Optimus 103 keyboard demands $1,200 pricetag -- yes, you read that right
By Paul Miller 
posted November 29th 2006 2:25PM
posted November 29th 2006 2:25PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted November 29th 2006 2:25PM
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What a joke :P It could'a been a contender
Who cares? Everyone already decided not to buy it when they killed the color. The price is just the last nail in the coffin.
You've GOT to be kidding me. Talk about over-hyped. Are they TRYING to cut their own throats?
Is it just me, or are all of the features that made this keyboard even remotely attractive gone?
No more color. No more full key. No more extra keys.
Bye bye.. good luck selling one.
you mean over-"typed" heehee.
That's a very nice keyboard...for me to poop on!
A $1200 keyboard should make me eggs and waffles too.
what a rip-off. sony's arrogance is apparently contagious. and don't expect a lot of automatic support from software developpers, since very few people in the world will be able to get one of these at that outrageous price. and what happened to OLED? they downgraded the thing to yesterday's technology and raised the price into the stratosphere.
i used to be excited about this product.
i could have stayed excited, despite the changes, if it was going for less than $300.
apparently the studio's success has them deciding to become elitists now. it's sad.
HAHAHAHA no.
What a flippin' joke. Absolute vaporware if I ever saw one, and an expensive one at that too.
What a joke. This whole thing is a joke. Such a good design yet suck screwy engineering. Failures, nothing but total failures.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Ooooo! This will look fantastic next to my diamond-studded mouse and ruby-laden mouse pad!
Next stop: Insolvency
T - or Apple's or Verizons or etc etc etc....
Seriously...people buy BMW when a VW will do and people WILL buy this too. It just wont be down at the local Best Buy or Circuit City.
Ha!
I called it earlier this week when they nixed the color that they would still keep he ridiculous price.
I think it's safe to call this a complete failure now.
Buy one now and get a free 2 x X1950 crossfire Athlon FX-60 gaming rig!
Television studios and/or other major corporations might buy this, if some use can be developed for it which is down-right critical. I can't see casual users buying one. At the very least, I don't WANT to see casual users buying one. $1.2k is insane. Absolutely insane.
And Juices is absolutely right. The features which made this attractive ARE gone.
Give Art Lebedev studios some credit here. It's not their fault that the technology required to make these things has not fallen in pricing, ie OLED displays. People are calling this vaporware, but these people have a track record of bring real products to market and working with some big name companies with their design. They came out with the 3 button display as a precursor. I bet you they are more anoid with the prices of OLED than we are with them coming out with their product. Pricing of OLED displays is the single factor of why these things are going to be expensive, and they can't take a loss on these things like a bigger company could do in order to get them out the door.
I thought they had axed the oled displays?
Sorry I disagree that Art Lebedev “deserves credit here”. The stuff they have done for other people is somewhat cool but, from what I can tell, all of their Studio products have been way overplayed and more about getting attention than they are about function. (Probably to score enough attention to keep getting paying jobs.)
Yeah they came out with the button pad. Call me a cynic but personally, I was surprised they made it that far. Then I read reviews which noted that the usable functions were far, far below what was promised and it started to make some sense. It has been obvious for months that this product is same thing - fantastic promise vs harsh reality.
It would be one thing if it were monochrome because the color version would have cost $1,200. However, the fact that first they cut the color and then come out at this absurd price makes it all too obvious that the full color version wasn’t remotely feasible for them from the very beginning. Hey it is still a great idea but call it a flagship concept or studio showpiece and be upfront about it! Don’t be churn out well-timed and tantalizing press releases without being honest about what you are up to. Don’t be coy at all and pretend even slightly that you are bringing magic to the masses!
On a side note, is it possible at all to temper the amount of press this sort of place gets? I think it is funny that Engadget calls this thing “uber hyped” since they have pretty much posted the various glowing press releases straight Lebedev itself. Engadget, you are great and I realize that this is an all-time-gadget-dreamy-the-way-the-world-should-be product and that you can’t comment editorially on everything...BUT it would be nice if once and a while you could at least acknowledge when you have played a big part in the “uber hyping” of something. Especially when, as in this case, it is clear (ages ago IMHO) that said “uber hyped” object was more about scoring press than manufacturing a really useful product. Lebedev & Co. could care less what I think of these shenanigans but a bit of restraint from the likes of you might talk some sense into them. Just a thought.
Full disclosure – Already been drinking Lebedev hateraid
http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/19/here-comes-the-upravlator/2#comments
People who buy BMW do not buy 1200 dollar keyboards.
Perhaps people with Ferraris and Aston Martins... maybe if they were the "new money" and were not pragmatic, they'd do it but come on... BMWs are not that expensive you know?
And please, VW does not do what a BMW does.
If you are strictly talking about transportation, subways do many things better than a Ferrari... who cares?
Automobiles are more than just wherewithal for people to get to places.
They're status symbols, some men's ultimate toy, hobby, and so on.
No, Colin, your comparison isn't even close. The people who buy a BMW when a VW will do are buying Logitec G15s for 5x the cost of a normal keyboard. I myself have a nice Saitek Eclipse because I find it comfortable, simple and compact and I spend a lot of time on the computer and type very quickly, so a nice keyboard is meaningful.
This keyboard is more like someone buying a 150hp Ferrari for $150k because it's got some nice body styling and was "handcrafted." Only the car at least would be a status symbol, which would be the only reason to buy it.
They killed all the features that excited people and then priced themselves into the stratosphere. They might sell a small handful to the idiots who also bought a PS3 on eBay for $3500 to avoid waiting a few weeks, but I doubt even that will happen. It's unfortunate, but this keyboard, instead of being a pricy bit of electronics that a lot would simply consider to be an expensive indulgence, will be a total flop.
Hopefully a larger manufacturer can pick up the idea and produce it at a lower cost. I'm disappointed. The Optimus could have been a neat item, but $1,200 is simple insanity.
They killed the color on the keyboard? That's friggin insane.
Ha! Shooting themselves in the foot indeed. Or perhaps heart.
And this keyboard != BMW. Unless BMWs were $50K vehicles with no AC or ABS, etc.
So... I'm confused here.
I was under the impression that Art Lebedev was a company that wanted to make money off of its products?
Since when does (slashing almost all useful/cool features and technologies) + (charging WAY to frigging much) + (overhyping the sh*t out of your product, then not delivering on what you promised) = profit?
"Baffled @ Nov 29th 2006 3:21PM
Since when does (slashing almost all useful/cool features and technologies) + (charging WAY to frigging much) + (overhyping the sh*t out of your product, then not delivering on what you promised) = profit?"
since Sony launced the PS3. ZING!!!!
You guys can naysay all you want. I'm having one installed on my Segway. Oh wait... I didn't but one of those either.
Seung Hawn
BMW = $121 000 Most expensive
VW = $40 000 Most expensive
Colin,
A Volkswagon Phaeton has a base price of $96,700USD for the W12 model.
I hate to be nit-picky, but hey, you're off by a lot.
OK That tears it. I do not want any keyboard, or any product from them, ever! That is the final lie! They stated many MANY times that it would be the price of a good cell phone. Now name a Cell Phone that costs $1200 that is NOT jewel encrusted, rare, pre-release on ebay, or a one of a kind!
Buying a B&W LCD or OLED keyboard for $1,200 is like putting a cheap crappy sounding surround sound system in a Pinto, and selling it as a premium Sound system!
There is keeping the public informed about a project, and there is getting our hopes up just so that they can sell a product at an inflated price!
If they had not "Kept us informed" then there would Be guarantee that NONE of the B&W keyboards would sell at the $1,200 price-tag! This is Bait & switch & switch & switch & switch & switch & switch & switch marketing!
They should have NEVER giving any hits about pricing if they were not SURE that they could come CLOSE! This is easily 4 to 5 times the price range they originally told us. I could see if they were a couple hundred higher than the estimate (Maybe a high end price of around $600.00) But this is not even on the same planet as the original price range!
I was all geeked for this, however I would rather get a PS3(Ewww) off of eBay or a new dual or quad core laptop!
This stunt tells me that this dream keyboard is nothing more than an overpriced price of computer bling. There is no way that the performance of this keyboard is worth the $1200 price-tag.
Also, forgot to mention.
The flagship BMW 750Li has a base price of $75,800USD.
Less than the Phaeton.
Comparisons don't fit the situation.
H-Y-P-E
do they think they will really sell any of these???
Hey...
I was comparing prices of cars currently available for sale in the US. The Phaeton was discontinued in North America in October. Thus I didn't include it.
Also...
The BMW I quoted (their flagship is the 760 not 750) is right from their website: The 760 Li Sedan has a STARTING price of $121,400 http://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/7/760lisedan/default
So I know you want to not be nit picky...but you are correcting me with wrong info
If it makes everone feel better say BMW and Yugo then.
Hahaha
Hahahahahaha
HAAAAAAAhaha
*breath*
AHAHAHAhaaaaa
ha
ha
*whew*
They won't sell ONE
What a way to shoot yourself in the foot. I'm not paying $1200 for vaporware!
Classic "concept/design/marketing guys" hyping a product before they actually talk to the engineers that have to build the product. This kind of crap happens at every company in the world that produces a product. Most of them do a better job of reigning in the "Idea Guys".
I think this might be a sarcastic joke...
just throwing that out there for people to think about before they get too worked up.
Hahhah! This is entertaining X-D Ppl are really shattered: "Welcome to the ground of planet Earth mates" :D
But seriously...who knows, maybe they got ticked off by some of the poo people posted when they announced O-103 would be in B&W. Here's a straw of hope for the fanboys :)
*sorry for the wind up*
Hah, Barrald beat me to it...
You know, originally they were a design company and this was just another design concept. It wasn't until so many people clammored about wanting one that they even tried to produce it.
See, it's all your consumerist asses fault. If it stayed a concept, it could have been a nice dream. You all killed it!
j/k
About the price of a decent cellphone, eh? I'd like to know what phones the Optimus crew is sporting. Engadget, do us all a favor and just ignore *all press releases* by Optimus until the damn thing is released. They are going to continue this 'release one piece of information every two days' crap forever, and now that we can see through their garbage PR, NOBODY CARES.
I can't really believe this is true.. they even specifically said (check the "Answers" Section) that:
-It’s in the initial stage of production.
-We hope it will be released in 2006.
-It will cost less than a good mobile phone.
OK, I've read through all the comments so far on this story and I've gotta say, the only thing that didn't surprise me is the price of the Optimus keyboard.
What we have here is a whole heap of whining and complaining and flaming from what seems to me to be the "entitlement" generation. "I want a 113 key keyboard with full colour oled displays on every single keys (even the keys for which putting a display would be illogical) and I want full featured open sourced drivers for my mac and my pc and windows and dos and linux and my kitchen sink on release day, and I want to pay no more than $99.95 and..."
I want and I want and I want and I want and I want and I want.
No-one seems to *understand* what goes in to designing and designing-for-manufacture and sourcing components and manufacturing and shipping and selling a product so innovative as this. Complex consumer-electronics projects built from scratch like this are *phenomenally* expensive. No-one seems to care that at $1200 / unit they're probably making a mind-bogglingly big loss on the first ten thousand units and that they probably had to beg and plead and sign over their first born children to their accountants just to be allowed to run with this.
These guys have been honest and open and up-front *all* the way through the development process. They're good guys taking a massive risk with a very innovative product.
And what thanks do they get from the entitlement generation? "I'm out", "Are they mad", "Are they fucking serious?", "Smoking crack", "Ridiculous", "monochrome only - forget it", "no-one will pay for this", "I want", "I want", "I want", "I want", "I want", "I want", "I want"
Then there's the tosser who is convinced that the whole world thinks like him. "I cannot afford this amount of money, therefore *no-one* will buy this product". Moron.
Frankly, you entitlement kiddies are a bunch of wankers ("wank" = Australian slang for "masturbate"). Screw you all. You go to hell and you die.
Wank is British slang, dude. Moreover, most of the Internet knows what it means already.
Dude, the customer only cares about the product and the price. The customer does _not_ care what kind of crap you had to go through to bring the product to market.
$1,200 for a keyboard is too much money. It's not a good value, even for something cool like this. Even for a color version that was everything they promised when they first announced this product.
It's not a matter of the "entitlement generation." It's a matter of value vs. cost. It's not _worth_ $1,200.
For that price, i will buy a 30" ACD and cut it into little pieces and just enjoying it~
I can't wait to plug this into my Phantom Game Console!!!!
theyre crazy. i would never have payed that much for a color version. go figure for a bland b/w version.
art lebedev needs to get a brain or two under maintainance.
You can still buy a Phaeton.
You have to preorder a 760Li.
Dude... and Yugos don't suck.
Just kidding.
MCoupe and a Geo Metro.
Damn. 1200 BUCKS! and not possible to play movie on it? For big crazy geek only...
It all comes down to the terrible designers.
I had an e-mail conversation with one of them before the 3 came out and he was a complete jerk. He said things to the affect, “I am designing it, I can do what I want"... it does not surprise me that it is so expensive and no one wants it. It is sad such a good idea has gone to waste.