Optimus Maximus in minimus sub-$1000 configurations
By Thomas Ricker 
posted November 28th 2007 1:08AM
posted November 28th 2007 1:08AM
[Thanks, James]
posted November 28th 2007 1:08AM
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You can buy the keys individually to slowly collect them all too...
Kinda like the Shinto religion, gotta catch 'em all (I love Steven Colbert)
It must have a pretty clever connector to each key to survive the thousands of keypresses, AND be replaceable!
I still can't afford it, how much for just the USB cable... I think I gotta start collecting from there.
Stupidest idea ever.
Apple will release soon touchscreen tablet PC and you don't needed any keyboard for it.
I think I'd get one with '1 active button' and put a middle finger icon on it.
fontendet24,
You're aware Microsoft has been releasing tablet PCs for many years, right?
So if I buy this thing to use with an Eeepc, the whole setup will cost about as much as regular system.
Wouldn't that be a world of dual extremes? ;-)
your keyboard would have more pixels than your pc display. how sad.
What horribly chosen keys for these cheaper versions. Ok, the 10 key one is reasonable, although the price is not. But Who the HELL would buy the one-key edition where you can customize the SPACE BAR OF ALL KEYS. SERIOUSLY - WHO THE HELL. I might as well go wipe my ass with 5 hundred dollar bills, that would be as good use of my money as that keyboard.
The 47 keyboard is also silly. It should be 57 keys, and include the combination of what you get with the 47 and the 10. Just seems like a waste not to get those 10 extra side keys.
Everytime I read a story about this keyboard I just get more and more depressed. Why hasn't a big company with lots of money seen the genius in this and made one of their own? You know, one that could actually manufacture these on a decent timeline and make them reasonably priced?
or...
why hasn't anyone in China come with a cheap knockoff yet?
Realisticly, why do we even need color keys. Why not use monochromatic screens instead? Wouldn't that be cheaper and still server the same basic purpose? I bet one of these keyboards could be hacked togeather at 1/10th the price out of a standard keyboard and 57 original gameboys.
Still not suitable for Croatian and many other European keyboard layouts that require an extra key between Left Shift and Z (or Y, if QWERTZ as in Croatian). If Art Lebedev releases a 48-key version (or better, a 58-key version), then I'll buy it. And still, it would still lack that other extra-extra key required by Brazil's ABNT layout, which would call for a 49- or 59-key version.
I am so sick of hearing about this thing. Anyone who's knows what they're doing with Photoshop/Half-Life/Excel etc. doesn't look at the keyboard. This thing is a really cool novelty. Stress the word novelty - meaning it's not worth that kind of bread to just about anyone.
let me get this straight, i can get a keyboard with just one customizable key? soo what's the damn point of that?
This way you can type without that cumbersome and unsightly five hundred dollars all over your desk.
It's really just meant for those who need instant access to their porn and nothing else.
Heck, why not just sell a big USB porn button?
Staples could sell the Porn button when business gets slow...
oh yea and it's $500 too. wow, this certainly makes the dnovo more affordable.
might as well get the $140 optimus mini three..
A Optimus porn button eh? Too bad it's a simple OLED on a space bar...
I'm having a difficult time understanding how the $462 one key option could possibly cost that much. It's one key!
Diminishing Retur....err I mean, Developing Gains?
At a guess, it's because the 1-key option is actually intended as an upgrade path. I believe they want you to buy the "1-key", then realize how awesome it is and buy some extra keys to install yourself. Presumably, if they're selling the Oled's for $15 each, there's a high cost for the actual production of the keyboard, due to the unique circuitry.
Honestly, the 10-key option interests me, I could definitely see buying that, and then every few months replacing more and more of the keys. On the other hand, the odds of me actually doing that are almost... nill.
whoever is running this company has no idea what they're doing. Put out the 10-key version for $150 and people will actually buy it. If you can't manufacture it for cheap enough to make a profit from that, then the product wasn't worth developing in the first place. And I second the notion that a large company should get on this. The price on this thing kills the relevance of any "news" about it.
I don't entirely agree. I mean, think about it - he's either REALLY smart or REALLY stupid. If it really is mega expensive to make, then yeah, he's dumb - BUT, if it's a situation where he's just selling the board for a premium, then it's pretty brilliant. I mean, I watch the daily 10...yeah, sorry but I do - and I'm constantly bombarded by stored of superstars buying their dogs 10k dollar collars and golden toilets. No? Never heard of that? Or how about D&G Moto Razrs for 3k? I mean, the point is....people out there will buy this keyboard for a while and he'll be making mega money. After that, I bet it drops to $200 for everything OR he'll sell the design to Logitech or something, and they'll sell it for $200.
Risk can pay off, especially when it comes to the Rich n' famous who often buy things to distinguish themselves from those of us who can't or won't.
I so agree, I wish Engadget would stop giving this keyboard more press as its a great idea but should never be sold to home users as its a simple keyboard and the price is simply ridiculous.
I must say again that they were smoking something to come up with those prices for a keyboard and if they were not then they should star.
Its a keyboard ppl!!
i bet at these prices, they can afford the finest of smokes.
Did anyone notice this?
"Configurations with passive keys can be upgraded at any time with additional active OLED keys. "
Is it possible this means you can buy a pack of keys and replace them in whatever configuration you want?
Hmmm, $999 for a keyboard or a discount, 42-inch plasma TV, hmmmm, that's a real tough one considering I just typed this without looking at my keyboard.
I'll let you know.
So you pay $500 for a space bar that shines.... Nice.
how many people would buy this if it was called the Apple iOptimusMaximus or the Apple iBoard?
I'm gonna have to go with "none" on that.
i know hella people that will buy ANYTHING with a lowercase i before it
there are people that in their quest to be cool will buy anything.
i even had a friend turn down my old keyboard (his was BROKEN) because he thought it was ugly
Would a large third party company please hurry up and "rethink" this patent/idea and release it for a sane price.
I would buy the 47 key option, and possibly even the 10 key option...but not for more than oh say...$350-$400.
A large company could sell these at this price, easily, and still make a profit.
Do it logitech. Please. I want my goddamn WoW action bars on OLED's on my keyboard damnit.
I would but the 10 LED keys as a seperate unit. I know there is a 3 key version, but that doesn't really help a workflow, but 10 programable keys would be worth considering. Optimus doesn't look comfortable for everyday use which is why I would prefer to keep my keyboard and then add a LED num-pad device...
and the one prgramable button is silly.
M
Seriously. If this was an Apple product people would already be lining up outside an Apple store right now. I am sure there would be all sorts of great claims such as "This will revolutionize the computer as we know it".
And Steve Jobs would be able to use the words "Simply amazing" about 30 times in a 5 minute span while announcing the product.
You forgot "We're really excited about this"
and "Isn't that cool?"
"Oh, and one more thing...if you get the version with 10 programmable keys and like it, and you decide you want the whole thing, you don't have to get a whole new keyboard, because..."
*pause while he fishes a few keys out of his pocket*
"...you can buy keys individually and add them yourself!"
*cheer from the audience*
Except that wouldn't ever happen. Upgrading an Apple gadget...hah!
Each time he presses a key...
"Boom!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8L39UwOS-Y
What about using LED-backlit LCD's on each key. Make each key smaller and the keyboard thinner. Sell the whole 104 key keyboard for at least $300
Go patent it, I'll invest in that.
You'll have to clue me in on how using LED backlit LCD displays would make the keys smaller than using OLED displays that don't require a backlight and are incredibly thin.
This could turn into a very very expensive habit. I do recall reading OLED screens having a 5000 hour lifespan; that's just over 200 days turned on. Alot of people don't turn off their PCs...which means OLED lifespan is actually a factor in this keyboard.
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/faq/
"How long does a screen live?
Non-stop glow time at nominal brightness declared by the manufacturer is 20,000 hours. If you work for eight hours every day, including weekends and holidays, the screens will last for about seven years. After that, the display will not die instantly, but begin to fade gradually (like the sun in billions of years)."
Cool! But I still don't want one!
I would buy this at a much lower price point, because I type in two alphabets, and having the keyboard stickers works but is sort of annoying. I'd love for my keyboard to change when I switch languages. But I only need B&W for that - color on every key seems like a huge waste of money. And I can't see how programmable buttons would help my coding much. Do I need a "build" key instead of hitting Ctrl-F5? I try not to develop any habits that are tied down to a particular machine, because I'm always switching computers. Getting dependent on a set of function keys on a particular keyboard seems like a bad idea.
Could Wacom please hurry up and buy out this hardware. I want my Intuos/Optimus orgasm and I want it now.
Yours sincerely,
The World.
What the hell am I going to do with 1 programmable key?