I hope PayPal doesn't throw a spanner in the works
It shouldn't, since I've gotten my Multiplxd paypal account approved as a business account now, and this would be straight up payment for product.
I can't use paypal . It would be ideal if we are able to give the payment using credit/debit cards.
Kickstarter (US) edition use credit cards via amazon (at least it did last year). Paypal is too painful to use for me too.
Unfortunately Paypal will probably be the only option to pay for the beta kits, but you should be able to use your credit/debit card for the kickstarter just like any other account. Remember as well that you can pay through paypal without needing an account, there is usually an option to pay without signing into an account, they just don't make it big & flashy.
Agreed. real keyboarders are willing to wait years if necessary.
Good to know
I definitely want to get this right, and for a good price. That means I can't rush it, as much as I'm tempted to.
An interesting tweeet by Carmack (who now works on occulus VR):
If a keyboard had a one bit touch sensor on each key, you could make an effective display and use it in VR.
https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/375328478603653121
Imagine using this keyboard in Virtual Reality.
Technically, I could do this as an option down the road with an add-on board. I can only imagine the kind of attention I could get to something like the kickstarter or the boards in general if I were able to show Carmack a working add-on to give touch feedback from the keys.
What I love about my Ergodox is the ability to have so many layers. I could have all the layouts on different layers! What I hate about my Ergodox is never knowing what layer I'm on, so I end up using the default.
I noticed on your 70% you have 10 LEDs, 5 per side. Is the current plan to use those to denote which layer is active? I think having some way to see which layer you are on would be great to include at the base level. I also love backlihgting/color changing LEDs, but that is more "bling" then functional, so I would expect to pay more for that functionality.
Will you be beta testing only the split, or one of the 70% flavors?
Awesome work, Thanks!
I've been lurking on this thread for a while now, and have to add my voice to the mob of fans: sooo much awesomeness!
What I love about my Ergodox is the ability to have so many layers. I could have all the layouts on different layers! What I hate about my Ergodox is never knowing what layer I'm on, so I end up using the default.
I noticed on your 70% you have 10 LEDs, 5 per side. Is the current plan to use those to denote which layer is active? I think having some way to see which layer you are on would be great to include at the base level. I also love backlihgting/color changing LEDs, but that is more "bling" then functional, so I would expect to pay more for that functionality.
I've also got enough layers I sometimes forget which are active, and am trying out a possible solution: an RGB LED. Got it soldered yesterday (a bit of a pain since it's really an SMD part and I hand-soldered it to wires), but haven't got the firmware changes done yet. I'm thinking of using it in something like several axes, with base layers giving different hues while overlays control saturation or something like it. Could of course just be an unworkable idea, but at minimum I've definitely got three very different colors.
Oh, and AcidFire: I've been playing with the TMK firmware this weekend, and the debug channel it has is pretty neat, have you considered adding something like it?
Yes, that's one of the configurable options for the LEDs. I'm also looking at a small display module that would do something similar without being a stupidly expensive add-on.
As for the beta testing, I will only be building enough electronics for around 25 kits, and beta testers will be able to choose which casing they want to test. Beta testers will also be able to opt to pay (cost) for additional cases if they wish, to which they will be able to purchase & add electronics to later when the kickstarter is made available.
Unfortunately I haven't had much time to check out the TMK firmware in depth, but I do want to figure out some way of providing a debug channel for the processor. The major difference right now is still learning the ins & outs of the ARM to ensure I can get it working the way it needs to to provide this sort of functionality.