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geekhack Community => geekhack Media => Topic started by: obra on Sun, 22 December 2013, 20:49:11

Title: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Sun, 22 December 2013, 20:49:11: So, I got a little bit of flack for not posting my last 8 or so keyboard iterations to geekhack before I blogged them. I'm trying to do a bit better this time.

The Model 00 is very similar to the Mark 13 I mentioned over at http://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/better-and-better-keyboards.html (http://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/better-and-better-keyboards.html), though it (finally) uses a PCB I designed and had Seeed Studio make me 10 copies of (for $200, including FedEx Next Day shipping from China!) and has a wood shell, rather than an acrylic shell. It's pretty close to a "final" layout for the keyboard I'm hoping to Kickstarter.

So far, we've built out four of our 10 PCBs. Two of them are for us. The other two are being sent to unsuspecting beta testers tomorrow.

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7425/11505815494_d87646e3b1_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505815494)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7368/11505711274_e746cd9395_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505711274)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3740/11505814283_f1810f6383_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505814283)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3690/11505669146_96dcfe9205_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505669146)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/11505733206_308526d380_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505733206)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7294/11505710943_332f27d8a3_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505710943)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: jdcarpe on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:24:33: Nice design! It was interesting to see your progression from your original through this (most likely) final design. I'm not sure I get how the thumb cluster is supposed to work, but I assume by now you have all that worked out through testing your previous iterations.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: LONGZILLA on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:32:03: I would love to see a picture that captures the proper hand placement (might need to grow a third hand to take the picture), does the wrist rest at and angle to avoid sitting on the thumb cluster?
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:40:42: Quote from: LONGZILLA on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:32:03
I would love to see a picture that captures the proper hand placement (might need to grow a third hand to take the picture), does the wrist rest at and angle to avoid sitting on the thumb cluster?

It's flat, but resting your hands on the palm rest, none of the thumb or palm keys will trigger.

(http://fsck.com/~jesse/tmp/2013-12-22/CEA9DA89-7813-42A4-A9F8-0500FD7D6660/IMG_20131222_223528.jpg)
(http://fsck.com/~jesse/tmp/2013-12-22/503408D2-0370-4857-B46B-7FD871574012/IMG_20131222_223610.jpg)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: Wildcard on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:42:56: Beautiful design, liking the butterfly.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: LONGZILLA on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:51:11: Quote from: obra on Sun, 22 December 2013, 21:40:42
It's flat, but resting your hands on the palm rest, none of the thumb or palm keys will trigger.

Show Image
(http://fsck.com/~jesse/tmp/2013-12-22/CEA9DA89-7813-42A4-A9F8-0500FD7D6660/IMG_20131222_223528.jpg)

Show Image
(http://fsck.com/~jesse/tmp/2013-12-22/503408D2-0370-4857-B46B-7FD871574012/IMG_20131222_223610.jpg)

I love it.

The only complaint I have about my Kinesis, is been wide gap between the alpha clusters, so this just seems perfect.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: Glod on Tue, 24 December 2013, 14:24:42: looks good, now i want one :D
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Tue, 24 December 2013, 14:46:45: Quote from: Glod on Tue, 24 December 2013, 14:24:42
looks good, now i want one :D

:)

We're working on it. We've done the easy 80%. Now we just need to do the other 80% of getting em into production. One we have a manufacturing deal and felt understand our costs, there will be a kickstarter.

I -may- put a couple hand built units on Etsy or eBay. They'd be stupidly expensive though.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: fourzeropooh on Tue, 24 December 2013, 15:12:35: Quote from: obra on Tue, 24 December 2013, 14:46:45
Quote from: Glod on Tue, 24 December 2013, 14:24:42
looks good, now i want one :D

:)

We're working on it. We've done the easy 80%. Now we just need to do the other 80% of getting em into production. One we have a manufacturing deal and felt understand our costs, there will be a kickstarter.

I -may- put a couple hand built units on Etsy or eBay. They'd be stupidly expensive though.

Why kickstarter? Why not just start a GB here?
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Tue, 24 December 2013, 15:20:56: Quote from: fourzeropooh on Tue, 24 December 2013, 15:12:35

Why kickstarter? Why not just start a GB here?

Well, in part, our intended audience is a bit broader than GH/DT ;)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: fourzeropooh on Tue, 24 December 2013, 16:09:55: Quote from: obra on Tue, 24 December 2013, 15:20:56
Quote from: fourzeropooh on Tue, 24 December 2013, 15:12:35

Why kickstarter? Why not just start a GB here?

Well, in part, our intended audience is a bit broader than GH/DT ;)

Then what about massdrop?
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: Binge on Tue, 24 December 2013, 16:15:12: :| butterflies...
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Tue, 24 December 2013, 16:31:50: Quote from: fourzeropooh on Tue, 24 December 2013, 16:09:55

Then what about massdrop?

When you do a Massdrop, massdrop owns the relationship with your customers, which is kind of not ideal. Kickstarter (and indiegogo) are platforms that let you own the relationship with the customer. Once the thing exists and is shipping, a Massdrop is definitely a possibility (as would be just selling at a discount to GH members ;)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: bazemk1979 on Tue, 24 December 2013, 16:58:16: cutest home made ergo board I have ever seen, good job
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Tue, 24 December 2013, 17:41:17: Quote from: bazemk1979 on Tue, 24 December 2013, 16:58:16
cutest home made ergo board I have ever seen, good job

*grin* Thanks!
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: mooswa on Tue, 24 December 2013, 18:52:41: Beautiful, I want one.

Some layout suggestions though :-). How about having only three radially positioned thumb keys? Seems like natural to rest a thumb key on a middle one; with four this symmetry is lost.
Also how about adding another vertical keys to be pressed with a side of the palm? Like this:

(http://i.stack.imgur.com/m4Rja.jpg)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: komar007 on Wed, 25 December 2013, 03:21:16: Great keyboard, looks wonderful!

Quote from: mooswa on Tue, 24 December 2013, 18:52:41

Also how about adding another vertical keys to be pressed with a side of the palm? Like this:

Show Image
(http://i.stack.imgur.com/m4Rja.jpg)

+1, I used to do that all the time with control before I substituted caps-lock with it;)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: terran5992 on Wed, 25 December 2013, 03:26:42: 0.o looks like a modifed ergodox
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Wed, 25 December 2013, 10:07:33: Quote from: mooswa on Tue, 24 December 2013, 18:52:41
Beautiful, I want one.

Some layout suggestions though :-). How about having only three radially positioned thumb keys? Seems like natural to rest a thumb key on a middle one; with four this symmetry is lost.

In practice, I don't find that to be a problem, though I'm hoping to do some clever things with custom key shapes for the production run.

Quote from: mooswa on Tue, 24 December 2013, 18:52:41

Also how about adding another vertical keys to be pressed with a side of the palm? Like this:

Huh. I may play with that. It doesn't feel like it'd be a comfortable wrist motion, but I can't really tell without trying. Thanks!

Quote from: terran5992 on Wed, 25 December 2013, 03:26:42
0.o looks like a modifed ergodox

I'd argue that it looks more like a Tron TK-1 or a PC-9800:

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/TRON-keyboard-PMC-TK1-up.jpg/120px-TRON-keyboard-PMC-TK1-up.jpg)

http://www.d-tech.jp/research/m_keys.html (http://www.d-tech.jp/research/m_keys.html)
(http://www.d-tech.jp/research/images/nwp98.gif)

But yes, there's some ergodox heritage in there.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: clickclack123 on Tue, 18 February 2014, 06:30:33: Looks awesome, if a little... feminine?

Maybe a nice metallic angular futuristic bat shape would appeal a bit more to me.

Amazing work though. Excellent work.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: CPTBadAss on Tue, 18 February 2014, 08:09:15: Hehe, I love that butterfly shape. It looks so comfy :D. Really like following your progress ^__^.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: schultzor on Tue, 18 February 2014, 08:42:32: Just to get a sense of scale, is that an 11" or 13" Macbook Air? I really like the idea of a split/columnar layout keyboard with such a small footprint.

(goes back to anxiously waiting for the keyboard.io kickstarter)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: obra on Tue, 18 February 2014, 14:06:58: That's an 11" Air. The current generation keyboard is a little bigger than an 11" air. It fits comfortably in a case intended for a 13" macbook along with the 11" Air.

The kickstarter may be delayed a little bit, but the results should be worth waiting for. We've been accepted into http://highway1.io (http://highway1.io) and are in the process of incorporating. More details here:

http://blog.keyboard.io/post/77090573260/hey-kids-its-time-we-talk-about-where-hardware (http://blog.keyboard.io/post/77090573260/hey-kids-its-time-we-talk-about-where-hardware)
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: EvillePanda on Tue, 18 March 2014, 13:25:48: I've been following this keyboard for a few months on various blogs and Twitter. I was surprised you weren't on GH, but here you are! Can't wait for the Kickstarter on this.
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: Vibex on Mon, 28 April 2014, 15:03:36: Filled out the survey. ;D
Title: Re: My new Keyboard.io Model 00s
Post by: mkawa on Wed, 07 May 2014, 11:46:37: should have been a heart :(