I’m guessing that knowing the wants and needs of your customer base is the secret to success in the peripheral and computer accessories market and as such the Klingon Language Wired Keyboard by Cherry Keyboards has got to be the ultimate in niche marketing.

The Klingon language, “tlhIngan Hol,” is the most popular created language in the world, and was of course created for the Star Trek movies and later TV incarnations of the franchise. Based on Cherry’s G83-6000 series, the Klingon keyboard has 105 keys–conveniently there are 26 characters in the Klingon writing system–a PS2 connection and comes in black. How many people are actually fluent in Klingon, or at least are interested enough to want to attempt to tap out messages in it? Who knows, but according to the Cherry Keyboards website, there will only be a limited number of keyboards made, which was probably a good idea seeing as they run about $63 a piece. Although I’m sure that there are all sorts of copyright issues related to the Star Trek IP, at this price it would have been nice if Cherry could have managed to get some sort of Klingon insignia on the keyboard itself (I put the insignia of the Klingon Empire on the image above). As much as I could use a learning tool to get me up to speed enough to tackle the Epic of Gilgamesh or Hamlet in Klingon, unfortunately I may have to wait for a fire sale before picking up one of these.

Any Trekkers out there who are ready to lay down the cash regardless of the cost? Let me know.

Tags: klingon, klingon keyboard, star trek