Glad to have a non-plastic EC board available, but I feel this is overpriced by about $60-80. First to market, competitive advantage, pent-up demand not considered, of course. I'm going to skip and hope that the price comes down to earth at some point.
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There are always cheaper options. There are more expensive ones as well (Norbatouch, Noxary XRF). The price tag of Atom68-Alu was determined by the made cost and the investment we've already made. What's your calculation that it's overpriced by about $ 60-80?
To achieve the seamless side that we want, we didn't use the regular and cheap solution that just adding a flat bottom plate. In that way, the case will be light and hollow. Instead, the bottom case is also milled from a large thick aluminum block and is crafted to just the inner space we need.
To achieve the vertical front and back walls that we want, the aluminum bars need to be re-adjusted for more times during the CNC milling, which significantly adds the costs.
To make Bluetooth possible in an aluminum case, we made new molds for the rubber feet.
To optimize the typing experience and sound, we made new molds for stabilizers.
You can't even find the features I mentioned in more expensive cases.
In fact, we've invested much more money than what we expect to earn in this Group buy. We are a for-profit company but we're willing to invest in advance. This keyboard is the first attempt for a new market from a capacitive keyboard company. If it cannot be supported, there won't be a time that "price comes down to earth at some point" at least from us.
Good luck with your hope.