Optimus Maximus shipments begin

The day you've been waiting so very, very, very long for has finally arrived: Optimus Maximus keyboards have begun shipping out to their new homes. In addition to the pricey, OLED-studded 'boards, the Optimus Configurator software utility is also available, allowing you to customize your new purchase to your heart's content. In other news, Art Lebedev says that he's planning a new project which will make you salivate uncontrollably for five years straight, and end with you taking out a second mortgage on your home to purchase it. Huzzah!

[Evan @ Feb 21st 2008 4:28PM]

5 people are going to be thrilled!

[KangMin @ Feb 21st 2008 4:30PM]

yay for those 5 people! +1 ME! huzzah!
*this is me pretending to have the OM with stickers on my keyboard*
Yay!

[pismodude2 @ Feb 21st 2008 4:31PM]

Make that 6! (NOT)

[E71 @ Feb 21st 2008 5:01PM]

I'm okay to wait a couple of years before this things affordable.

[YoJIMbo @ Feb 21st 2008 8:39PM]

I think the DROOLing one is this concept: the Optimus Tactus!!!

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-tactus/

I guess I will have to pre-order in four years and then wait another three for it to ship.

[jivetrky @ Feb 22nd 2008 4:13AM]

meh, unless he's going to somehow design that Tactus to have tactile feedback, I think it'll suck. Look cool but suck. A few years ago, I was so excited to get my touchscreen remote control for my TV...and then I used it for a couple months. It sucks not having buttons you can feel.

[Gorillamonk @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:08AM]

just as I was ready to purchase the maximus...there is something new and better that comes out. Damn, no christmas for my son.

[phanbouy @ Feb 21st 2008 4:31PM]

is this keyboard a gladiator?

[Nick Catalano @ Feb 21st 2008 4:31PM]

Not LCD, OLED

[Bobby @ Feb 21st 2008 4:31PM]

Ahh, the MacBook Air of the keyboard world - way overpriced and severely underpowered.

[Neebs @ Feb 21st 2008 4:36PM]

But it has strong aesthetics so people will buy it.

[KangMin @ Feb 21st 2008 5:01PM]

how is a keyboard 'underpowered' ? all it needs to do is type?

[LegendZ28 @ Feb 21st 2008 6:07PM]

Not exactly. No one is doubting the practicality (or awesomeness) of having a keyboard that will transform to whatever application you need it. The price is just insane. If this thing was 200 bucks, a lot of people would buy it.

[Bobby @ Feb 21st 2008 6:15PM]

Exactly. It's a sweet idea but the thing not only looks cheap, it's also light years away from being practical given it's obnoxious price tag.

[Sauerkraut @ Feb 21st 2008 7:49PM]

no this saitek keyboard I'm typing on is very under powered if you can phrase it that way, it's keys broke very fast, low keystroke life.

[sancho @ Feb 21st 2008 4:41PM]

why want to buy OLD technologies? i though whole purpose to engadgement was for to bring new.

[Killian @ Feb 21st 2008 4:45PM]

hasn't improved much since your last post I see

[phanbouy @ Feb 21st 2008 4:58PM]

ok.. this has got to be some bored 12 year old kid doing a Borat impersonation

[Jake @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:31AM]

Looks like a literal Babel Fish translation or something. Might want to cut him some slack since it looks like he's actually trying to contribute rather than flaming or just fanboi-ing. I can't write in any other languages - just a thought.

[MrEats @ Feb 21st 2008 4:46PM]

I heard it ships with a Duke Nukem Forever playable demo!!!

[looseinthedeuce @ Feb 21st 2008 4:47PM]

Does anyone actually get their rocks off on this? Seriously. I'll give you the iPhone, Wii, or whatever just because you're a fan of the latest from your favorite company...but what is with the excitement over a keyboard? Am I missing the functional greatest of this device?

[TS @ Feb 21st 2008 5:07PM]

I suspect that you are in fact missing the functional greatness of this device. It has the ability to map nearly unlimited functions to individual keys, and have custom images show up on each screen (key). This could have some powerful applications for graphic professionals, photoshop gurus, etc.

Unfortunately these will all be bought by the same folks that happily paid up for the SSD MacBook Air, and the keys will be reprogrammed to collectively display Steve Jobs' face...

[Saint Dumb Ox @ Feb 21st 2008 4:48PM]

I wonder if would have been less expensive to just make a 6"x18" touch screen?

This is really the Segway of keyboards.

[Homeboy @ Feb 21st 2008 4:48PM]

They sure took their time, in the mean time Saddam has been hung,North Korea has acquired weapons of mass destruction, Castro has stepped down and the US has had fun playing Duck Hunt with missiles and satellites.

Duke Nuken F0 EvA still missing in action.

[Loban @ Feb 21st 2008 5:12PM]

"They said you was hung."

"They was right."

[Homeboy @ Feb 21st 2008 5:19PM]

Loban: I has a spelling problem. Can you borrow me $1500 becuz that keyboard R SO exPeNsiVe.

[Fubar @ Feb 21st 2008 8:05PM]

Oh, for...

Homeboy, that was a Blazing Saddles quote.

Remember? Sheriff Bart visits his old friends on the work crew...?

[wootman @ Feb 21st 2008 4:49PM]

honestly, this thing would be a blast for games, such as having the spray be the image, etc...
and i could have a daft punk button.

[patsy @ Feb 21st 2008 4:50PM]

Seemingly great idea at a ridiculous price point. Besides, most of the time most of the keys would not change. A much cheaper approach would be to replace the numeric keypad on a conventional keyboard with a similarly configurable LCD touch screen that could provide a number of softkeys based on context. You could probably sell something like that for $100 today without requiring exotic tech. I would probably buy one, too.

[Russell @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:40AM]

For it's intended market it's quite useful to have all the keys reimagable.

photoshop/autocad and many other programs use or can use key command shortcuts instead of typing for input.

for example, z selects zoom, p selects pan, and so on for a TON of keys... You just can't replace it with a few hot keys.


I checked these out in person at CES and they were very cool, but a little too glossy, looks cheap and shows fingerprints like an iphone... Also it was quite heavy and got rather warm.

Even for normal typing it's rather cool to have lower case letters on the keyboard then have them go uppercase.

What I don't care about is color. The PSU is kind of a issue too.

Give us a e-ink 4-grey high resolution display on every key with some soft glow/backlight options and for $300 or less and I'm so in.

[patsy @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:45AM]

But that's the thing, I doubt we will be able to have an affordable keyboard with displays on every key in the foreseeable future, regardless of the technology employed. There are simply too many display controllers and complex wiring involved to make this a cheap proposition anytime soon.

[Mark Galvan @ Feb 21st 2008 4:54PM]

Do all the keys have OLED as originally planned? (Livejournal blocked by proxy - go figure)

Is it true that in addition to the Duke Nukem Forever playable demo it ships with the Guns-n-Roses Chinese Democracy album?

[Steve @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:32AM]

Yup. Then Axl Rose comes over and programs the keyboard for you. It then riots and beats the shit out of you twice a week without warning.

[Jim Vaughan @ Feb 21st 2008 5:07PM]

Call me a complete nut case but I still use one of these (IBM Model M)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_Keyboard

IMHO the best keyboard ever made...

[Dave @ Feb 21st 2008 5:27PM]

You're a nutcase

[Jacob Theby @ Feb 21st 2008 5:26PM]

As do I. My Model M is from March 1988...it's almost as old as I am...lol.

Amazing keyboard. If I could have one that had the same tactility/size without the insane clicking I'd buy it. But then again the clicking is amazing.

[Avi Greengart @ Feb 21st 2008 8:30PM]

I use a similar model with an early Dell logo on it. Picked it up at a tag sale for $5, and I find that I type more quickly/accurately on it than any other keyboard that's come through here.

-avi

[KangMin @ Feb 21st 2008 5:13PM]

Well... guess you can change from qwerty to dvorak in seconds w/o getting a new set of keyboards... or different languages?

but personally, i never use the 'special' keys, or individual programmable keys on my keyboard... that's what my mouse is there for... to click on things...

[lanejasper69 @ Feb 21st 2008 5:20PM]

How LAME!!!! it's a keyboard fools!!!

Faslane

[ShadowMaker @ Feb 21st 2008 5:23PM]

Great. Just when I finally had the hang of typing blind, I'll have to start looking at my keyboard all over again.
It's just a matter of time before the first 'christmas light' hack comes along and turns this keyboard into a twinkling finger decoration. Hunt and peck has never looked so good.

[PGP-Protector @ Feb 21st 2008 5:28PM]

Just give me a multituch monitor I can type on at a fraction of the cost please :)

[Heathen @ Feb 21st 2008 5:38PM]

So have I missed the deal with these?
It is a regular keyboard with OLED keys (some of which are customizable)? and it sells for over a grand?
What is so great about it? what a stupid idea... who cares? it is a frikin Keyboard!
one coffee spill and you are out $1K...
No thankyou - terrible idea

FAILURE

[ady @ Feb 21st 2008 5:50PM]

Its a wonderful idea. Price point is not an issue as its one of its kind. As the market for such keyboard develops, more mainstream players will replicate the functionality and competition will drive the price lower.

[walamoonbeam @ Feb 26th 2008 2:10AM]

it's not over a grand. Its 500 bucks

[Zzephyr @ Feb 21st 2008 5:48PM]

Holy beezlebub's pointy tail, that thing is expensive!

[whoster69 @ Feb 21st 2008 5:59PM]

Why the fuck would I care? So I can have pretty, tiny pictures on a my keys? That's marginal at best!

[mushrooshi @ Feb 21st 2008 6:07PM]

Stop talking about your penis.

[JK @ Feb 21st 2008 6:07PM]

The only people that would actually have to look at their keyboards while using them are certainly not in the market for something like this. It may be useful as a learning tool when you're just starting off with a piece of software and want to learn all the hotkeys, but beyond that, when it quickly becomes second nature, it's just fluff.

It's like those 'gaming keyboards' that have a small digital display at the top telling you things like ammo counts. Who seriously looks at their keyboard for things like that?

And as far as the comment about Photoshop users and the like making use of this keyboard, that's just as unlikely. If someone is actually using something like that professionally, they aren't sitting around staring at the keyboard for their hotkeys, they already have them memorized. I animate in Maya all day long and I sure as hell don't waste any time searching for what key to press every time I need to move something and set a key, nor would I want to get used to some obscure key setup that I couldn't migrate from one area to another without lugging a keyboard around and installing/setting up all the software for it again. You'd have to get two just so you have the same setup at both work and home.

[Kevin @ Feb 21st 2008 6:47PM]

Cool concept - I can see using the customizable keys to make the whole keyboard spell out any number of naughty words to start passer-bys - but to fork out more money for a keyboard that your next two years of car insurance? Unless you're using it for a professional application (video editors, etc), I can't see how anyone who isn't exceptionally well off could justify this.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Feb 21st 2008 8:02PM]

When's Sharper Image gonna start selling this keyboard.

In six years, all computers will be voice input or using multi-touch for everything.