You Can Now Buy a Keyboard From the Severance Store, but It Will Cost You
Good morning, tinkerers! I hope you’re ready to sit down at your desks today and ignore the vague dystopian vibes around you and focus on how cool and old your computers are.
No, seriously, I’m a little jealous of Mark S., who gets to type on such a gorgeous mechanical beast all day long. The bulky-looking Severance tablets may not be so good that they’ll blow me away, but I love a good trackball, and his keyboard has one built into it .
If you have the same brain problem as me, good news: you can buy a keyboard from Severance right now. You’ll have to make a generous donation to Cyrus first, but at least you’ll keep your memories.
Coming soon to Kickstarter but already available on the company’s own website , the Atomic Keyboard is selling a convincing knockoff of Severance ‘s keyboard for the rock-bottom price of $899. However, if you pre-order it, you can pick it up for a slightly more reasonable $599 (though the pre-order price will go up over time). Shipping is expected in November, but as with all Kickstarter projects, it’s worth remembering that there’s an element of risk involved.
Still, that might be a risk I’m willing to take for something this beautiful. While it’s unclear what type of mechanical switches are used in this keyboard, they appear to be hot-swappable, and the keyboard itself features a magnetic mounting system that lets you switch between three different modes. There’s an “Innie” layout that’s faithful to the show and eliminates keys like Escape and Control, but there’s also an “Outie” layout that brings those keys back. Interestingly, there’s also a “Dasher” layout that’s a knockoff of the real-life DG Dasher D2 keyboard that the Severance keyboard is based on. Notably, this layout replaces the trackball with a number pad, but the keys are still laid out like the “Innie” layout. Having this layout might also justify the higher price, as finding a working Dasher D2 these days is pretty hard.
But part of what makes the Severance keyboard so attractive and chunky is its chassis. That may have something to do with the price, since Atomic Keyboard says its copy uses a steel top plate and an aluminum chassis that weighs 15.4 pounds (7.8 kg). The trackball is also quite large, at 50 mm.
Let’s say you don’t need all that, but still want to add a little Severance flair to your desktop. In that case, you can opt for Signature Plastics’ SA Macrodata Refinement (R2) keycaps , a more affordable alternative that you can mount on a regular keyboard to make it look more like the ones featured in the show. Add a trackball, like the Kensington Expert Wireless Trackball Mouse , and you’ll get the same results for a lot less money.
Or, if you’re feeling creative, you can 3D print a Lumon-style keyboard yourself.
Note: If you pre-order a copy of Atomic Keyboards and put down a $10 deposit, you’ll get a special Severance -themed desk mat. For that dedication, you might even get a waffle party.