Hi everyone. Long time lurker here....
I don't really know what to say, since I found this thread while searching for some information on why Cospar never launched.
I discovered mech's about a year ago and I'm still clacking on a ****ty chinese model with browns. But, Cospar was the first set of caps that really made me excited. In fact, I'd planned for months to make it my first set.
So, this post is half cautionary tale, half gripe --
Cautionary Tale -- Casual fans, if you're like me --
participate!!! I checked the Cospar post daily, yet never contributed to it. Why? Well, part was a lack of understanding of the community. I was under the impression that if something had the votes on PMK, it was going to happen, and I didn't need to jump into a conversation of things that was WAY over my head -- just wait patiently and click "buy" when the GB went live. Now, I know it's not that simple.
Gripe -- This seems like an excellent way to make sure the mechanical keyboard community stays niche. As an "outsider," stumbling across this thread makes me want to turn and run the other way. If this is how the community treats each other, I'll find another hobby. Remember how I mentioned above my reluctance to participate in the thread? Well, it can be a less-than-inviting community, just based on the sort of "secret code" nature of the mech lexicon -- SA vs DSA vs DCS vs..... agh!!! Situations like this are definitely going to raise that barrier of entry.
Some other observations: - MiTo did mention Signature being pretty "strange." As an outsider, I can definitely agree that the whole PMK situation is "strange," at best. Probably because you're looking at a boutique manufacturer trying to step into a market drastically different than the one they actually know how to market to. But the site's hosting has been spotty, he's right about mobile, and it's a little confusing who you're actually buying from. That said, it's a bit much to expect signature to change their entire business model on something that's exploded in the past 12-18 months.
- Sadly, it appears that while MiTo was a talented designer, he lacks similar ability as a businessman. His "taking my ball and going home" approach alienates potential customers like me and when he eventually wants to do another group buy, I'll just ignore him.
- What are the ethics/rules on someone else building Cospar SA? How does copyright work in this situation? Frankly, I've been picturing this set on my keyboard for a month, and I'm not ready to give up.