Optimus OLED Keyboard Pre-Orders Start Dec. 12

Jupix writes, "After almost a year and a half of public development, the Optimus OLED keyboard is nearing completion. According to the project blog, pre-orders for the Optimus-103 will start on December 12. The price is unspecified at this time, but Art Lebedev has said the keyboard will cost 'less than a good mobile phone' (probably about $400). Don't expect to see those 10 programmable function keys on the left on this first version, though, as they will not make their debut until the Optimus-113, released later."

Comments

What key switching tech does it use?

[vistic]

Does anyone know what kind of switches it uses?

At that price I'd expect buckling spring switches (like the old IBM Model M) or mechanical Alps switches (like the old Apple Extended Keyboard II). Although I think only Unicomp makes buckling spring keyboards anymore.

I'd be disappointed if keys that look so nice, just have a squishy feel to them like a cheap rubber-dome membrane Dell keyboard.

Re:What key switching tech does it use?

[Anonymous Coward]

huh? The squishy feeling is a good thing(tm) Its called a quiet keyboard. I very much dislike the spring keyboards, esp if yo use them for data entry. With quiet keyboards its much easier to press the keys.

Re:What key switching tech does it use?

[imbaczek]

HERETIC!

Re:What key switching tech does it use?

[stunt_penguin]

I'd have said heathen! but I think you were closer to the mark ^^

Forced tilt?

[blitzrage]

Looks like the keyboard is force on an angle. Normally you're able to adjust the height of the keyboard. I generally like my keyboard as flat as possible and my desk/chair set to the right height so my wrists are in a comfortable and flat position instead of being tilted up. Too bad, looks like the keyboard has promise.

Re:Forced tilt?

[Nerftoe]

Just shim up the front of the keyboard. Problem solved. ;)

Re:Forced tilt?

[daeg]

One would hope after dropping a few C-notes on a keyboard you wouldn't have to shim anything.

Re:Forced tilt?

[Penguin Programmer]

I agree. That said, I love my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard with the 9 degree reverse tilt.

Also, why does every fucking keyboard manufacturer in the world feel that they have to screw around with the enter key at every opportunity? You'd think they'd learn that people want a rectangular enter key, with a rectangular backslash/pipe key above it and a rectangular, full-width backspace key above that.

Re:Forced tilt?

[sc00ch]

Speak for yourself, over here in the UK we have the vertical 2 row (upside down L) enter key. I think there should be various layouts to match the different standards around the world.

Re:Forced tilt?

[Captain Splendid]

A real hacker always shims something!

Functionality Display

[RetroGeek]

Overall changes are one thing (ala Quake), but what I want is to have the display change when I press the CTRL or ALT key.

So that CTRL changes the C key display to COPY and so on. Including the function and specialty keys (arrows, PrtSc).

And an editor that allows me to customize what the keys show, so when I am programming I can set up the display to match my key mapping preferences. With smart focus management to whatever program is in the foreground.

Re:Functionality Display

[hanssprudel]

And an editor that allows me to customize what the keys show, so when I am programming I can set up the display to match my key mapping preferences. With smart focus management to whatever program is in the foreground.

You shouldn't need an editor for this. Rather they should release a good API, so that is it is easy for every program to tell the keyboard what to display when that program is in focus. Since your IDE already knows your keymaps, you shouldn't have to tell the keyboard again (imagine what a mess).

This is beautiful technology, but as with so many other things, the difficulty will be in getting programs to support it.

Re:Functionality Display

[CastrTroy]

Which is a great idea for grandma, who doesn't know how to use a computer, but really isn't that much of an advantage to an advanced computer user who never looks at their keyboard anyway. Anybody who users a computer more than 2 hours a day, should probably learn the key shortcuts and make their life easier. People depend way too much on the mouse, which is understandable in a GUI environment, but even then, using the keyboard is much faster. I could see this being an advantage with VS.Net, and it showing all the key combinations, but at that point, you're still better off memorizing the shortcuts, because looking down at the keyboard to figure out what you want to do is much slower than right click + select option, or even going all the way to the top menu and selecting something out of there. All this reminds me of WordPerfect 5.1. You could do everything via the keyboard, and it was so much nicer to use than any of the modern word processors, because you spent more time getting stuff done, and less time messing around with mice,drop down menus, and the 50,000 fonts we have now.

Re:Functionality Display

[Enselic]

As a hobbyist game programmer, I immediately began to think about what games you could write for the keyboard itself. My general idea is that you could make all the keys act as one big (low-res) screen.

You could have a Whack-a-Mole type game, where a mole would display on the keys and you'd have to whack him by pressing one of the keys the mole occupies.

Or you could make a Snake clone where you would maneuver the snake by tapping on the direction the snake would go.

Or some kind of piano game, á la Guitar Hero.

Best use for this...

[b0s0z0ku]

I suspect that this won't be used a lot on home computer systems. Where it may be used a lot is in things like automotive dashboards and possibly non-critical systems on aircraft where space is at a premium and touch screens work poorly if you're wearing gloves and/or want some tactile feedback.

-b.

Minor question - How much?

[slightlyspacey]

I don't know about your credit card, but when I charge something, they require something a bit more concrete than "less than the price of a good cell phone".

NB: This keyboard does not use OLED.

[onemorehour]

Read the blog for details. They scrapped the OLED idea in favor of LCD screens to save cost.

Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[Kadin2048]

huh? The squishy feeling is a good thing(tm) Its called a quiet keyboard. I very much dislike the spring keyboards, esp if yo use them for data entry. With quiet keyboards its much easier to press the keys.

Although ultimately it comes down to personal preference, I think that the 'clicky' buckling-spring keys are actually easier to use and less fatiguing. Because there is immediate tactile and audible feedback when the key-switch is actuated, you don't have to press it as far down. When I use a 'soft touch' keyboard, I find that I hit the keys further and harder, because there's not that feedback; I slam each key all the way down instead of (with practice) only pushing each key down as far as is necessary.

The noise of the original IBM Model M's is definitely a downside; if you have to work around other people, I can see how it wouldn't win you many friends. In my opinion, the Apple Extended Keyboard II with the Altus switches is the best of both worlds. It's softer both in terms of pressure and sound than the IBM, but it's not as 'mushy' as a soft-touch (silicone dome).

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[kefler]

"The best feedback is the letters appearing on the screen anyway."

You must type rather slowly...

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[kryptkpr]

I get ~130WPM gross, ~115 WPM net on that test. Your 50wpm may seem fast by normal standards, but it's glacially slow by "slashdot" (programmer) standards. Programmers need to type in dozens of lines of code to express a single idea sometimes, and if you do that every day for a few years it really improves your typing speed (and accuracy).

My only contribution to this discussion is the best keyboard is the keyboard that you're used to, and it's as simple as that. If you are used to that annoying clicky feeling and sound, then that's what you will like.

Personally, I hate it. I hit the keys on those damn springy keyboards way harder (it seems like the keys actually travels further, and my fingers tend to travel with the keys) then I'd normally hit on a rubber-membrane keyboard, which makes it difficult for me to move to the next key and as a result I type slower and less accurately.

I know people who are proficient at such keyboards don't allow their fingers to travel with the key, they move on when they feel they've just passed the threshold and let the key hit the bottom on it's own.. but that's been learned over a period of years. If the vocal minority who love clicky keyboards had spent the same amount of time on using a rubber membrane keyboard already, their typing would have adjusted to suit and they could quit complaining about the state of keyboards these days.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[Metasquares]

Programming ability depends on typing speed about as much as IQ depends on how quickly you write or mathematical ability depends on how quickly you can do arithmetic (that is, the relation is very slight). A programmer who can express the same idea with less code doesn't have to type as much, after all.

(I type in the range of 80-110 WPM at 90% accuracy, before this becomes an attack on my typing as well :) )

the best keyboard is the keyboard that you're used to

Agreed!

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[kryptkpr]

My statement was simply that Programmers, on average, type faster then the general populace. I stand by this statement, but it is a one-way implication (and not at all a correlation).

So while being a programmer implies a faster average typing speed, I am in full agreement with you that having a faster average typing speed implies nothing (and least of all programming ability, it might just mean you spent months blabbing on IM to your buddies).

To all those people who are saying use a better language, you're either developing only software and/or not getting paid to write code.

If you're being paid, you code in what you're told to code, no matter how ugly the syntax. But at least you get to go home and write code in whatever beautiful language you prefer (mmm .. Python)..

If you're developing hardware, your choice comes down to Verilog or VHDL. VHDL (1993) especially is defined in such a way as to make massive amounts of typing (not to mention copy/pasting) inescapable. Keywords like CONV_STD_LOGIC_VECTOR (21 fucking characters for the most commonly used type-conversion function!) show up all over the place. It makes you type out "BEGIN" and "END".. no braces. Even a "simple" digital logic block such as a 4-to-1 MUX or a slight variation there-of can require a dozen lines of stupid, pointless syntax (so that it 'looks' like a MUX to the compiler) to implement .. no matter how good of a programmer you are.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[ben there...]

Let's see: average programmer in the US in 2001 produced 6200 lines of code per year, according to Gartner.

6200 lines/year * 10 words/line = 62000 words/year

62000 words/year / 1080 hours/year = 57 words/hour

57 words/hour / 60 mins/hour = 1 wpm

Apparently, considering no coder types at anywhere near 1 wpm, writing code is bottlenecked by thinking, not typing.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[Eivind]

Uhm, no. That'd be "data-entry monkeys". The average programmer productivity is not dependant on typing-speed at all, and less so the more challenging the project is. The trick in programming ain't typing quickly, but typing the *correct* stuff.

Brooks in his Mythical Man Month has a good discussion of programmer-productivity in a large project. Average programmer-output is something like 100 lines of code a *day*.

If you're hammering out massive amounts of trivial code where the limiting factor is your typing-speed, you are doing something wrong. Probably, you should think about the problem at hand 10 times as much, and write only 1/10th as much code.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[hey!]

Well, if you want to keep in the spirit of this keyboard's design, the audible "click" feedback should be programmable -- on a key by key basis.

E-Paper keys?

[gaspar ilom]

OLEDs are cool and all, and support color...

But if they used e-paper for each key, couldn't this be used in laptops and other low-power devices?

Re:E-Paper keys?

[stunt_penguin]

This type of keyboard has little to do with typing, and more to do with keyboard shortcuts and custmisablity.

As an example of how useful a KB like this is for multimedia developers, have a look at these keyboards and accessoris; they're an intuitive but sometimes expensive way to have your shortcuts laid out in front of you for just one application. With a keyboard like the Optimus, users can apply schemes that change between apps, or that even change when you hold down the CTRL, CTRL-ALT, or CTRL-ALT-SHIFT keys on the keyboard.

It'd even be useful for novice users getting used to the usual cut/copy/paste routine, or might for example teach them about the uses of the windows key; [win]-d for desktop, [win]-L to log off.

The potential gaming uses are there, too, I suppose. The killer app for the Optimus(within the gaming world) is perhaps a flight sim, where you have 300-400 keyboard shortcuts at your command ( I'm not joking ) and learning the most useful ones is a real pain in the ass.

Re:E-Paper keys?

[bdsd76]

According to art. lebedev, they chose not to go with e-paper due to its being too slow...

Re:E-Paper keys?

[stunt_penguin]

Where exactly do you see a place for your contextual list of commands that start with CTRL on this interface.

This was my interface just before I checked my mail. I'm running at 1680*1050 on a 24" Dell and I barely, barely have room for everything (I'd be running at 1080p but my video card hasn't got a big enough frame buffer).

Keyboard shortcuts and the means to remember (or quickly refrence) them are a fact of life, and solve numerous interface problems. You'd be making the same type of baseless argument if you suggested that the GUI is the only means that we should be able to interface with the computer, or that the console should be the only means of issuing system commands.

The optimus *is* different because it puts the shortcuts right there, and allows immediate customisation of those shortcuts. It beats the heck out of any type of F-Keys or alternate bindings, and is a whole lot better than sticker sets (I've spent enough of my life sticking on labels with tweezers, thanks very much).

Interesting.

[Windwraith]

Since I need to exchange keyboard setups (from Spanish (Spain setup) to English to Japanese and others at times, I can see usefulness in this thing. Looks flashy too, although looks like it's rather expensive.
I wonder if it works in Linux, too?

Re:Staggered columns versus matrix keyboards

[Quarters]

OMG! They "destroyed it" by supporting the keyboard design the overwhelming majority of people are used to instead of supporting a layout that only two companies feel is important. Those bastards.

Optimus Prime?

[Majik Sheff]

Did anyone else notice that the model numbers are primes?

I've never really understood the obsession

[Sycraft-fu]

With the old IBM keyboards. There seems to be this kind of reverence for them on /. and I don't understand why. I used to have one (had an IBM desktop). It was noisy and hard to press the keys. I much prefer my current MS keyboard which has easy, quiet keys. The only potential argument I've heard for the old keyboards is durability. Ok, maybe so, but what kind of stress do you subject them to that makes them break? I have, thus far, never managed to wear out a key on a keyboard. I use the hell out of my computer too, it's pretty much all I do with my time.

So what's the deal with the old IBM keyboards? Is it just some kind of geek-tough guy thing? "Back in my day our keyboards could cause hearing damage and by god we liked it!" I just don't understand what the problem with modern, soft, quiet keyboards is. They don't seem to have problems with breaking even under heavy use, so what's up?

Re:I've never really understood the obsession

[espilce]

I think it's something akin to the preference of vinyl recordings over CD or other digital methods. Purely a personal aesthetic. I love my keyboard taken from an IBM PS/2 gas station server. I've had it for 10 years now and the thing was made in 1986. I dread the day when I may have to purchase another desktop keyboard. For me, even Apple or Happy Hacking keyboards don't come close to the nice springy click of the IBM PS/2 board.

Re:I've never really understood the obsession

[dubbreak]

As a pianist I enjoy the feel of the buckling spring keyboards, although I haven't owned one in years. I might compare it to the difference between a classic piano and a electronic substitue: there's an intricate tactical sensation when playing on an acoustic piano due to the mechanics. But that may be going to far on drawing a parallel. I also find that I can't type as fast with some of the squishy quiet keyboards. There is an exact point at which the key is pressed that I can recognize with the old clicky keyboards that is consistent, while with the squishy ones I am never sure if I hit it right.. something like that. Of course now I rarely play a real piano and rarely used a clicky keyboard, so it may just be nostalgia. There's a lot to be said for tactile feel though, I love the feeling of putting a minidisk into a player, or a 3.5" floppy into a drive.

I'd like to see...

[Trevin]

... if this can support emacs. Just think of all the layouts it would have to have -- one for each prefix key in the global keymap and variants for each supported major and minor mode! And what would it do if any of those keymaps were customized?

dozens of lines?

[rduke15]

Programmers need to type in dozens of lines of code to express a single idea sometimes

Yes, that happened to me once, when I really needed to use VBA instead of Perl...

Re:dozens of lines?

[Jeremi]

Yes, that happened to me once, when I really needed to use VBA instead of Perl...

Hmm, that gives me an idea for a special Perl keyboard, with all the punctuation marks present on the home row, and the letters relegated to the keypad and other 'peripheral' locations.... ;^)

nice for use in voting machines

[galaad2]

they also have another nice project in the works... the Optimus Upravlator

they should think to introduce the Optimus Upravlator to Diebold, ES&S, Sequioa and the other voting machine manufacturers

The Optimus Upravlator seems to have ample space on each key to display a candidate's name directly on each button ( and left-right scroll arrows maybe on the bottom left and bottom right keys, if the list is longer than the available keys can display ).

Moreover, for voting machines you don't need all the electronics for five functions on a single button, one electrical contact per button might be enough, or keep all the electromechanical contacts on a button, for redundancy and button balancing, but wire them together.

This would solve the problems they have with touch screen voting machines that constantly need re-aligning the touchscreen with the display contents.

You would not end up with the machine selecting the wrong candidate, a different one than the one you tried to highlight on the screen.

Reminds me of an old joke...

[BigBuckHunter]

Hey, You're using an international layout keyboard, aren't you?

zes, how did zou know?

BBH

No scaling up

[Kris_J]

Their 3-button model didn't get a brilliant review; It had a 3 FPS refresh rate, gave off an annoying whine and appeared to use 10% of the CPU on a powerful PC.

Now for the keyboard they've dropped OLED, dropped the extra function keys and moved back to LCD meaning that you'll need an external power brick to power it.

Marketing *way* too early

[Kris_J]

Nearly a year and a half after some spiffy 3D rendered pics, they've almost got a product out that vaguely resembles the original idea. In the meantime, the product has become so infamous that the little 3-button teaser product needed a note specifically saying it wasn't vapourware when ThinkGeek opened up pre-orders. I think they peaked too soon.

Meanwhile, the Ideazon Zboard (a range of key sets that include highly customised key shapes) and the Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (LCD display built into keyboard) have been in the market for ages. And they're affordable.

Touch Typists

[chris_sawtell]

What a load of expensive dung. No decent touch typist ever looks at the keys! So what's the point?