Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

electronicmaterialsoffice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 246 posts

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#171

Post by LeBit »

philistine wrote: post #94
LeBit wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tu connais Qwerty Lafayette? https://qwerty-lafayette.org/

Je suis gaucher, et j'ai fait le choix idiot quand j'étais jeune de mettre ma souris à gauche. C'est un choix très étrange, mais ça fait en sorte que je n'ai jamais eu à me troubler des touches supplémentaires à droite. Sont juste là, accessible, et pas dans mon chemin. Mon clavier est de pleine taille sans enjeu ergonomique pour moi.

J’utilise également une trackball à gauche de mon clavier à cause de douleurs à mon épaule droite.

L’avantage de Lafayette est que toutes les touches sont dans les deux blocs 3x5 du clavier.

C’est plus ergonomique, la gestion des accents est beaucoup plus logique et confortable et le layer des symboles est clairement fait pour faciliter les déplacements vi.

C’est le meilleur layout Qwerty pour développeurs francophones.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#172

Post by aemerson_ »

hollow-moe wrote: post #160

Awesome, seeing it's so thin have you planned for the possible battery ballooning ? I guess it is hidden on the left side under the logo ?

The battery is in the logo side, correct. In fact most of that entire area is taken up by the battery! We did expand vertically that area slightly as you can see, to allow for a slightly thicker batter.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#173

Post by iammrpayments »

Looks a lot like mistel airone: https://mistelkeyboard.com/products/9a36520f591f4f8b8e1253ab...

I used to use it everyday but the low profile switches sometimes get stuck and it’s also a little bit tiring to type.

I currently use nuphyair 60 HE, and I find the low sensitivity keys don’t tire my fingers.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#174

Post by platevoltage »

rxyz wrote: post #101
charrondev wrote: post #4

I’m assuming it’s not possible for it to include a fingerprint sensor? As much as I’d like a mechanical keyboard for my Mac that’s always the part that gets me. I end up using the one my Magic Keyboard 20+ times per workday. Otherwise it looks beautiful.

20 times a day? You know you can disable touch id for simple password autofill

I use my MacBook in clamshell mode 80% of the time, and password autofill just takes over by itself. Fingerprint ID is nice, but my mechanical keyboard is nicer.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#175

Post by aemerson_ »

Magicrafter13 wrote: post #119

I can't go back to a staggered typewriter layout, ergonomic columnar is where it's at. I'm curious what the purpose of haptic feedback on an already mechanical keyboard is? Cool that you've been able to turn this into a livable business though.

Good question on the haptics. There's no feedback when press most of the keys. But there is some feedback when you do things like turn the dial, or complete a shortcut (e.g. cmd + c). This is all configurable in the companion app as well.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#176

Post by prewett »

swah wrote: post #159

At this point - make it a tool for agentic work. Leds that tell you that some agent is idle/working and needs attention. Clickable = open the right terminal etc. And dictation button, some cool PTS kind :)

Maybe even something like a small LCD display, and it could be touch sensitive so you could switch directly to an agent? Like ... the Touch Bar? :)

(I always liked the idea of the Touch Bar, but in practice I only used it to change the volume. I still miss that, though. Now I have to Opt-Shift-Volume to try to get the right volume, which is always halfway between the options somehow.)

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#177

Post by philipportner »

aemerson_ wrote: post #139
ary wrote: post #49

To everyone who is about to pile on regarding the lack of a fingerprint sensor: you know it's not possible, we all know it's not possible, the creator of this project knows it's not possible. What are you adding to the conversation when you complain about it? So it's a dealbreaker for you, don't buy it. To @aemerson_: Congratulations on taking a risk. On first look this is great work. The attention to detail on both…

Thank you, it's been a real labour of love! People are raising a good point RE Touch ID. It is possible to add a fingerprint sensor. But that fingerprint sensor will never be able to do the things that Touch ID is most useful for: i.e. use Apple Pay. It would be incredibly confusing to have a fingerprint sensor that was usable for some things and not for others. Therefore the better experience today is to not include…

Congrats on the great job with the Altar II. If I didn't already have too many keyboards, I'd hop on the Kickstarter! FWIW, I fully agree with your opinion on including a `half working` fingerprint sensor.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#178

Post by aemerson_ »

znnajdla wrote: post #71

An indie dev beating Apple at its own game is some feat. This inspires me. Would purchase in a heartbeat.

Thank you so much. It means a lot to hear that. We're a very small team (1 full time, 3 part time) so going up against a company worth five trillion dollars is quite daunting!

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#179

Post by platevoltage »

gilthelander wrote: post #51

I don't understand the overwhelming praise. This product is just bizarre. Who is this for? What's with the giant numbers and tiny symbols? I know where the numbers are from muscle memory. I don't have the symbols memorized. Haptic feedback when you use the command key? Why? No number pad or page up/page dn, which would be something useful. This is like The Homer of keyboards. Does it play La Cucaracha out of the spea…

There aren't many Mac layout mechanical keyboards out there. This is an addition to the very few choices out there. I don't know why you feel the need to shit on it.
Post reply on HN