I understand how a lot of people may be skeptical about the project, and it's a great thing that people are concerned about giving credit where its due. That said, I think this IC is missing some critical piece of context:
This was a message from the aforementioned mod, Jasper, in the IC description on the Fourteen Discord channel. Prkns is aware of the Mochi40 project, as is his moderators. As Jasper has stated, sure it's disappointing to see the Whimsy project to have reached this point, but there's no ill will between Fourteen and Aiden. If anything, it's relieved Prkns of some pressure now that Mochi40 is taking the reigns, so to speak.
Some additional correspondences:
It may not be a direct endorsement of the project, but it seems Jasper (who has largely taken over updating folks on Prkns' projects) is okay with the Mochi40, at least in an inspirational stand point.
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With that out of the way, I just wanted to provide my two cents on the matter of plagiarism. I personally think it's a little harsh to call the Mochi40 a direct clone of the Whimsy. Yes, the overall design is very reminiscent of the Whimsy, perhaps to a fault. That said, Aiden never really claimed that his board is wholly original and states pretty flatly that the Mochi40 is based off the Whimsy. However, there are also a number of key features that differentiate it from the Whimsy, ie. additional plate materials, colorways, and layout options; hotswap PCB; bluetooth support; etc.
Given the above, I find it hard to say that the Mochi40 is a copy-paste clone. Clearly, some thought and effort was done to be transformative to some capacity. Is it perhaps a little more derivative than I'd hope? Yeah, maybe. I personally think more could have been done to shake things up in terms of its external design while still attracting Whimsy-wanters and those new to this flavor of keyboard. The placement of the knob could have been changed (eg. making it southpaw, as rpiguy9907 mentioned), the side profile could have been adjusted, a weight option could have been added...but I digress.
On the topic of price -- I'm sure the numbers don't come from nowhere. The cost of aluminum and electronic components have been on the rise during the pandemic, and I figure manufacturing parts locally in a shop that might not have the same economies of scale as one overseas no doubt contributes to the overall cost of the board. For some context, the price estimate for the Whimsy as of last February was $235 US. The price of aluminum has increased nearly 70% since then (see
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/aluminum), which makes the current $235 estimate for the Mochi40 (with plate and foam) pretty wild imo. Granted, there might be more nuance than that, but I'd like to give Aiden the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the pricing.
As for the quality -- we're still dealing with the first prototype here, which is by no means reflective of the final product. Aiden even says it's a little shoddy. Here's hoping he remains transparent on the issue and perhaps reconsiders his manufacturer if subsequent prototypes aren't up to par.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope I shed some light on Whimsy/Mochi40 debacle and provided some helpful feedback. GLWIC, I hope in the end both the Whimsy and Mochi40 reach fruition and can co-exist
