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Pricing niche products

kevinlynagh.com

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Re: Pricing niche products

#131

Post by james-mcelwain »

phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #105
lewisflude wrote: post #12

I'm in the $600+ club too (Kepler that has a full brass bottom weight 6+kg, Kepler 65 with it's forged carbon top etc.) It's a really strange hobby. A bunch of people who really value and love keyboards, the thing that sits between a human and a computer, a tool that many (developers, writers, gamers) use every day for hours on end. Similar to how someone might invest in a nice knife if they love cooking, luxury-pric…

HN lambasts audiophiles every time stupid expensive audio gear comes up, yet here we are paying $hundreds for gimmick keyboard stuff. SF developers making $100k or two a year just aren't in the same money league of the audiophiles spending $thousands on speaker wire. EDIT: I'm not mad at any of the above groups I've mentioned; everybody gets their kicks from something, as well they should. I'm just mentioning what I…

The key difference being audiophiles often fail A/B tests comparing audio quality. You would definitely notice how nice an expensive mechanical keyboard feels. Whether you think that is worth luxury pricing is another story, but the quality is at least more immediately appreciable.

Re: Pricing niche products

#132

Post by pessimizer »

guidoism wrote: post #76
in_hindsight wrote: post #48

Wow, so the author basically suggested to use the auction to sell the keyboard at $1668 instead of $500 because it’s not market clearing price? That’s borderline evil

If this was medicine, or tampons, or something people really needed, then yes. But extremely high-end mechanical keyboards? Not really evil. It's a Veblen good.

Agreed. Milking conspicuous consumers for as much as you can is good for the economy in general because it gets people with a lot of parked money to spend more.

Re: Pricing niche products

#133

Post by octorian »

I still remember thinking that having a Das Keyboard was a splurge. But in this world, it might as well be a Logitech that no one talks about.

(That being said, I've only used Das Keyboards at home and work for the past 6-7 years or so... I'm not really sure what I'd actually gain by seeking out one of these more "boutique" mechanical keyboard brands, and there's so many I'm not even sure where I'd begin anyways.)

Its also a shame that none of this nonsense actually helps any of us when we're using a laptop away from a desk setup.

Re: Pricing niche products

#134

Post by hawski »

rifung wrote: post #100
equalunique wrote: post #6

It's disappointing how so much money is being poured into "mechanical keyboard kits" that simply re-create the old ANSI/ISO layouts that are rooted in old limitations from the days of the typewriter. Alternate layouts & ortholinear/ergonomic designs should be the forefront of the movement. All this focus on outdated designs makes the community "accessible" but also holds people back. The emergence of row-staggered 40…

> It's disappointing how so much money is being poured into "mechanical keyboard kits" that simply re-create the old ANSI/ISO layouts that are rooted in old limitations from the days of the typewriter. Alternate layouts & ortholinear/ergonomic designs should be the forefront of the movement. All this focus on outdated designs makes the community "accessible" but also holds people back. I mean most of the enthusiast k…

OP has different meaning of layout on their mind. You can put keys in different spots than a typewriter. Examples:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLUM_keyboard#/media/File:PLUM... - Ortholinear keyboard (notice that key columns are aligned, unlike your normal Qwerty keyboard)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltron#/media/File:Maltron_Du... - Ergonomic keyboard, much more funky layout

Re: Pricing niche products

#136

Post by equalunique »

rifung wrote: post #100
equalunique wrote: post #6

It's disappointing how so much money is being poured into "mechanical keyboard kits" that simply re-create the old ANSI/ISO layouts that are rooted in old limitations from the days of the typewriter. Alternate layouts & ortholinear/ergonomic designs should be the forefront of the movement. All this focus on outdated designs makes the community "accessible" but also holds people back. The emergence of row-staggered 40…

> It's disappointing how so much money is being poured into "mechanical keyboard kits" that simply re-create the old ANSI/ISO layouts that are rooted in old limitations from the days of the typewriter. Alternate layouts & ortholinear/ergonomic designs should be the forefront of the movement. All this focus on outdated designs makes the community "accessible" but also holds people back. I mean most of the enthusiast k…

Have you ever thought about how reasons 2 and 3 can be chalked up (or down) to other people holding you back?

As for Vim, I won't lie and say that adapting to it with Dvorak has been easy, but it's more doable than Colemak/Workman/Norman/CarpalX.

Re: Pricing niche products

#137

Post by rhinoceraptor »

octorian wrote: post #133

I still remember thinking that having a Das Keyboard was a splurge. But in this world, it might as well be a Logitech that no one talks about. (That being said, I've only used Das Keyboards at home and work for the past 6-7 years or so... I'm not really sure what I'd actually gain by seeking out one of these more "boutique" mechanical keyboard brands, and there's so many I'm not even sure where I'd begin anyways.) It…

You aren't really getting anything, at least past the $300 mark.

The functional advantages of higher end boards are dye sub/double shot key caps, programmable firmware, better switches, better cases, and alternate layouts (Ergodox, Ortholinear boards, etc.).

Re: Pricing niche products

#138

Post by tonyedgecombe »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #103
balfirevic wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But describing that situation I quoted above, and saying "there is nothing wrong with this," is pretty debatable! "There is nothing wrong with this" in contexts like these usually means "nothing morally wrong".

Seems there's a pretty obvious argument why artificial scarcity purely for financial gain is wrong, assuming the goods provide a benefit of some kind (and if they don't then there are ready arguments not to sell them at all).

It seems pretty obvious why it isn’t wrong in this case and that is that there is no general shortage of keyboards. Someone buying one of these isn’t going to deprive anybody else from buying a keyboard for their computer.

Re: Pricing niche products

#139

Post by C1sc0cat »

papreclip wrote: post #116
C1sc0cat wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its the Bike Number Rule: The correct number of bikes to own is n+1 .While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1 , where n is the number of bikes currently owned.

I was just thinking this fad reminds me of the fixie fad from a few years back.

At least you don't have to wear lycra to use them - unless you want to :-)

Re: Pricing niche products

#140

Post by dimnsionofsound »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #114

These things have become so esoteric and expensive because the mechanical keyboard hobby is undergoing a more intense version of what happens to most hobbies/pastimes; the purpose of the hobby has transitioned from primarily "making/using the thing" to "obtaining and displaying ever more extreme versions of the thing to impress other people who know about the thing". I feel like this is an outgrowth of the basic huma…

Sounds about right to me. The book The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris discusses this phenomenon r.e. people need to feel the best at something so they pick ever smaller niches or hobbies where they can finally compete at a level where they have a chance to get to the top.

I would recommend the book as a whole, it has a lot of other interesting info in it too.

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