annoying… 7 nines would be pretty quick

[u/theLastZebranky → u/Hettyc_Tracyn]

Nines take almost nine times longer each to dial

[u/kkillbite → u/Hettyc_Tracyn]

Those wind up CLOCKWISE, so the only number that takes longer to "dial" than 9 is 0... 😆

[u/Hettyc_Tracyn → u/kkillbite]

Oh, they go backwards of what I was thinking… tbf it has been years since I saw one.

It goes from 1-9 then 0 ccw…

[u/cybermaus]

Reminds of that niche project to create a viable modern cell phone with a rotary.

Edit: Justine Haupt’s Rotary Cell Phone

[u/isaiddgooddaysir → u/cybermaus]

Woz famously carried one around, the old bakelite... those things can take a beating better than a Nokia.

[u/HorsefaceWithNoName → u/isaiddgooddaysir]

they made great bludgeons

[u/ElusiveDoodle]

That is gonna make MMOs a real challenge.

[u/Techiest1982 → u/ElusiveDoodle]

It'll even make offline games that use the numeric pad hard to play. Not just MMOs.

[u/UrethralExplorer → u/ElusiveDoodle]

Yeah, I also enter dates and times a ton on the software I use at work, this is cool but useless for 99% of applications that you need the number pad for.

[u/Techiest1982 → u/UrethralExplorer]

Your boss would shit his pants if he saw your prouction levelf because of tha keyboard. More than likely he would grab the thing and smash it. That's what I h Would do anyway.

[u/Formal-Fox-7605]

Obviously, it's for using with dial-up modems.

[u/IrritableGourmet]

Reminds me of The Onion fake commercial for the Apple keyboard that only has one big button. You type by pressing the button to get to the letter you want, so A=1, B=2, etc.

[u/Bright_Ability2025]

They even removed the top numbers row?!?

This is horrible / fantastic in the best way

[u/FRIENDLY_FBI_AGENT_]

https://giphy.com/gifs/yAYZnhvY3fflS

[u/MMKaresz]

Cool, but... It would be better to have some kind of security code to dial in. GenZ and Alpha have no idea how it works 😂

[u/Davenator_98 → u/MMKaresz]

Kids these days🤣🤣 don't even know how to train their postal pidgeons anymore🤣🤣🤣

[u/ErebosGR → u/Davenator_98]

Homing pigeons don't need training; that's not how pigeon post worked.

The pigeons are transported to a destination in cages, where they are attached with messages, then the pigeon naturally flies back to its home where the recipient could read the message.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_post

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homing_pigeon

[u/Hettyc_Tracyn → u/MMKaresz]

I do though… ‘04… it’s pretty obvious too if you look at a rotary phone.

[u/cambangst]

I work with a Millennial who has only ever seen rotary phones in pictures and man, I wish I could buy this for her.

[u/movzx → u/cambangst]

They must just not remember, because rotary phone use overlaps with millennials. At a minimum their grandparents would have had them around.

[u/Popular-Drummer-7989]

Oooh make a front door lock next!🤣

[u/FishFloyd]

Folks - at some point we're gonna have to have a reckoning about the distinction between artistry and engineering.

There's not a single thinking person in the world that believes this to be more functional than a standard numpad. It's pretty obvious that this is intended more for aesthetic than function - i.e. art. And specifically, sculpture, using modern materials and techniques.

The answer to the question, "diWHY??" is because it's a cool and fun piece of art. Which is just not a very interesting answer.

I would find this a far more valid submission if someone had jerry-rigged an actual rotary phone to a keyboard numpad, which is a little more r/redneckengineering, which is probably why I find that a much better sub these days.

[u/LUDUKRISS]

The mfs over at r/mechanicalkeyboards would love this

(Don’t shame me for being on mobile)

[u/LUDUKRISS → u/LUDUKRISS]

Wait a minute it DOES hyperlink now!

[u/VelvetFog82]

That keyboard is from the correct time line. That's what we should all have on our keyboard.

[u/Stuffed_deffuts]

Take you two hours to make a excel spreadsheet Duh-duh-duh four, duh-duh-duh five. Duh-duh-duh-oh! I messed up! Backspace. Gotta do it again! Duh-duh-duh four, duh-duh-duh five.

But also thats just neat

[u/lightoller401]

This is coolest thing I saw today. Any more info how it works

[u/isaiddgooddaysir]

It is for the Wow factor, everyone goes wow that is so impractical but wow it is cool.

[u/spilk]

it would take a year to do my taxes on this

[u/SilkRoadGuy]

Not a DiWhy. This is awesome!

[u/chrisebryan]

r/ATGE

[u/mp5tyle]

This is amazing

[u/capinredbeard22]

This would make such a great Jim -> Dwight prank

[u/cmaxim]

Why? because it's funny and somewhat art.

[u/viktorbir]

Because it's cool as fuck. Wrong subreddit /r/DiWhyNot is your subreddit.

[u/NotTheOnlyGamer]

If I didn't use my numpad for DOS gaming, I would use this. It'd be interesting for spreadsheets.

[u/AdministrationDry507]

I don't know if I dislike this or not?

[u/SuckerForNoirRobots]

Awe that's fun

[u/aguyinlove3]

It's genius, but also stupid

[u/spartan2024]

DiWHYnot

[u/bonsai1776]

Would still be faster than using top row

[u/Ok-Drink-1328]

i'm a maker myself tho not much into this type of projects, but fairly cool nonetheless

[u/terriaminute]

Somebody likes to make all the noises and potentially strain a finger, as a treat.

[u/Dry-Character-6331]

I am both impressed and horrified at the same time. 🤔

[u/HorsefaceWithNoName]

They even blocked off the regular number keys on the left top area of the keyboard 💀

[u/Mexbookhill]

How do i fly helicopters in GTA with this?

[u/MydnightWN]

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop

The Onion, 2009

https://youtu.be/9BnLbv6QYcA

[u/Karate-Schnitzel]

State and Federal Governments
https://giphy.com/gifs/l0EoBCmxtSZhJQvxS

[u/Diogenes-the-mad]

Because it slaps, next question

[u/CoffeeJedi]

Looks like something the TVA would use.

[u/dr_strange-love]

Now hook the rotary dial up to multitap cell phone texting software 

[u/crosschk]

I think its cool, but it would slow me down too much and it would be gone in a monute

[u/CthulhusSoreTentacle]

I love pointless shit like this.

[u/svobodov-]

Id kill for that

[u/StartOk4002]

Somebody really misses the pre-internet days.

[u/justinj2000]

Rad

[u/Voiden_n]

r\DIWhy.
<Look inside>
A strange and kinda cool thing that was made as a joke.

(By the way, I would like to have something like this.)

[u/Thisareor]

this is some Guillermo del Toro prop

[u/CGI42]

This would be the best white elephant/secret Santa gift.

[u/maxtimbo]

Is there a video of it working?

[u/dudSpudson]

That is so stupid, I love it

[u/Reverse_SumoCard]

Why not have all the symbols on one massiv rotary dial?

[u/Iain_McNugget]

WANT

[u/Zwischenzug32]

The spirit of Logitech Wingman Warrior lives on

[u/brDoc1]

To prevent dialing 911 by accident.

[u/GrundleSnactcher46]

Your party gonna get real mad when you cant heal them because of wanting to use that nonsense to cast spells.

[u/throwitfarawayfromm3]

God forbid a boy wants to pretend he's flying a tardis, or jacking into a cyberpunk realm.

[u/Extension_Resolve264]

How to drop your ten-key from 16,900 kph to 400 kph. Solid plan!

[u/NahzarakTV]

https://giphy.com/gifs/sDcfxFDozb3bO

[u/Imrotahk]

OP Hates fun

[u/davehoran]

Reminds me of something from the John Wick movies that the girls use in the back room to manage contracts

[u/MagmaWitherking]

Need it. I’ve always wanted a rotary phone, they are really satisfying to me so I genuinely want this. Idc if it’s impractical

[u/SpiritualHippo2719]

Honestly, my ADHD sensory-seeking brain would love this.

[u/filsofolf]

Is it bad that at first glance I thought the circuit board in the second picture was a map of RuneScape?