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[GB] F104+SSK+122+62+77+50+Ergo orders now open! Kishsaver+Industrial Model F
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Updates on today's meetup and potential stolen keyboard:
Nice seeing everyone at today's NYC meetup! This one was completely sold out with over 250 tickets sold. It was a nice space that had a good amount of air conditioning which was definitely needed today!
Someone even brought an IBM Selectric typewriter and plugged it in; it was great to try it out for the first time and compare it to the new beam spring and Model F keyboards. I was surprised at the high quality of the font/printing - it was about as good as a modern day laser printer! Manual typewriter letters were fuzzier in my recollection.
Potential stolen keyboard alert - ebay listing:
It appears that this keyboard was one of the keyboards lost by UPS and resold to Cargo Largo. You may recall they also acquired another "lost" Model F keyboard back in 2020 but after I was made aware of it, they did send it back to me. Thanks to everyone here for keeping an eye out on the keyboards!
Classic F77 serial 1496
https://www.ebay.com/itm/126595803983
It was not on the previously posted (incomplete) list of stolen/lost keyboards. This one appears to have been lost by UPS in 2022 (it is the very old style styrofoam packaging from the 2019 and 2021 container shipments).
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One challenge of a product requiring setup and maintenance is that some folks don't think it's worth the effort and they don't want to do any of that even though all sorts of tech products require maintenance and repairs while most others don't last long enough to require it. I recently had an interesting discussion with someone who wanted a completely setup- and maintenance- free new Model F keyboard and here is part of that discussion, including the challenges of doing that for small production runs with over a thousand possible keyboard variations while keeping pricing as low as possible for everyone.
For those reading this, how have you convinced yourself and others to put in the extra effort and learning needed to get the best of what's out there, whether it is a new Model F or something else? Has anyone here convinced someone else to get into the world of mechanical keyboards?
Almost all repairs are rather straightforward after checking out the manual and its setup video to see what is expected: for example, using tweezers to put back a spring that is out of place or damaged or learning how to solder if the ribbon cable needs maintenance.
The question you have to ask yourself: Is it really worth it to spend ~1 hour or 2 of your time doing something else instead of following a step-by-step video and written manual, if it means you won't be able to maximize typing comfort, speed, and accuracy during 10,000 hours of computer usage over the rest of your life, with a product designed by IBM to do just that? ~1 hour of work for 10,000 hours of benefit. For many people, they will avoid that work hour because they currently do not prioritize a "buy it for life" mindset and don't want to check reviews and do the research needed to find the best things in life, whether it is a quality car, camera, computer, computer display, keyboard, vacation plan, etc. One goal of the project is to help folks learn how a small amount of extra effort results in disproportionately high rewards.
Your current options are to take an hour or so to learn how to set up and maintain a new Model F or for the expected thousands of hours you'll be at your computer over the coming decades to go through a series of keyboards not designed by IBM through years of R&D for comfort, speed, and accuracy. Under a scenario with everything set up and taken care of for everyone, I would also have to hire local workers to install and test all the keyboards after each custom order is received because there are already hundreds of variations (not counting the dozens of key set options) and only a thousand or so keyboards in each production run (far too small a run to predict, factory install, and stock each needed variation), which is why they can't come from the factory preinstalled. Regarding requiring no maintenance on your own, we would need service centers and distributors, genius bars, repair personnel, and tech support hotline workers, and everyone would pay a lot more on top of an already expensive keyboard to pay for this overhead (over a smaller order base, as some folks are priced out even with the current pricing), which is not feasible for such a small project as this one.
Would sales be higher or lower in this other market scenario? IBM had these significant advantages but they were able to charge an inflation-adjusted $800 to $1000 for this product that this new project charges a fraction of that amount, and even IBM/Lexmark couldn't feasibly continue their buckling spring keyboard operations and support decades ago with a thousand-plus times the volume that we have today. Everyone won't pay more for that convenience with a steep cost, especially when the keyboard is already so costly; only a far smaller number of folks could afford to do that. The philosophy of this project is that everyone can get repair kits now and learn how to maintain and use a Brand New Model F keyboard long after the project has ended and production has shut down.
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We are just a few weeks away from the delivery of the keyboards from the shipping container! They are expecting delivery just before month end.
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Here's a nice photo from reddit showing a setup with the Industrial Gray F77 Model F keyboard - another great looking desktop setup!
https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/comments/1ejbeke/so_i_bought_a_standing_desk_to_put_behind_my/
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With permission I am sharing a nice setup with an Industrial Gray F62, the HHKB Front Print Key set, and a trackball: "the F62 and a Ploopy Adept, both running Vial, connected to a Framework 13 running Arch."
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