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Pricing niche products

kevinlynagh.com

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Re: Pricing niche products

#231

Post by tomc1985 »

criley2 wrote: post #214
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple users don't wear white ear buds to signal to one another, they do it exclusively to signal to people who don't have it that the apple user can afford product and symbol greatly in excess of the person. Or, you know, they're not interested in "signaling" anything, they're wearing them because they're the free ear buds that came with their smartphone and they're listening to music or making a phone call.

Right, and a decade of advertisements featuring those status symbols were pointless because no one cares about them. Alternatively: Or you know, mechanical keyboard users aren't interested in "signalling" anything, they're just using well manufactured accessories featuring high quality processes and materials.

Some people care about them. Personally I resent all this signaling because I just want to use my nice phone but everyone else is always "oooo you're so rich, look at your nice phone"

Or, alternatively, since I'm currently on an iphone SE, "oooo, what is wrong with you, why don't you upgrade to a new phone?!"

Another comment mentions functional utility. Put me in the camp that resents the desire for functional utility being misconstrued as social signaling

Re: Pricing niche products

#232

Post by pmarreck »

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

Why shouldn't you sell something at a greater premium, if the demand is there? This is basic capitalist economics. It also means that a competitor can come in and offer an equivalent or superior product for less money and still make money.

Re: Pricing niche products

#233

Post by sorokod »

james-mcelwain wrote: post #131
phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Putting definitely in italics dosent make it true. I would be curious about A/B/C test for different prices such as 600/300/100

Re: Pricing niche products

#234

Post by chipotle_coyote »

criley2 wrote: post #214
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple users don't wear white ear buds to signal to one another, they do it exclusively to signal to people who don't have it that the apple user can afford product and symbol greatly in excess of the person. Or, you know, they're not interested in "signaling" anything, they're wearing them because they're the free ear buds that came with their smartphone and they're listening to music or making a phone call.

Right, and a decade of advertisements featuring those status symbols were pointless because no one cares about them. Alternatively: Or you know, mechanical keyboard users aren't interested in "signalling" anything, they're just using well manufactured accessories featuring high quality processes and materials.

I'm just saying people do really use ear buds for their actual function, which is something your use of the word "exclusive" seemed to dismiss out of hand. Does that mean that nobody's going "ooh, look at my white earbuds, everyone?" Of course not. But the fact that some people do want to show them off doesn't mean that other people -- I would argue a lot of other people -- are just using the thing that came with their phone.

I never argued that mechanical keyboard users were interested in signaling anything -- but I'm sure a similar dichotomy applies. Some are interested in signaling. Some are interested in them because they're good to type on. The analogy only goes so far, though, because mechanical keyboards are an extra-cost purchase, while iPhone earbuds are free pack-ins which most people don't consider to have particularly good fit and sound quality. If I'm interested in a well-manufactured accessory featuring high quality processes and materials, I may buy a mechanical keyboard, but I will probably not stick with the damn white earbuds. If I'm wearing an audiophile brand of in-ear monitors most people won't recognize out in public, am I still doing it to "signal"?

Re: Pricing niche products

#235

Post by artiscode »

Oh wow, I have been living under a rock. My friends and family consider me a mechanical keyboard enthusiast/geek because I have two mechanical keyboards and a simple 6 switch tester that I used prior to purchasing my first mechanical keyboard, the CM Masterkeys Pro S RGB. I've tried explaining why I ordered a tester, why I chose Cherry MX Blues, but I don't think I managed to get my point across. So here I am, having spent around $250 on both my keyboards, an outrageous amount in the eyes of my non-technical friends and mom. At least my wife supports me, telling me she doesn't understand, but she likes seeing me so hyped and enthusiastic about it. Turns out I haven't spent that much! Interesting article and even more interesting discussion here on HN... I find it hard to justify paying $1,668 for a keyboard, but then again - it's an enthusiast market and I see the appeal.

Re: Pricing niche products

#236

Post by cestith »

random3 wrote: post #66

There's even Keycon https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=98877.0 If you want to see the full range and get a sense of what this is about: https://old.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/ https://old.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/ 1.6K seems a bit steep. You can find most kits in the low 00s However mechanical keyboards are popular with gamers and more about collectibles / art than anything, so price becomes less releva…

My Keyboard.io Model 1s are still my two favorite keyboards. I backed them on KickStarter and I'm glad I did. I'll still point out this article to Jesse and Kaia to make sure they're mindful of the option for future models.

Re: Pricing niche products

#237

Post by mech422 »

radus wrote: post #187
phaus wrote: post #2

I have a $600+ keyboard so I'm a part of this hobby. However, only a part of this can be explained by the expense of manufacturing at a small scale. The hobby fully embraces the drawbacks of the small scale and intentionally does nothing to try to improve it because the exclusivity drives prices up to an insane point. A typical group buy for a popular case sells out in minutes or days time after time. Clearly some of…

Details on the 20 minutes of easy mods?

I'm guessing by the '20 minutes' part they're referring to moding the stabilizers: https://youtu.be/cD5Zj-ZgMLA

Not hard to do, and it changes the sound/feel of them in a way a lot of people appreciate.

P.S. I second the GMMK ( https://www.pcgamingrace.com/products/gmmk-full-brown-switch ) as a good way to try out switches and keycaps. The board is fairly cheap, nicely built, and has hot-swap switches that allow you to try various switches without soldering...

Re: Pricing niche products

#238

Post by tlb »

sorokod wrote: post #233
james-mcelwain wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Putting definitely in italics dosent make it true. I would be curious about A/B/C test for different prices such as 600/300/100

Reasonable people can tell the difference between 600/300/100 speakers or amplifiers. Up in the audiophile range, the difference between a $20000 amp and a $2000 amp is mostly placebo effect.

Re: Pricing niche products

#239

Post by lallysingh »

qroshan wrote: post #226
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…

Great professionals (cooks, photographers) will definitely benefit from high-end tools because you get higher control (over craftsmanship), improved productivity etc. For a keyboard, the signal delivered to the computer (the thing that really matters) is the same. It's the same freaking 'A' that gets delivered whether you type in a $1 keyboard or the $2000 keyboard. Most prolific writers or software programmers (for…

I don't have crazy expensive keyboards, but I think your assessment is overly reductive. Good keyboards feel better (and are more comfortable for days on end) and reduce typos over bad ones.

Re: Pricing niche products

#240

Post by cestith »

throwpupper wrote: post #55
C1sc0cat wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And there will be the unlucky (stupid) person that ends up with RSI at 35

It's funny that most of these super hyped up mechanical keyboards still use traditional staggered non-split layout that will still contribute to developing RSI sooner or later. I feel bad for the shoulders and hands of all those geeks using their tiny $600 cramped keyboards. Any keyboard that does not separate into two independent halves (like ErgoDox or Matias ErgoPro) is horrible for posture and ergonomics.

https://shop.keyboard.io/products/model-01-keyboard is my keyboard of choice for most tasks, and certainly for typing. It's both split and ortholinear. It uses Mathias Quiet Click switches and custom-formed keycaps for the design.
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