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ThinkGeek now selling Optimus Maximus Keyboard (113 LCD screen keys)
- calvin 18y agoWhile I think the Optimus Maximus is a fantastic looking product, I've got to ask who has the money for this? Does anybody here own it yet or plan on purchasing it?
- tomh 18y agoYou know you can purchase the whole keyboard at once or purchase it by the key...as demonstrated by Art Lebedev in the video: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/08/video-optimus-maximus-caught-on-tape-at-ces/ http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/08/video-optimus-maximus-cau...
- RK 18y agoI've got to assume that something like this is at the level of a 1980's handheld cell phone with regards to price at the moment (and maybe tech?). And just like the 80's cell phone, the only people I've heard online (as a group) considering these keyboards have been doctors (specifically radiologists and radiation oncologists). Basically they are people with a) lots of cash and b) a great need for complicated software and c) little time and patience to learn useful things like keyboard shortcuts, they way programmers,etc would. Now I just wonder if we'll see drug dealers picking these up...
- acangiano 18y agoThe current price is ridiculous. Sell it for $100 and people will actually buy it.
- Hexstream 18y agoThat's right, the current price is ridiculous. But I think given the tremendous advantages to such a technology (my keyboards hardly ever displayed the "right" labels out of the box), we can expect it to become a commodity in the near future (10-15 years?). Now, I think there's a little problem with this keyboard... looking up at your keys all the time is not the most productive way to use a keyboard. They market it to geeks, yet I think consumers would find it useful the most.
- Bluem00 18y agoI agree that it's not very useful for normal typing, but I'd love to have had it when I played World of Warcraft!
- abstractbill 18y agoI prefer to think in 10-15 years we won't use keyboards (but I guess I wouldn't bet on it - they've been surprisingly hard to replace).
- SamReidHughes 18y agoWhat would we be using instead?
- jfoutz 18y agohand tracking, eye tracking and speech recognition are coming on strong with all the power todays computers have. I don't think the keyboard will ever go away, but a lot of things will be way faster just with hand signals, and subvocalization dictation.
- jrockway 18y agoI think I disagree. I can't imagine writing code or a book with voice recognition, even assuming 100% accuracy. The initial dictation isn't the hard part, it's editing that's hard. What commands will we use? "Change that last foo to bar?" That still seems pretty tedious. I could do without the mouse, though. I would rather press a link with my finger than move my hand all the way over to the mouse, then point, then click.
- tokipin 18y agoclearly we need some sort of voice versions of vim and emacs
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- simianstyle 18y agoYou know I used to want this keyboard a lot, but now I would happily settle for one of those super thin aluminum mac ones. This isn't quite in vogue anymore.
- cglee 18y agoI have a thin mac keyboard. If you want to stare at your keyboard all day, it's mind-blowing awesome. For typing and coding, not so much.
- brent 18y agoThat's interesting. I tested about 30 keyboards before I settled on it. The decision was almost entirely feel and I love it. I type/code ~6 hours a day on it.
- jacobbijani 18y agoIt's only 50 bucks. GO BIG HOMIE.
- daniel-cussen 18y agoMost geeks don't look at their keyboards.
- simianstyle 18y agohttp://www.daskeyboard.com/ http://www.daskeyboard.com/
- staunch 18y agoI love mine. I just wish I could have a cut of the purchases from my referrals.
- tlrobinson 18y agoBadass. Not sure I want to spend $80 though. I wonder if I can bleach the markings from an old keyboard or something.
- jrockway 18y agoJust get an old Model M from ebay, and remove the keycaps with characters. You do have to get an oldish one, though, the newer Model Ms don't have two keycaps.
- rms 18y agoAccept no substitutes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_Keyboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_Keyboard
- boucher 18y agoEngadget review: http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/22/optimus-maximus-at-long-last-we-bring-one-home-to-test/ http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/22/optimus-maximus-at-long-l... Take away: "Typing on it, well, sucks."
- angstrom 18y agoInteresting. Any word on when they'll add hydraulics?
- jmzachary 18y agoLet me know how it works. I can't afford that.
- mlinsey 18y agoI'm hard enough on my keyboards that I would be really scared of using this.
- vikram 18y agoThe shape and the size of the keys is more important that what is displayed on them.
- jrockway 18y agoNot if you're a design student. Nobody uses things developed in design school, they're only for being looked at. (According to my friend in design school, they fail if they don't develop something that "looks different". Apparently none of them have ever read Norman.)
- wanorris 18y agoSee -- there are good reasons to take all that money from venture capitalists! ;-)
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- tlrobinson 18y agoRather than having a hundred little tiny LCDs, they should have figured out a way to have one large display and some sort of ingenious key assembly/lens system. Seems it would be more economical.
- samwise 18y agoyou could use a 7inch touch screen LCD for way less, and have even greater control