Optimus OLED Keyboard Pre-Orders Start Dec. 12

Jupix writes, "After almost a year and a half of public development, the Optimus OLED keyboard is nearing completion. According to the project blog, pre-orders for the Optimus-103 will start on December 12. The price is unspecified at this time, but Art Lebedev has said the keyboard will cost 'less than a good mobile phone' (probably about $400). Don't expect to see those 10 programmable function keys on the left on this first version, though, as they will not make their debut until the Optimus-113, released later."

Re:What key switching tech does it use?

[Anonymous Coward]

huh? The squishy feeling is a good thing(tm) Its called a quiet keyboard. I very much dislike the spring keyboards, esp if yo use them for data entry. With quiet keyboards its much easier to press the keys.

Re:Forced tilt?

[Nerftoe]

Just shim up the front of the keyboard. Problem solved. ;)

Best use for this...

[b0s0z0ku]

I suspect that this won't be used a lot on home computer systems. Where it may be used a lot is in things like automotive dashboards and possibly non-critical systems on aircraft where space is at a premium and touch screens work poorly if you're wearing gloves and/or want some tactile feedback.

-b.

Minor question - How much?

[slightlyspacey]

I don't know about your credit card, but when I charge something, they require something a bit more concrete than "less than the price of a good cell phone".

Re:Functionality Display

[CastrTroy]

Which is a great idea for grandma, who doesn't know how to use a computer, but really isn't that much of an advantage to an advanced computer user who never looks at their keyboard anyway. Anybody who users a computer more than 2 hours a day, should probably learn the key shortcuts and make their life easier. People depend way too much on the mouse, which is understandable in a GUI environment, but even then, using the keyboard is much faster. I could see this being an advantage with VS.Net, and it showing all the key combinations, but at that point, you're still better off memorizing the shortcuts, because looking down at the keyboard to figure out what you want to do is much slower than right click + select option, or even going all the way to the top menu and selecting something out of there. All this reminds me of WordPerfect 5.1. You could do everything via the keyboard, and it was so much nicer to use than any of the modern word processors, because you spent more time getting stuff done, and less time messing around with mice,drop down menus, and the 50,000 fonts we have now.

Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[Kadin2048]

huh? The squishy feeling is a good thing(tm) Its called a quiet keyboard. I very much dislike the spring keyboards, esp if yo use them for data entry. With quiet keyboards its much easier to press the keys.

Although ultimately it comes down to personal preference, I think that the 'clicky' buckling-spring keys are actually easier to use and less fatiguing. Because there is immediate tactile and audible feedback when the key-switch is actuated, you don't have to press it as far down. When I use a 'soft touch' keyboard, I find that I hit the keys further and harder, because there's not that feedback; I slam each key all the way down instead of (with practice) only pushing each key down as far as is necessary.

The noise of the original IBM Model M's is definitely a downside; if you have to work around other people, I can see how it wouldn't win you many friends. In my opinion, the Apple Extended Keyboard II with the Altus switches is the best of both worlds. It's softer both in terms of pressure and sound than the IBM, but it's not as 'mushy' as a soft-touch (silicone dome).

E-Paper keys?

[gaspar ilom]

OLEDs are cool and all, and support color...

But if they used e-paper for each key, couldn't this be used in laptops and other low-power devices?

Re:Forced tilt?

[daeg]

One would hope after dropping a few C-notes on a keyboard you wouldn't have to shim anything.

Re:Staggered columns versus matrix keyboards

[Quarters]

OMG! They "destroyed it" by supporting the keyboard design the overwhelming majority of people are used to instead of supporting a layout that only two companies feel is important. Those bastards.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[kefler]

"The best feedback is the letters appearing on the screen anyway."

You must type rather slowly...

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[kryptkpr]

I get ~130WPM gross, ~115 WPM net on that test. Your 50wpm may seem fast by normal standards, but it's glacially slow by "slashdot" (programmer) standards. Programmers need to type in dozens of lines of code to express a single idea sometimes, and if you do that every day for a few years it really improves your typing speed (and accuracy).

My only contribution to this discussion is the best keyboard is the keyboard that you're used to, and it's as simple as that. If you are used to that annoying clicky feeling and sound, then that's what you will like.

Personally, I hate it. I hit the keys on those damn springy keyboards way harder (it seems like the keys actually travels further, and my fingers tend to travel with the keys) then I'd normally hit on a rubber-membrane keyboard, which makes it difficult for me to move to the next key and as a result I type slower and less accurately.

I know people who are proficient at such keyboards don't allow their fingers to travel with the key, they move on when they feel they've just passed the threshold and let the key hit the bottom on it's own.. but that's been learned over a period of years. If the vocal minority who love clicky keyboards had spent the same amount of time on using a rubber membrane keyboard already, their typing would have adjusted to suit and they could quit complaining about the state of keyboards these days.

Re:E-Paper keys?

[stunt_penguin]

This type of keyboard has little to do with typing, and more to do with keyboard shortcuts and custmisablity.

As an example of how useful a KB like this is for multimedia developers, have a look at these keyboards and accessoris [logickeyboard.com]; they're an intuitive but sometimes expensive way to have your shortcuts laid out in front of you for just one application. With a keyboard like the Optimus, users can apply schemes that change between apps, or that even change when you hold down the CTRL, CTRL-ALT, or CTRL-ALT-SHIFT keys on the keyboard.

It'd even be useful for novice users getting used to the usual cut/copy/paste routine, or might for example teach them about the uses of the windows key; [win]-d for desktop, [win]-L to log off.

The potential gaming uses are there, too, I suppose. The killer app for the Optimus(within the gaming world) is perhaps a flight sim, where you have 300-400 keyboard shortcuts at your command ( I'm not joking ) and learning the most useful ones is a real pain in the ass.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[Metasquares]

Programming ability depends on typing speed about as much as IQ depends on how quickly you write or mathematical ability depends on how quickly you can do arithmetic (that is, the relation is very slight). A programmer who can express the same idea with less code doesn't have to type as much, after all.

(I type in the range of 80-110 WPM at 90% accuracy, before this becomes an attack on my typing as well :) )

the best keyboard is the keyboard that you're used to

Agreed!

Re:E-Paper keys?

[stunt_penguin]

Where exactly do you see a place for your contextual list of commands that start with CTRL on this interface [chrisdidthis.com].

This was my interface just before I checked my mail. I'm running at 1680*1050 on a 24" Dell and I barely, barely have room for everything (I'd be running at 1080p but my video card hasn't got a big enough frame buffer).

Keyboard shortcuts and the means to remember (or quickly refrence) them are a fact of life, and solve numerous interface problems. You'd be making the same type of baseless argument if you suggested that the GUI is the only means that we should be able to interface with the computer, or that the console should be the only means of issuing system commands.

The optimus *is* different because it puts the shortcuts right there, and allows immediate customisation of those shortcuts. It beats the heck out of any type of F-Keys or alternate bindings, and is a whole lot better than sticker sets (I've spent enough of my life sticking on labels with tweezers, thanks very much).

Marketing *way* too early

[Kris_J]

Nearly a year and a half after some spiffy 3D rendered pics, they've almost got a product out that vaguely resembles the original idea. In the meantime, the product has become so infamous that the little 3-button teaser product needed a note specifically saying it wasn't vapourware when ThinkGeek opened up pre-orders. I think they peaked too soon.

Meanwhile, the Ideazon Zboard (a range of key sets that include highly customised key shapes) and the Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (LCD display built into keyboard) have been in the market for ages. And they're affordable.

Re:Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

[Eivind]

Uhm, no. That'd be "data-entry monkeys". The average programmer productivity is not dependant on typing-speed at all, and less so the more challenging the project is. The trick in programming ain't typing quickly, but typing the *correct* stuff.

Brooks in his Mythical Man Month has a good discussion of programmer-productivity in a large project. Average programmer-output is something like 100 lines of code a *day*.

If you're hammering out massive amounts of trivial code where the limiting factor is your typing-speed, you are doing something wrong. Probably, you should think about the problem at hand 10 times as much, and write only 1/10th as much code.