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- AUG.16.2025 - #37
AUG.16.2025 - #37
Cassette retro-futurism, thocky keebs, video overload, and why is everything getting smaller?
Andrew McKee
August 16, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Hi all 👋 bit of a heads up, the next two weeks (23rd → 30th) of issues will look a bit different—the 23rd is only going to be 2 clicks and clacks each, and on the 30th there will be no issue at all :(. Not to worry it's just part of my self-granted summer vacation. I will be enjoying time with family and disconnecting from all internet-things for a while.
Anyways, this week it's all about the fun videos I watched while writing this issue. First up there's a shorter watch on Van Gogh's mathematical accuracy, my favourite gaming/tech channel Digital Foundry is now fully independent, and the next-gen Pebble watches reclaimed the use of the Pebble name + revealed a new design! The most interesting watch by far this week was Technology Connections' deep-dive into the VHS-C format—how it came to be, competition, magnetic-tape-lore, and talks about why the tech industry loves to miniaturize everything.
This just in on keyboard news—NovelKeys is holding a warehouse sale as they prep to move warehouses at the end of the year, and Epomaker has an ongoing back-to-school sale + a giveaway that starts today. In Toronto-based news, Keybay Tech and Toronto KeyboardMan have opened up their very own physical store!! I am hoping to visit as soon as possible and say hi.
Let's rock and roll!
clicks 🔗
→ On the topic of VHS, this first feature comes from Crouton (popular recipe tracking app) developer Devin Davies. His newest release, Cassette for iOS, gives you a nostalgic and easy way to watch old videos. It mimics the operation of VHS—the way moments were strung together sequentially all on one tape, jumping between eras and moments in your life. The app pulls from your phone's library of photos and videos to show you long-forgotten footage—all categorized by years gone by. If you don't know where to begin or which years to revisit, the interface has a simple “take me somewhere” feature which randomizes everything and drops you right into a selected memory. I take many videos of my cats (always doing something cute/weird), but I rarely re-watch them—spinning the wheel and being thrown into an old moment brings a burst of happiness to my day.
→ Unintentionally, these first two features are very connected to some of the themes brought up in the Technology Connections video I mentioned earlier. It's the idea/fad of miniaturizing tech just for miniaturization's sake and in my opinion, the TinyVinyl fits that description. This mini disk is simply a smaller version of its better known big brother, the vinyl—aka LPs, records, wax slabs, 33s…you get it. These discs are even smaller than the already established smaller 7” vinyl, known as 45s. TinyVinyl claims to be offering these not as a replacement, but as a new item to add to your existing collection. Meant for singles (only 4 minutes per side) and played at 33 RPM, I can see the draw of owning these, especially if they include releases that aren't part of a larger album (something I feel is more common with streaming). Additionally, the records themselves are made up of “100% bio-attributed vinyl” and take less material to produce so they are, theoretically, more environmentally friendly. Not sure if this old-product, new-format will catch-on, but its interesting to see nonetheless. Check out their selection and releases on Target's website.
→ Animal Crossing fans gather around! This adorable open-source letter editor allows you to write, send, and share personalized letters in AC-style. The website, created by Idrees (who you may remember from PicoChat back in #13), faithfully re-creates every card design from the AC: New Horizons game—including the seasonal ones which will appear on the site at the appropriate time! You can write a note, send it to a loved one, or even “post” it to the website for anyone who visits to see. The backstory behind its creation is just so wholesome, and is here to spread a little bit of love and happiness around!
clacks ⌨️
→ Thock-enjoyers look no further because this is the feature for you. Keebmat is a keyboard accessory vendor that sells all you need to enhance the deep pop and thock of your board. Their main product, the Keebmat, is a keyboard deskmat designed to sit perfectly-matched in size under your keeb, compared to a traditional deskmat which covers a larger area under the board. This allows your desk space to shine and grants much more flexibility and customization—have a separate mouse pad, no mouse pad, or show off that fancy desktop. The mat is made of a thick rubber material which absorbs vibrations and dampens the sound profile of the board, producing a deeper (thockier) typing experience. Other items like their switch films, “keebtape”, and “thockrings” can be added to a build to further dampen sound and drastically change the acoustics of any board. They recently had a re-stock of many of their products and colourways so check 'em out!
→ The RPI DEV by Sector 07 is a DIY cyberDeck built for Raspberry Pi development and experimentation. I discovered this device from an older WIP post and it's amazing to see the final product now on video. I loved watching the assembly of the RPI DEV—the way the parts simply snap together, the hidden cables, easy-access compartments, and to top it all off matching grey, orange, and white EM Lab keycaps from Nuphy. All this is documented here on GitHub if you want to learn some more or even give it a try yourself. Once again, we are sticking with the theme of nostalgic, cassette-inspired vibes with this feature—Sector 07's cross-post on r/cassettefuturism led me to discover a whole niche of cyberpunk aesthetics I never knew about!
→ Today is all about the thock—keyboard creator Epomaker has just announced a very unique keycap set, the AegisSil, available for pre-order now. These keys are made of a soft-touch silicon layered on top of a harder plastic to give you a pleasant and “soft” typing experience. This cap material will also lend to some quiet, deep “thocks” as you can hear in the sound test. The acoustics are not for everyone, but an option for those trying to keep it as silent as possible—maybe good for an office environment where you don't want to stand out as “that guy with the annoyingly loud keyboard”.
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it, and now it’s time to hear from YOU 🫵. I want to know your opinion—what you liked, what you loved, what you didn’t like, what you skipped. Reach out at mail.clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this email!) and have a great weekend!!
