Keyboardio Kickstarter is NOW + Meetups in 23 cities

[XMIT]

Hopefully I can see y'all (...er, you) in Austin on the 28th. It's my wife's birthday so forgive me if I cannot make it.

[Blaise170]

I'll be at the Louisville meet this Saturday. I've already RSVP'ed on the meetup page and I posted an invitation in offtopic a day or two ago.

[Input Nirvana]

Congrats on hitting the mark! It is just one of many with this

I played with the prototype at one of the SF meetups, that was a highpoint.

Outstanding methodology with the criss-crossing of 'merica, and promoting the GH way. I'm jelly.

Good luck with the trip and take/post pics in a dedicated thread!

[berserkfan]

these keycaps are regrettably impossible for most of us to swap out. Something that discourages every geek buyer.

[Blaise170]

these keycaps are regrettably impossible for most of us to swap out. Something that discourages every geek buyer.

Amazingly, there are six people who bought a $1000 mahogany board and 883 non-mahogany boards that were sold. 

[jwaz]

these keycaps are regrettably impossible for most of us to swap out. Something that discourages every geek buyer.

I'm not really sure why you would want to swap them out... every cap on that board is custom sculpted, that's one of it's coolest features!

[CPTBadAss]

Tomorrow. Louisville. 1600 EST. You. Obra. The butterfly keyboard. Who's gonna show up? I'll probably drag some boards along with me. Maybe we'll go to the Barcade after. Maybe there will be ice cream. Let's hang out and tell Obra how it should've been a heart, not a butterfly.

[kurplop]

these keycaps are regrettably impossible for most of us to swap out. Something that discourages every geek buyer.

I'm not really sure why you would want to swap them out... every cap on that board is custom sculpted, that's one of it's coolest features!

Will he have blank sets available for those who will want to reconfigure their layouts?

[Tiramisuu]

If a jd40 or 45 wasn't on my current list of must haves then this would be very tempting.   This looks like it is going to generate a lot of orders.   The custom molded key caps are really interesting.

[Blaise170]

I'll be there. I've got a Model F, Das Pro S, Rapoo V500, AEK II, M0116, Fujitsu, and Focus FK-2001. Not sure which I'm going to bring though.

[CPTBadAss]

I'll be there. I've got a Model F, Das Pro S, Rapoo V500, AEK II, M0116, Fujitsu, and Focus FK-2001. Not sure which I'm going to bring though.

I'm curious about that Rapoo board. Anything of mine you'd like me to bring?

[Blaise170]

There's nothing that I'm really all that interested in other than trying out Topre. I really want to see if the hype lives up to its name.  I'm thinking of bringing the Rapoo, the Model F, and the Fujitsu.

[CPTBadAss]

I'll bring a Topre board and some Alps stuff then .

[exitfire401]

Who's coming out to Ann Arbor on Tuesday? It starts late enough that I can make it out after work. I'll more than likely take my Kingsaver and RF10AE if people are coming out/interested

[XMIT]

Anyone here coming to the Austin, TX meetup?

[CPTBadAss]

Out here in Louisville playing keyboards again!

[Blaise170]

Great to see everyone in Louisville today! 

[billnye]

tfw I missed the only keyboard convention that will ever take place in North Carolina.

[obra]

these keycaps are regrettably impossible for most of us to swap out. Something that discourages every geek buyer.

I'm not really sure why you would want to swap them out... every cap on that board is custom sculpted, that's one of it's coolest features!

Will he have blank sets available for those who will want to reconfigure their layouts?

Yes. We're working on custom laser-engraved sets, too.
We're not sure about pricing yet, but it should, hopefully, be surprisingly attractive.

[Ghibli]

Where have you been all my life.

[rumpl]

Obra, I was wondering why you'd only put 4 thumb keys on the keyboard and not 5?
See:



Those 2 extra keys on the thumb "row" are easily reached* and it would be so cool to have an extra layer key, or any kind of key, on that row.

* If we take a regular keyboard for instance, a touch typist can still comfortably reach the left Alt key using his left thumb. The left Alt key, compared to the modified Model 01 image above, is even farther away from the thumb without leaving the home row. Similarly, the Ergodox has only four comfortable thumb keys, you can see that they're almost as far away from the thumb as the alt key of a regular keyboard:



My question is, what was your reasoning against putting that extra key? There's plenty of space, looks like it would perfectly fit in there...

I hope it wasn't because of aesthetics or that the number of keys had to be a exponentiation with base 2.

[Binge]

Obra, I was wondering why you'd only put 4 thumb keys on the keyboard and not 5?
See:

Show Image

Those 2 extra keys on the thumb "row" are easily reached* and it would be so cool to have an extra layer key, or any kind of key, on that row.

* If we take a regular keyboard for instance, a touch typist can still comfortably reach the left Alt key using his left thumb. The left Alt key, compared to the modified Model 01 image above, is even farther away from the thumb. Similarly, the Ergodox has only four comfortable thumb keys, you can see that they're almost as far away from the thumb as the alt key of a regular keyboard:

Show Image

My question is, what was your reasoning against putting that extra key? There's plenty of space, looks like it would perfectly fit in there...

I hope it wasn't because of aesthetics or that the number of keys had to be a exponentiation with base 2.

I don't think space is the issue... I think it's just the ergonomics and position of the keys.

[rumpl]

Obra, I was wondering why you'd only put 4 thumb keys on the keyboard and not 5?
See:

Show Image

Those 2 extra keys on the thumb "row" are easily reached* and it would be so cool to have an extra layer key, or any kind of key, on that row.

* If we take a regular keyboard for instance, a touch typist can still comfortably reach the left Alt key using his left thumb. The left Alt key, compared to the modified Model 01 image above, is even farther away from the thumb. Similarly, the Ergodox has only four comfortable thumb keys, you can see that they're almost as far away from the thumb as the alt key of a regular keyboard:

Show Image

My question is, what was your reasoning against putting that extra key? There's plenty of space, looks like it would perfectly fit in there...

I hope it wasn't because of aesthetics or that the number of keys had to be a exponentiation with base 2.

I don't think space is the issue... I think it's just the ergonomics and position of the keys.

That's what I've been trying to say. That extra key would still be comfortable. Thus, it would be ergonomic.

I made a mistake there. Comfortability does not necessarily equal Ergonomy.

Regarding the keyboardio, I do not think there'd be any problem though.

To be completely honest, I have not tried out the Model 01 personally, nor have I ever used an Ergodox (I have been saving money for it actually, until the Model 01 has been announced, which I plan on getting now instead of the Ergodox).

However, I did print out a 1:1 scale on paper of the Ergodox and played around with it (a lot). Those 4 thumb keys (see the previous Ergodox image) are fairly reachable.

That fifth key on the Model 01 would still be far better off than those of the Ergodox, in terms of comfortable position. That is what I believe.

[obra]

We had a 5th key on a number of the prototypes. We actually had six on a few. We couldn't get them positioned comfortably for most users. Even 4 is too much of a stretch for some folks with 19mm spacing. (We'll be tightening up the arc some for production.)

There's also the side issue that it's a lot easier to distinguish 4 keys by feel than 5.

[rumpl]

We had a 5th key on a number of the prototypes. We actually had six on a few. We couldn't get them positioned comfortably for most users. Even 4 is too much of a stretch for some folks with 19mm spacing. (We'll be tightening up the arc some for production.)

There's also the side issue that it's a lot easier to distinguish 4 keys by feel than 5.

Good. I trust you to do the right thing.

[CPTBadAss]

http://hypebeast.com/2015/6/the-model-01-redefines-the-typing-experience

Look what I stumbled upon. Turns out there's no mention of mechanical switches in the video.

[Blaise170]

Those comments make me cringe. 

[obra]

Those comments make me cringe. 

Never read the comments.

[jacobolus]

After seeing the first 2 days of kickstart results, my estimate was that you’d hit 1500–2000 keyboards preordered by the end. Looks like you’re right on track, at about ~1350 so far. Hope you see a surge in the last couple days, but either way looks like it should be enough orders to at least cover costs and not bankrupt anyone.

Then hopefully production goes smoothly, people get their keyboards faster than expected and rave reviews start coming in, and you can make some profit on v1.1, with the keycap tooling and much of the other design/development work all paid for. :-)

[CPTBadAss]

Congrats to Obra and Kaia for a successful Kickstarter backing!! It was wonderful to finally meet you both and talk keyboards and barbeque! Can't wait to see how much people love their Model 01s and for me to play with my screwdriver

[vivalarevolución]

Wow.  Great to see the Kickstarter succeeded.  Congrats.  Is this the highest funding for a keyboard yet?

[obra]

Thanks, guys!

[vivalarevolución]

Those comments make me cringe. 

Never read the comments.

Just read the sales numbers.

[Nai_Calus]

Congrats again guys! These are going to be awesome. ...Especially the clicky ones. XD