LMI-CADR Lisp Machine Keyboard - The "Space Cadet Keyboard"

JP! · 07 Jul 2018, 03:49

I have to blame Webwit and Chyros for this one but I just ended up spending the most for any keyboard ever by a huge margin but I feel the acquisition was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Today I bought this lovely gem.

Full Album:

Spoiler:

LMI-CADR keyboard 1st Gen (Early 1980s)

: space_cadet.jpg (179.76 KiB) Viewed 22061 times

Black version like this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/sets ... 353286814/

It is of course a Lisp "Space Cadet keyboard" but specifically this one went with a Lisp CADR machine. The CADR machine was actually the second machine designed at MIT with the first one called CONS. Apparently there were maybe a total of 25 of these essentially prototype machines which were sold and used extensively by MIT. Later when the Symbolics Corporation was formed they cleaned up the CADR design and sold it as the LM-2 which is were we see the first Symbolics branded "Space Cadet" branded keyboards with the beige case.

Edit:
Per Wikipedia: "Symbolics did get off the ground in 1980/1981, selling the CADR as the LM-2, while Lisp Machines, Inc. sold it as the LMI-CADR" so based on the brochure I found this keyboard was from the LMI-CADR so not a prototype but still exceedingly rare.

Brochure:

Spoiler:

OG - The first of the Lisp Machine keyboards, called the Knight keyboard after Tom Knight, who did design work on the whole thing.
http://graflex.org/klotz/2003/aitv/

: Novena__Knight_keyboard_16277937833-s.jpg (279.53 KiB) Viewed 22061 times

SAIL (Stanford AI Lab) version:

Symbolics LM-2 model 1st Gen (1981):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDozftThFMw - Chryos you should do an update or a part 2 now

http://rcsri.org/collection/symbolics-keyboards/

: symbolics-keyboard-1.jpg (200.78 KiB) Viewed 22061 times

Symbolics 36xx series 2nd Gen (1983):

: symbolics-3600-keyboard-1.jpg (228.99 KiB) Viewed 22061 times

LMI Lambda Machine 2nd Gen (1983)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_Machines

Spoiler:

Modern keyset inspired by the Space Cadet:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... s_popular/

: new cadet.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 22061 times

Webwit's Lisp boards:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... 89el/lisp/
keyboards-f2/the-lisp-keyboards-t98.html

Limited backstory, the seller had two LMI-CADR Lisp machines which were sold ages ago. While going through storage were two of these keyboards which were spares. Both of which sold on eBay today and I bought the second.

More Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_machine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-cadet_keyboard
http://www.unlambda.com/cadr/cadr_faq.html
http://xahlee.info/kbd/lisp_keyboards.html
wiki/Space-cadet_keyboard

depletedvespene · 07 Jul 2018, 03:53

I can't wait to see this one back into full working order! So many keys...

Bass · 07 Jul 2018, 04:45

Absolutely stunning

. Can't blame you at all for wanting to spend big money on something like that.

kakan · 07 Jul 2018, 04:51

Congrats and hopefully we will see more of it here!

JP! · 07 Jul 2018, 04:55

I found the brochure for the machine which this keyboard went to on Pinterest

Per Wikipedia: "Symbolics did get off the ground in 1980/1981, selling the CADR as the LM-2, while Lisp Machines, Inc. sold it as the LMI-CADR" I am thinking this keyboard was from the LMI-CADR so not a prototype but still exceedingly rare.

Spoiler:

Chyros · 07 Jul 2018, 05:00

green-squid · 07 Jul 2018, 05:55

Oh my days! Looking forward to this restoration. Shame you can't use these on a modern PC.

JP! · 07 Jul 2018, 06:01

green-squid wrote: ↑Shame you can't use these on a modern PC.

Oh really now? - photos-f62/80s-keyboard-party-t10963.html

Damonskv · 07 Jul 2018, 08:26

Wonder who was lucky to get the second one?

mcmaxmcmc · 07 Jul 2018, 08:48

I just want to know the price at this point xD

Chyros · 07 Jul 2018, 09:42

mcmaxmcmc wrote: ↑I just want to know the price at this point xD

According to eBay, both of them were $1600 BINs.

JP! · 07 Jul 2018, 14:33

Chyros wrote: ↑
mcmaxmcmc wrote: ↑I just want to know the price at this point xD
According to eBay, both of them were $1600 BINs.

Yes that is correct. More than I would have liked to have paid and sets me back a bit. There was even one that sold for $2.6k in open bidding with a missing key.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LMI-Lambda-Lis ... SwHcparXAU

Spoiler:

taek · 07 Jul 2018, 15:21

Congrats! truly worth getting it.

j0d1 · 07 Jul 2018, 15:26

Congrats on the find! Someday I would like to see your complete collection, it seems glorious

Sangdrax · 07 Jul 2018, 17:43

Can't wait to see the pictures when you have it in hand.

zslane · 07 Jul 2018, 18:10

Congrats on that score! The 1st generation LM-2 Space Cadet is my Holy Grail keyboard, but the black one is super cool too!

Rob27shred · 07 Jul 2018, 18:27

Wow, great pick up JP & GL with the restoration!

JP! · 07 Jul 2018, 18:44

zslane wrote: ↑Congrats on that score! The 1st generation LM-2 Space Cadet is my Holy Grail keyboard, but the black one is super cool too!

Yeah that white case is sweet looking. Definitely one of my favorites. I had no idea a black version existed besides the Knight original.

Rob27shred wrote: ↑Wow, great pick up JP & GL with the restoration!

Thanks man. I will be looking into the USB conversion based on MMcM's conversion project.

davkol · 08 Jul 2018, 20:24

green-squid wrote: ↑Shame you can't use these on a modern PC.

lisp machine > modern pc

depletedvespene · 08 Jul 2018, 20:37

davkol wrote: ↑
green-squid wrote: ↑Shame you can't use these on a modern PC.
lisp machine > modern pc

But a modern PC can run Racket. Can a LISP machine do so?

davkol · 08 Jul 2018, 21:12

Why would you want to do that? (Although writing a lisp environment in lisp is very simple.)

depletedvespene · 08 Jul 2018, 21:14

Just because (I did start out with Scheme in university, after all).

davkol · 08 Jul 2018, 21:34

That's a reasonable motivation, but when you think about it… implementing any lisp on x86 is more of a hack than dealing with lisp on an architecture designed for lisp to begin with.

depletedvespene · 08 Jul 2018, 21:41

True, but I don't see any LISP machines for sale right now...

davkol · 08 Jul 2018, 21:49

That's about the same with lisp machine keyboards.

depletedvespene · 08 Jul 2018, 21:54

davkol wrote: ↑That's about the same with lisp machine keyboards.

Keyboards? I just saw not one, but TWO of them get sold on eBay a couple days ago...

zslane · 08 Jul 2018, 23:06

Yes, a very rare event indeed.

JP! · 09 Jul 2018, 00:32

Not quite sure what to think of this one. Maybe the buyer of the first one backed out of the sale or something shady is going on.

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XMIT · 09 Jul 2018, 01:55

I would ping MMcM about that board you just got, he might even remember who made it and when.

I'd trade my Unsaver for a Space Cadet in a heartbeat. I'm an MIT alum, that would be really special.

JP! · 09 Jul 2018, 02:15

XMIT wrote: ↑I would ping MMcM about that board you just got, he might even remember who made it and when.

I'd trade my Unsaver for a Space Cadet in a heartbeat. I'm an MIT alum, that would be really special.

I actually got in touch with MMcM and he gave me a lot of information and resources to bring this back to life

It was made by Lisp Machines, Inc which was a competitor of Symbolics and went with an LMI-CADR machine / workstation. This machine was essentially a commercial clone of the original CADR machines used by MIT. I would assume it was made in the very early 80's but am hoping there is a date code or something once I get it and open it up.

I feel honored to have found something worthy of an Unsaver since they seem very hard to acquire these days even with having some sort of unicorn unobtanium to trade.