Recently, one of my friends sent me a link to this website. The website belongs (or belonged) to Richard “Doc” Nagy, otherwise known as datamancer, and features a number of beautiful, functional, steampunk keyboards and computer mods.
My friend knew of my interest in steampunk and probably figured I hadn’t seen the keyboards before. I had seen them before, about 10-12 years ago. In fact, datamancer’s keyboards were a part of what drew me in to steampunk in the first place. At the time, I’d never seen anything quite like them, and certainly nothing like datamancer’s laptop. After that, I began seeking out any and all things steampunk. I was hooked.
Visiting the site brought back memories. I was curious to see how and why the site was still active. After all, just a few years ago, Richard Nagy, the man behind datamancer.net, died in a car crash. With that in mind, seeing his wonderful work again was somewhat of an emotional experience. And his work truly was wonderful.
A few google searches led me to discover that Nagy had trained a number of individuals and they were working to keep the datamancer website(s) active.
Hello Everyone,
My name is Rabiah Al-Sibai. I was a very close friend of Richard’s and I worked very closely with him at Datamancer. In order to preserve his art and legacy I will be continuing his work and business.
The replies on this Facebook page were heartbreaking. People were partly grateful to those keeping the site active, thanking them for the love and respect they obviously have for Richard and his work, and partly sad, because how could the world take away someone like that? Someone who only ever inspired others, who took the time to share his passions and interests with others, who created some of the most iconic designs in the steampunk movement, and who helped inspire an entire generation of steampunks.
His work is too amazing to be lost. They are big shoes to fill, but if he trusted you, so do I. Thank you for honoring his legacy.
Very good to hear, glad you are carrying on. Richard would have loved that.
I didn’t know him personally, but I did reach out to him at one point to ask about his work. He was kind enough to send me a reply and answered my questions in detail. Not only was he immensely talented, he was also gracious, humble, and generous. I’m happy to know his work will live on.
