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US $1564.37 for a keyboard anyone!


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No this isnt a link to an ebay auction I have going... Im referring to the

 

OPTIMUS MAXIMUS keyboard....

omgomg.jpg

 

(I was going to put simply "OPTIMUS MAXIMUS" In this thread title to see if I could cunningly lure Prime in here, but I went for the more dramatic $$$ title..)

 

those of you geeky enough will be familiar this keyboard already, its concept/pre-production designs have been floating around on the net for a whiles now. Basically, its a keyboard where ALL keys are OLED and mappable to do what the heck you want.

 

I know its currently at boutique prices, but when OLED are more commonplace - it will be awesome for people who use multilanguage inputs, and a great tool for education, inclusing those with language and learning difficulties.

 

lets just hope logitech/MS etc fork out the $$ and start making these for those of us not that rich or crazy to fork out $1564.37 :)

 

mtfbwya

 

EDIT! GRRR!!! I did that damn 'keybaord' typo again(in the thread title).... I always do that :(

 

*wishes he had local mod powerz to set things aright!*

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:drop2: Yeah, a bit out of my price range for a keyboard. ;)

 

This would be cool if I typed in languages other than English. 48x48 pixel display for each key is pretty awesome. I checked out their demo for Japanese, Half-life, and Photoshop. I wonder how much effort it takes to set up customized keyboard mappings for specific apps.

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It's a great idea for a keyboard, but it's way, way too pricey as it is. Hardly anybody will be able to afford it.

 

Still, in time the price will probably drop, in which case I suspect it will become highly attractive to many of us. I wouldn't be surprised if most of us have keyboards like that in the a decade... assuming we're even using keyboards by then, of course.

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Looks very nice, just too bad they're so expensive. Would be very useful to be able to customize what's displayed on the keys for various applications and games so you won't have to remember what all the key bindings and quick keyboard commands are. I hope others pick up on the same idea and make more affordable models. :)

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I've heard that the QWERTY key mapping is not really the optimal one and that a different setup would increase typing speed. Not that I need to increase my typing speed, and it'd require one Heck of an acclimation period, but it'd be nice to see something better get made. Edit: Or is that what this 'Dvorak' is?

 

Edit: Having tried the demo, I must say I didn't quite realize what this really meant. I can't wait for this concept to drop in prize. It'll probably become the standard of all keyboards some day.

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I still just want Das Keyboard. =D

 

A thoroughly mappable keyboard seems like an absolutely rad idea, but considering that the Optimus Maximus costs more than my entire system including my studio recording gear I don't think I'm going to be picking one up anytime this millenium.

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Just wait until

 

Looks very nice, just too bad they're so expensive. Would be very useful to be able to customize what's displayed on the keys for various applications and games so you won't have to remember what all the key bindings and quick keyboard commands are. I hope others pick up on the same idea and make more affordable models.
Imagine a future where games ship with the ability to change the icons on your keys when you start the game. Load Battlefield 3 and start a map and the keys change to denote what they do in-game. Go back to the game menu or open a chat box, and they change back to letters.

 

Potential.

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Tangent...

 

Edit: Or is that what this 'Dvorak' is?

Dvorak keyboard layout:

400px-KB_United_States_Dvorak.svg.png

 

Here is a system tray app that lets you swap between QWERTY and Dvorak

http://www.clabs.org/blogki/index.cgi?page=/ComputersAndTechnology/DvAssist

 

Here's a tutorial about how to migrate to that new layout:

http://www.wikihow.com/Switch-to-a-Dvorak-Keyboard-Layout

 

Here is an online Dvorak typing tutor:

http://gigliwood.com/abcd/abcd.html

 

 

End tangent.

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@Jae :) AWESOME! Are you an Estrada groupie ??

 

Its just a matter of time before MS or logitech devour this concept. OLED isnt that expensive. Once mass produced, these babies will be cheaper. Right now theyre a 'boutique' item from an artsy tech co.

 

I dont know much about it myself, but i can imagine if some folks mapped pics representing the sites they most frequented, thered be alot of flesh tones showing up on that keybaord :D

 

mtfbwya

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I've heard that the QWERTY key mapping is not really the optimal one and that a different setup would increase typing speed. Not that I need to increase my typing speed, and it'd require one Heck of an acclimation period, but it'd be nice to see something better get made. Edit: Or is that what this 'Dvorak' is?

 

I'm not certain if it's the Dvorak one, but I have heard about different keyboard layouts that offered better typing speed and more ease. The problem is that the market is too used to QWERTY and as such refuses to relearn how to type with a new layout.

 

 

 

Back on topic.

 

This technology will have a price drop eventually. It's natural, considering the development costs, that currently it is insanely expensive. New technology always comes out like this, targeting a narrow market of techno freaks. Remember when the plasma and LCD TVs came out? They used to cost a fortunate for a tiny TV and now their prices are quite low.

 

I'm not sure I'll ever change my keyboard. I have been using my cousins old keyboard for 9 years and he has used it for at least 3-4 years before he gave it to me. Still fully functional :)

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