Author Topic: [Interest Check] IBM Industrial SSK Cases from Unicomp (Read 12418 times)

BiNiaRiS · « **on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 15:23:32 »

I've been chatting with Jim over at Unicomp lately and we've been discussing the SSK cases they used to have. Apparently the mold for them was broken or lost, and that is why they cannot get any more of them.

They do however have the means to make new molds IF we get enough money. He is going to be getting me some solid numbers soon on how much it costs and where we would be at per case price wise.

We will probably need at least 100 cases ordered to make this worthwhile so I wanna see how much interest there would be. The molds are expensive. I know this is hard now since there is no price, but if you wouldn't be willing to spend over a certain amount, post that info.

When Jim gets back to me on costs, I will update this and hopefully we can drum up enough interest.

Here is a picture of Webwit's real Industrial SSK for comparison:

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #1 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 15:25:53 »

Quote from: ripster;415073

Thanks but I have one of those.

reported

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #2 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 15:29:01 »

Quote from: ripster;415075

No really. I do!
(Attachment Link) 26477[/ATTACH]

Damn. That's what I get for wandering out of my subforum ghetto.

Oh, i know...don't worry. I already told Jim that you agreed to send in your Industrial as the base for the mold.

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #3 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 16:44:37 »

Quote from: ripster;415078

Not to be a pill but why is Geekhack paying the 10K or whatever for Unicomp to get back into the IBM Mini business?

If this goes ahead I'd ask for exclusivity to the design. Could be the Geekhack Branded Keyboard!

They have no plans to ever make it again so if we don't convince them it's never gonna happen.

And the cost is maybe a few thousand, not $10k. He said it would be $20k+ to make a SSK keyboard.

Sent from my EVO

MissileMike · « **Reply #4 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 17:05:08 »

I would be in if it was reasonable, but I think you would need A LOT of people to make it, and I doubt there are even 100 ssk owners here at gh...

Tennobanzai · « **Reply #5 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 17:11:28 »

Would this include the IBM logo or Unicomp or neither?

litster · « **Reply #6 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 20:05:07 »

Probably neither. Unicomp stopped sending out IBM logo labels with blank cases after Chuck left. The new guys claim they can't sell IBM logo stuff because it would be a copyright violation.

keyboardlover · « **Reply #7 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 20:06:43 »

$20K for them to make SSKs again?

What's the Minimum Order Quantity? Like Ripster said, could be the GH keyboard.

Might be worth it if enough people go in on it!

litster · « **Reply #8 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 20:18:49 »

Let's do some math. If $20K is just the start up cost, and *if* we have 100 people interested, It would be $200 each. Plus, cost of goods (COGS) of making the keyboards, labor, shipping, and Unicomp profit. That can get to $400 to $500 easily. To lower the price and make that work, we would have to include as many people as possible, and maybe the Asian keyboard forums. This would not be easy but not impossible.

And if Unicomp would go on and continue to make and sell SSK, then Unicomp should be burdened with most of the startup cost. This is not really specifically for Industrial. They could make a red one if they want. Hum, that could be hot!

Then I have the conundrum of devaluing the genuine beige and industrial SSKs that are out there...

keyboardlover · « **Reply #9 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 20:24:08 »

I would definitely be interested...

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #10 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 20:28:22 »

Quote from: litster;415231

Let's do some math. If $20K is just the start up cost, and *if* we have 100 people interested, It would be $200 each. Plus, cost of goods (COGS) of making the keyboards, labor, shipping, and Unicomp profit. That can get to $400 to $500 easily. To lower the price and make that work, we would have to include as many people as possible, and maybe the Asian keyboard forums. This would not be easy but not impossible.

And if Unicomp would go on and continue to make and sell SSK, then Unicomp should be burdened with most of the startup cost. This is not really specifically for Industrial. They could make a red one if they want. Hum, that could be hot!

Then I have the conundrum of devaluing the genuine beige and industrial SSKs that are out there...

I will pressure him to get some more information. It's not like they have to design these things from scratch. They've got all the info as to how Lexmark made them back in the day.

I'm gonna post this over on deskthority.net as well. If there's enough interest and someone stepped up and was willing to be the rep for OTD and other korean sites, I think we'd really have a chance at doing the full keyboards.

litster · « **Reply #11 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 21:58:51 »

Maybe Unicomp can tell us how much they would charge per SSK if there is an order of 100. That would be a clearer cost determination up front from the group buyers' perspective. It would be more complicated for all parties if group buyers has to share the cost for tooling, and then pay for each keyboard.

But I am being a backseat driver here :-) BiNiaRiS, thanks for driving this.

jpm804 · « **Reply #12 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 22:43:56 »

I'd be interested in the case if we get enough people... Would be also curious to hear what the cost would be for a complete SSK.

reaper · « **Reply #13 on:** Mon, 12 September 2011, 22:45:49 »

Quote from: jpm804;415313

I'd be interested in the case if we get enough people... Would be also curious to hear what the cost would be for a complete SSK.

Same here.

Laggy-gaga · « **Reply #14 on:** Tue, 13 September 2011, 06:01:20 »

I think another issue we r facing is how to get those classic IBM logo stickers,
as same as SSK shells,
they are not making them any more.
anyway,
I will be in for 5 of them if we can make it happen

sordna · « **Reply #15 on:** Tue, 13 September 2011, 09:55:22 »

I believe the new keyboard should be a Unicomp-labeled keyboard, just like their other currently shipping products.

kaiserreich · « **Reply #16 on:** Tue, 13 September 2011, 09:59:53 »

I contacted him and he said he was out of those logos.

litster · « **Reply #17 on:** Tue, 13 September 2011, 10:19:35 »

He sent me a couple of those labels for free. He's cool! I guess he ran out.

dreamingftw · « **Reply #18 on:** Tue, 13 September 2011, 11:54:05 »

Quote from: reaper;415314

Same here.

+1

lal · « **Reply #19 on:** Wed, 14 September 2011, 16:03:51 »

Depending on color I'd be interested in a couple of shells. But $100 for a shell only is too much. I'd probably buy one or two anyway.

demik · « **Reply #20 on:** Wed, 14 September 2011, 16:11:48 »

The color is in the picture.

lal · « **Reply #21 on:** Wed, 14 September 2011, 16:28:33 »

The reason for the high demand for industrial SSKs is their rarity. It's just something special and different. That "industrial" color is actually quite boring. I would much prefer a strong red, yellow or dark gray. I'm pretty sure Unicomp can mix any color we want.

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #22 on:** Wed, 14 September 2011, 17:48:58 »

Quote from: lal;416189

The reason for the high demand for industrial SSKs is their rarity. It's just something special and different. That "industrial" color is actually quite boring. I would much prefer a strong red, yellow or dark gray. I'm pretty sure Unicomp can mix any color we want.

They will make it in the original industrial because that is a color that was used in the past. If we wanted a different color it would be a custom order for just those that want it. I mainly want the industrail color, but any dark grey, black etc. would be fine by me. I still have yet to hear back from Jim on this though.

litster · « **Reply #23 on:** Wed, 14 September 2011, 17:56:27 »

Industrial color is nice because the real version is rare. But if they could make red, blue, yellow, black, that would be even better.

akerasi · « **Reply #24 on:** Wed, 14 September 2011, 23:04:01 »

Probably interested, depending on cost. Basically, I'd want a fully working keyboard for 175 at most; if that could be done... I'm willing to toss in for the sake of something awesome.

Quarzac · « **Reply #25 on:** Tue, 20 September 2011, 18:21:58 »

Biniaris, don't get me wrong, you're a cool dude and all, but please don't encourage Unicomp to start making SSKs until I sell off the one I have left. After that, knock your socks off.

litster · « **Reply #26 on:** Tue, 20 September 2011, 18:42:24 »

Quarzac, your auction will close way before we would get any traction here. Don't worry.

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #27 on:** Tue, 20 September 2011, 18:47:05 »

Quote from: Quarzac;419286

Biniaris, don't get me wrong, you're a cool dude and all, but please don't encourage Unicomp to start making SSKs until I sell off the one I have left. After that, knock your socks off.

This is months and months away and that is if it even makes sense. I didn't go into this looking to get full keyboards made...I mainly want that cases. The full keyboards is just an afterthought and we'll see where it goes.

Quarzac · « **Reply #28 on:** Tue, 20 September 2011, 19:12:31 »

Quote from: litster;419301

Quarzac, your auction will close way before we would get any traction here. Don't worry.

Someone's gotta bid on it though! What if nobody bids on it for 6 months!

BiNiaRiS · « **Reply #29 on:** Fri, 30 September 2011, 22:26:17 »

I'll shoot Jim an email, but I leave for Europe tomorrow and won't be back for a few weeks. I'll pester him a bit harder when I get back.

Ink`Eyes · « **Reply #30 on:** Sat, 01 October 2011, 00:02:02 »

I'd be interested depending on the cost. I don't like the whole idea of us buying a mold for a company to start their production. I have never told a customer or customers that they basically needed to font me the money to buy my equipment. We bought the machine if we thought there was a demand for it. Luckily most the time there was, but sometimes where wasn't and we take a loss. I have wanted a space saver for a long time, but I was not willing to put out that much money on a used keyboard. I'd think the mold would be profitable if they created it and they should have a better entrepreneurial approach. They should make a mold and mainstream the cost.

slueth · « **Reply #31 on:** Sat, 01 October 2011, 06:26:07 »

I am interested but iono about 100 for a case lol.

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Author Topic: [Interest Check] IBM Industrial SSK Cases from Unicomp (Read 12418 times)