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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."
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.
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.
I have no signature
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.
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I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
-b.
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".
Read the blog for details. They scrapped the OLED idea in favor of LCD screens to save cost.
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).
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
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?
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.
Did anyone else notice that the model numbers are primes?
Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
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?
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...
Hey, You're using an international layout keyboard, aren't you?
zes, how did zou know?
BBH