This is a cool project but there needs to be more than a signup page for it to qualify as a Show HN - please see https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.
We've taken "Show HN" out of the title now.
I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
521–530 of 688 posts
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#522I want to hear more about what you expect the rotary encoder to be used for. You clearly put a lot of thought into making it happen, so - why? I feel like there must be some interesting use cases, but I'm drawing a blank.
I don't get it. My minimal keyboards are for travel/mobile set ups. The whole point is to be able to throw it into a bag. This knob makes that impossible.
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#523Can anyone enlighten how you would go about producing something like this? How do I even meet a pcb designer? How would I the product made, contact someone on AliExpress?
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#524Quick thoughts in no particular order:
- nice design, something I'd love to have sitting on my desk
- like the raised look of some keys -- would have to try them out to see what it feels like
- really like the look of the rotary dial, BUT having something stick out does make it harder to slip into a pouch/bag. Also, thinking about the ergonomics of that, you have to lift your hand, move it away from you into the right corner and do a twisting movement. Not a speedy enough action to get much use, IMO. A scroll-wheel would be easier.
- pairing with 2 devices is great (essential these days)
- split keyboard is a deal-breaker for me personally; helps avoid inflammation in my shoulders / wrists (I use a Logitech K860)
- programmable f-keys?
- backlight would be very helpful at least along the f-key row (even for touch typists)
(edited/reformatted; can we get markdown in HN, please?)
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#525Earlier quoted context omitted.
PCB designer of the board here - The second switch can toggle USB/Bluetooth profile 1/Bluetooth profile 2 (3 pos slider), but the board runs the open source ZMK firmware and you can reconfigure it however you want. Auto-switching between BT and USB is not used on the current firmware (as it would make the USB slider pos quite useless), but the firmware can absolutely do it. EDIT: You could for example reconfigure the…
If It's ZMK, does this mean I could flash in a new configuration to Dvorak? (I know, Dvorak is a bad habit. I'm trying to quit. Really.) One bit that I find helpful is that the keycaps are all the same height/angle so that I can rearrange them... hopefully..
What about Dvorak is a bad habit?
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#526Really wish people remembered to put USB pass-through on their keyboards though. If I need a small form factor keyboard, it's gonna be a good bet the number of USB ports available is at a premium and chaining will make life so much better. Depending on what I'm doing, I'm going to need the zero latency of a cable (like using my keyboard with FL studio to make some music, for which Bluetooth latency -even the latest g…
I just upgraded from kinesis advantage to 2 and was bummed they removed the USB ports. My mouse got better wireless connection when plugged into keyboard than into laptop sitting back of desk.
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#527Earlier quoted context omitted.
If It's ZMK, does this mean I could flash in a new configuration to Dvorak? (I know, Dvorak is a bad habit. I'm trying to quit. Really.) One bit that I find helpful is that the keycaps are all the same height/angle so that I can rearrange them... hopefully..
What about Dvorak is a bad habit?
Only thing I can imagine - super hard to find keycaps.
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#528Sunken caps for the number keys are a great idea. When touch typing I would have confidence I’m not over-reaching for F1 F2 F3 or under-reaching for QWERTY.
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#529This looks fantastic! A thought-experiment that may interest you coming from someone (me) who already has happily spent several hundreds of dollars on mechanical keyboards and uses them every single day: Let's imagine the keyboard could be bought today as-is with a simple "Buy Now" button and price was no concern. The two main reasons I would _still_ hesitate to hit that button are: 1. I absolutely and undoubtedly ne…
> 2. I wish there was a 'blank' version with zero typography anywhere. Just all black. I touch-type and have not looked at my keyboard in 15 years. If you don't look at it, why do you care if it has typography? (that's an honest question, not a rhetorical point dressed up as a question)
I had the same curiosity about offering a blank keyboard because I've been using one for 8 years or so after it was recommended by a former co-worker who I have huge respect for. So I'll give it a shot to explain the difference after I got adjusted to it:
I did not realize that my brain was still wired to look at the keyboard periodically, specifically when dealing with special characters and really anything outside of typical alphanumeric. I only realized after the adjustment that each time I had to find one of these keys it was a minor interruption to my current thoughts. The best way to describe it is imagine a piano with every single key labeled as to what the note is. It would be difficult to teach people to think about the creativity and harmony and melody aspect of music and to directly translate what they hear in their head into muscle memory to reproduce it. With the keys labeled it would be like training wheels and difficult to get people off of this because the translation would constantly be:
- I hear a "G" in my head
- I see a "G" on the piano
- I play the "G" on the piano
Instead really what you want the brain to do is say:
- Here's what I play to get the sound in my head
With no in between. Or similar to learning a new language and having to internally translate things to your native language before you can understand (or the reverse for speaking). Instead you just want to immediately know what this language is saying with no native translation.
TL,DR: Once you really internalize that looking at the keyboard makes 0 difference, it's one less minor thing for your brain to think about and your flow isn't interrupted as frequent by internal thoughts. Using a blank keyboard is just a (admittedly somewhat extreme) way to force yourself into this.
Re: I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard
#530It looks amazing, but wireless keyboards really sketch me out, especially bluetooth. Can you force it wired for entering passwords and sensitive information?