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I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

electronicmaterialsoffice.com

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Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#331

Post by ajross »

tshaddox wrote: post #277
ajross wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that these things are deeply personal. And this one is really, really close to what I'd want myself. Yet... I still wouldn't buy it. Here's what I'm using right now (actually I have the wireless version which they recently stopped producing): https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/keyb... But I couldn't deal without the trackpoint, which I use regularly for simple mouse actions even wh…

Why is that a problem though? It’s really, really close to what you want. But not close enough. So you don’t buy it. No problem!

It was a response to the upthread comment about all the feedback being discouraging. In fact I love the design and think it's a great product, but all my notes still look negative and I'm probably not going to be a customer.

(Though I just now realized that this is running Zephyr firmware, so I'm thinking maybe it might be worth retraining my emacs pinky...)

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#333

Post by vladvasiliu »

unsafecast wrote: post #232
vladvasiliu wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which Keychron is that? I have a K2 which works well for me in "mac mode", both wired and USB. The only gripe I have with it is that the Fn key is "fake", as in it doesn't send any signal by itself, so it can't be remapped.

I have a K2 as well. I set it in Windows/Android mode to use with my Linux box (Mac just changes the modifier keys afaict). The F-keys default to the FN row, not the F1-12. You can change that with a command I completely forgot and just copied once to a startup script.

> The F-keys default to the FN row, not the F1-12. You can change that with a command I completely forgot and just copied once to a startup script.

    > cat /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf
    options hid_apple fnmode=0
I think this has recently (Linux v5.19) changed to have F1-F12 by default.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#334

Post by aemerson_ »

elliotpage wrote: post #86

Site accessibility note: going to www.electronicmaterialsoffice.com redirects you to a holding page. I'm not sure I'll get one, but I like the site design - it feels almost pornographic.

Thanks for the heads up.

As for the pornographic comment, that's the best compliment I've got all day!

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#336

Post by reaperducer »

Festro wrote: post #2

Looks really nice BUT: There's a split between what people online post pics of on fancy desktop setups and what people prefer to use as their daily driver. Minimal keyboards are for minimalists, and people who like to show of their setups. Just like desktop vanity posts typically have speakers, yet everyone uses headphones. Anecdotally there was a post recently on some PC subreddit asking what keyboard people preferr…

overwhelming support was for 100%+ keyboards

From your mouth to God's ear.

Love my MacBook, but for my purposes (writing code commercially for 30+ years), the bigger the keyboard, the better. Especially once it's fully configured with macros.

If the keyboard enthusiast community ever brings back reasonably-priced keyboard with the second row of function keys that are easily programmable, I'll buy one. 3270's were awesome.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#337

Post by briandear »

what-imright wrote: post #305
potamic wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is becoming a trend on HN where top comment points calls out the criticism in a thread. I personally feel there is nothing negative about critique and one of the reasons people broadcast their work here is to receive more feedback on it. Not every showcase automatically deserves a compliment. I think we should respect people for their opinions and the danger of applying negative pressure to criticism is we creat…

^ agree, I mean did the OP expect to make a polarizing product like the keyboard without some criticism? also, this thread is a gold mine of insight they can use to refine their product for the market. ie take off the stupid orange knob and hide the made in the uk nonsense and stop naming the product like a mars bound space rocket

“The Market” isn’t “readers of Hacker News.” It’s part of the market, but it would be foolish to let critiques here drive decisions. If we listened to Hacker News Dropbox potentially wouldn’t have been a thing.

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#339

Post by [deleted] »

NwtnsMthd wrote: post #282
aemerson_ wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hadn't considered that but you raise a good point. I'll look into it.

I think the rotary knob is cool, despite not having a use for it myself at the moment (I could probably think of one). Is it possible to just reduce the height? Maybe make the knob interchangeable?

[deleted]

Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

#340

Post by aemerson_ »

lewisflude wrote: post #120

Beautiful design language, great functionality and thoughtful SKUs. Good luck with the launch/release. As someone who designs keyboards, I think the design space outside of the "core hobbyist" market is super interesting. This looks like a great keyboard that would look great on the desk of people who value aesthetics, ergonomics and good design. I'm a big fan of your principles and the overall presentation of this p…

Thank you!
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