Now this keyboard should be sold with every PowerMac!

[hmg]

http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

I absolutely LOVE this idea!

As T3 (http://www.t3.co.uk/news/general/general/strutting_onto_the_keyboard_catwalk website seems slow) reports it: "hoping that a major consumer electronics company picks up the Optimus OLED".... Apple? Please?

[mad jew]

Nice, so long as it's not too distracting.

[witness]

That is a fantastic keyboard. The uses are almost endless.

When you run XP on your Intel Mac you'll be able to swap the apple key for a Windows key :)

[EGT]

Very nifty.

It looks quite big though. Wonder if they could fit it in the Powerbooks.

[xli_ne]

this keyboard is sweet, wonder what the price tag will be on this?

[dmw007]

Very, very cool.
I want one. :D

[Jay42]

Wow...when's the last time you saw *real* innovation in a keyboard? Does it produce its own light at night? How much eye strain when looking at it? Price could definately be a big deal breaker here.

[hob]

Is this just a showcase idea or is it actually going to be produced? I want one!

[Josh]

That is the coolest idea I've seen in a LONG time. That would be so incredibly usefull

Probably quite expensive for the casual user, but oh me oh my...thats nice!

[kwajo.com]

I agree, this keyboard is fantastic! I hope it changes the display on the keys when you hit a modifier too, that would make it even more amazing!

[qzak]

wow thats cool. it would be sweet to be able to quickly change keyboard layouts from normal, to photoshop, illustrator, etc. plus having the icons on the shortcut keys is just cool lol

still a prototype, :( that sucks. wonder how much this thing would cost

[hmg]

Is this just a showcase idea or is it actually going to be produced? I want one!

showcase only at this time.... hoping for a consumer electronics company to take it up I guess...

[joecool85]

I would LOVE to see this sold with PowerMacs...and/or any mac. What a sweet keyboard! I'll take three.

[zelmo]

Very slick idea. When you press the modifiers (ctrl, opt, cmd, shift), I would hope the OLED keys would change to reflect the revised character mapping. Too cool, and much easier than remembering all the key combo's. It is just a prototype at this point, but I sure hope someone takes a hard look at it as a real (but expensive) product.
I don't know a ton about OLED. Would all those little displays would be quite a drain on the battery power? Would the switchable display files for the keys be kept on the computer and transmitted via BT, or maybe on some internal flash drive in the housing?

[Sharewaredemon]

OH. MY. GOD.

That is amazing!

I want one,
now.

This, as others have said, is one of the greatest innovation in keyboards evar!

[rainman::|:|]

i must have one!

[telecomm]

Wow... if it's made to be wireless (is it at this point?) I wonder how hard it would be on batteries...

[mcarnes]

Apple really is the company to fully develop something like this, since they completely control the hardware and software. They could make it do even more.

[cube]

I've always wanted a keyboard like this. How much?

[Sharewaredemon]

I've always wanted a keyboard like this. How much?

Not for sale yet.

[mkrishnan]

Help! I bought this keyboard and plugged it into my Windows box, but only three of the keys light up! Okay, fine, if I want to do stuff that only requires control, alt and delete, but what about the actual letters and numbers!? :eek: ;) :D

Seriously, this is a neat idea. You never know, with electronics manufacturing economy of scale....this could be a very interesting thing.

I wonder too if someone could come up with a more effective keyboard that has less keys on it, using this, that adaptively shifts key assignments? :)

[Switzermac]

Great for fcp though

[Lurch_Mojoff]

OMFG!!!!!1!!!!!1111oneone...


This is absolutely, hands down the best keyboard ever! I want it! I'm willing to offer Steve sexual favors if this goes in Powermacs (or even Poewrbooks?). :p

I'm just speechless...

[Linkjeniero]

I want one. NOW!! However, I don't see Apple including such a keyboard with their computers (except as a BTO), because probably going to be quite expensive, so it's not such a good idea to ramp up the price on PowerMac on say, 200 bucks, just for this. Besides, I don't know how many of these Apple could sell, thanks to the average consumer's ignorance... (wow, cool keyboard, too bad it's for macs only). I think this is good for a company like Logitech... but I hope they make fully mac compatible, not like their BT one :(.

[Thanatoast]

shouldn't be too hard on batteries. oled's are frugal with power, more so than equivalent lcds.

[ravenvii]

That's totally different from what I had in my head. I was thinking "yeah, cool, but I need tactile feedback!", but then I saw it. OLEDs on EACH individual keys! That's ****ing awesome!

[asif786]

oh my god. this is the best keyboard ever.

how amazing. it would be amazing if apple picked this up. heck, i would buy one of these even if it was $250! the coolness factor is just too much.

come on apple, give us mac users something to show off again!

[xli_ne]

OMFG!!!!!1!!!!!1111oneone...


This is absolutely, hands down the best keyboard ever! I want it! I'm willing to offer Steve sexual favors if this goes in Powermacs (or even Poewrbooks?). :p

I'm just speechless...

taking one for the team

[camomac]

that is the best idea i have seen on a keyboard EVER! i will be checking back on the webpage to see when these will be available.
CAN'T WAIT! MUST HAVE NOW!


is there a slated price on this, or is it all concept at this point?

[srobert]

heck, i would buy one of these even if it was $250!

LOL

what about if it costed $2,500? Seems more realistic ^_^

[Don't panic]

it would be too expensive to be the default keyboard, but as an option it would fly.
and since i imagine it will be fairly well protected patent-wise, whoever picks it up will have pretty much the exclusive.
one possible issue would be reliability under intense use.

i would get one.

[rockdog]

Wow, that is fantastic. I just wonder why it has taken so long for someone to come up with something like this

[ipacmm]

I want one. Hope that it will come out soon.

[redeye be]

And maybe have every key show 'Any' when appropriate, on windows of course. ;)

I wonder too if someone could come up with a more effective keyboard that has less keys on it, using this, that adaptively shifts key assignments? :)
This (http://halfkeyboard.com/halfkeyboard/index.html) is something i've been wanting to try out for a few years now. It would be pretty cool if the two keyboards would be combined.
At least it will be cheaper due to less need for displays.

[Sun Baked]

Would make games a little more interesting and interactive.

Along with interesting new twists and capabilities for websites.

[supergod]

Not only do I absolutely love the look as a much more modern take on the apple keyboard, especially for matching a power mac, I think this idea is one of the best that I have seen in years.

There is no way that a keyboard like this could be cheap, or even reasonably priced, but for a pro user it would be completely worth it. I myself would pay several hundred dollars to be able to have a keyboard like this for use with Logic. The keys could be configured to take on the roll of a mixer and interface with the system. And at the same time the whole setup would take up minimal deskspace and in an instant be configured to use as a standard keyboard.

It fits in so well with Apples iLife in a way because the keyboard would be able to better handle each app: of course this isn't as simple as a point and click interface but it is a hell of a lot simpler than having to create and memorize keyboard shortcuts. The keyboard could serve basic needs like skipping tracks in iTunes or applying filters in iMovie.

What I would like to see as the next step in a design like this is to also incorporate touch sensitive surfaces. They key design is overall best for calling up shortcuts and the like, but if their were any surfaces that could be controlled by touch in any direction than they could be used as faders/shuttle control for editing apps or even to draw on in an imaging app.

Now we need to see this company get their patent and go ahead with this. I think they could start easily with the editing/pro market and with tech inthusiasts (I would be the first on my block to snatch up one of these bad boys) and than expand with a cheaper/lower tech model into the home market. Take away the aluminum, some of the OLEDs for keys that never need to be changed (like enter,number keys, f1...) and use cheap plastic and this thing could become the next standard. I can imagine that when Apple switched to a mouse interface it must have seemed wildly crazy and weird at the time, as well as (to dumber folk) almsot magical that hand movements could interface with a computer. To me this seems like a far more logical, practical and obvious evolution of interfacing with the computer.

[agreenster]

This (http://halfkeyboard.com/halfkeyboard/index.html) is something i've been wanting to try out for a few years now.

"The Half Keyboard allows you to type with just one hand, leaving your other hand free for other things."

Bwaa haa haaaaaaa!

[killmoms]

This keyboard is "teh secks" as the Internet kiddies say.

I want it to bear my children.

[wdlove]

Definitely a very future looking design. It seems to be fancier than anything that Apple would offer. Maybe they could offer it as an option. Wonder how far in the future this will be on sale?

[tech4all]

Sweet! Even the overall design of it is slick, almost Apple-like.

[Josh]

Although the light up keys would be sweet, I think they would just be standard letters unless the application was programmed to tell the OS to make the keyboard display tools or other keys. And what would make them want to do that, and how long would it take for developers to start doing it?

How else would it know when to show the letter Z, or the magnifying glass when you're in Photoshop?

The only other way is if it had it's own on-board chip pre-programmed for selected apps. And that would make an already expensive thing drastically more expensive.

I think it's the coolest idea, I just don't see practically how it would work.

[savar]

this just another example of technologies which are about to go from the lab to the mainstream and totally revolutionize everything.

if apple picked this up it might make up for them hiding keycaps in the middle of nowhere

plus maybe there'd finally be a real use for f-keys...

[dsharits]

That is one awesome keyboard. I can't imagine what the cost of one of those would be.

[_bnkr612]

OMFG!!!!!1!!!!!1111oneone...
I'm willing to offer Steve sexual favors if this goes in Powermacs (or even Poewrbooks?). :p I'm just speechless...


Newbie- You don't need to say stuff like that around here.

[ham_man]

That is without a doubt one of the most innovative and awesome ideas I have seen in a while. I would definately buy one...

[SpaceMagic]

I had no idea keyboards could improve. Amazing.

[Jaffa Cake]

Have you seen their mouse (http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/mus/) concept? Nice idea, but I can feel my carpal tunnels tensing up just thinking looking at it...

[puckhead193]

that's an awsome keyboard. But i wouldn't want to see the price tag :eek:

[homerjward]

damn i would love one of those. it could replace a regular keyboard, a specialized application kb (fcp, etc) and a re-arrangable gaming thingy all at the same time! i love the space for applications that light up based on what applications you map. i'd definitely buy one, if the price was reasonable. i wouldn't pay over $200 for a keyboard, no matter how fancy. regarding the oled's, they're very nice on battery life because of no backlight :D

[Phat_Pat]

man i could really use that for some video editing......

[biohazard6969]

wait....so what is so special about this keyboard....or am i just stupid

[Phat_Pat]

wait....so what is so special about this keyboard....or am i just stupid
every key is a mini screen that can change to whatever fits best

[Peyote]

Although the light up keys would be sweet, I think they would just be standard letters unless the application was programmed to tell the OS to make the keyboard display tools or other keys. And what would make them want to do that, and how long would it take for developers to start doing it?

How else would it know when to show the letter Z, or the magnifying glass when you're in Photoshop?

The only other way is if it had it's own on-board chip pre-programmed for selected apps. And that would make an already expensive thing drastically more expensive.

I think it's the coolest idea, I just don't see practically how it would work.


My guess is that you would use software to assign some extra keys to different application modes.."Photoshop mode", "Quake mode", etc. When you hit the Photoshop Mode button, the keyboard is in Photoshop Mode. Hit the Default Mode, and it switches back when you want to type something.

[Xtremehkr]

That is the coolest thing I have seen this week.

[Eevee]

That's an awesome keyboard. Very helpful for photoshop :D

[mactastic]

Well I wish I had something original to say, but damn that's cool. I want one too.

[dsharits]

Have you seen their mouse (http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/mus/) concept? Nice idea, but I can feel my carpal tunnels tensing up just thinking looking at it...
Ugh, the keyboard is awesome, but the mouse makes no sense. Why would anyone want a cursor-shaped mouse???

[Hoef]

Looks like a stylish refinery operator room keyboard

[MyLeftNut]

Yeah this is great. It has so many possible applications. For one, imagine using it at airports. For those people not used to English keys, they can make a quick swap and then voila...ahem.

This could only be a very expensive option though. I think if Apple wanted to make a truly high end workstation package, include it with FCP or what not, and a 30" screen...dual processors and all....*drool*.

I think these guys are Mac users....check out the last picture's keyboard layout... ;)

[killmoms]

I think these guys are Mac users....check out the last picture's keyboard layout... ;)
Well, all of the pictures had the command and option key symbols, and Mac icons for apps on the side... But I think the dead giveaway was the keyboard itself. How could PC users design something so drop-dead sexy? ;)

[.:*Robot Boy*:.]

I'd pay anything to replace my heinous Pro Tools keyboard (http://www.digidesign.com/products/control/keyboard/) with something less clunky and more intuitive. Can you believe that that thing costs US$250! :eek:

[Prom1]

This is the perfect keyboard to showcase the PowerMac G5!!

If a second party jumps onto this basic design principle, OLED mapped keys, instead of Apple, I'm all over it.

When I saw 1st saw this my jaw dropped. Just like when the 1st PowerMac G5 appeared! Jst as suddenly!

Second look I swear I got aroused; maybe its the the time of day 5:47AM and I didnt sleep at all this past night. ;) But seriously.

I'm going insane with making moving preparations and thinking I'll have to settle for an old G4 PowerMac. Now I see this ... I'll wait just a little longer for a <2 year PowerMac G5.

[wPod]

that is the freaking coolest keyboard ever. i have my credit card out and ready for when it goes on sale!!!

[20rogersc]

Cor, thats a beast. I would seriously consider getting one as soon as it comes out, it's sooooo nice.

*the posibilities...*

::20ROGERSC::

[omala]

Even if it just had a "keyboard utilities" panel (hotkey driven, of course) to switch key set definitions between sets you define or download, it'd rock. For an example, I'm used to the key mappings I use in Logic, but this opens up possibilities way past what I'd actually bother to memorize (not to mention the sheer coolness of using it with Warcraft...)

I'd spend real money on it, no question.

[Diatribe]

Wow. :eek: This is hands down the coolest thing ever. Imagine it would switch the keys based on the active application...

[jrv3034]

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Computing would never be the same.

This would be worth $500, easily. And worth every penny.

[Hemingray]

I see what they're doing! They're making all of us drool on our existing keyboards to short them out and force us to buy theirs. :rolleyes:

Just the Quake 3 keyboard layout alone has my credit card out and ready... ;)

I sure hope this becomes a real product soon!

[Xtremehkr]

Oh, and it should come with every Mac but the eMac and mini. Why would you leave the iMac out of this goodness.

[dylomel]

this is awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!
:o

[Lacero]

Does the cost really justify the benefits? I mean if you were cutting in FCP, either you'll be already proficient enough to learn the keystrokes to perform certain tasks, or you can buy a special keyboard or KB templates you place over your existing keyboard.

It might be great as a learner keyboard for educational purposes but beyond that, it's usefulness looks extremely limiting.

[dstorey]

I had a very similar idea to this when the apple patent came out for the organic light emitting plastics thing, though using oled displays makes more sense as it's much more commercial product these days (plus we don't really know what kind of quality display the apple tech would get for dispalying letters and icons).

I think if apple bought this idea and took it on, they could improve it in a number of ways. First the keys look pretty awful. They look too square, flat and uncomfortable to type on. Secondly, using these (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000410050327/) oled displays, they could use no power for displaying the images, until they have to change, which will improve battery life by a fair amount. Next, with their universal remote control patent, they'd have the base for being able to send the images to each key on the keyboard. Either that or have it so the OS automatically checks what shortcuts the system and current app have set and map them to they keyboard, and change them when modifiers are pressed. Finally that app launcher could become a touch sensitive strip, similar to the iPod's scroll wheel, but using oled. Then it could become a kind of hardware dock. It could mirror the dock or display and app you wish using preferences. This way you could set the icons to any size and have the dock hidden on the screen while still being able to see the app icons on your keyboard, including any status parts of the icons, such as unread mail etc.

I'm not sure how big a market there would be for this though. If it was realistically priced then creative professionals would probably buy it as an upgrade or replacement. heavy iLife users may buy it too, and people that just want to have a cool looking keyboard, as well as people that use multiple languages or layouts (it's annoying trying to find all the accented characters unless you know them off by heart). It could be another product they push out to windows users, just like how the iPod became available and the screens went DVI. Selling standard peripherals to both mac and pc users could be a new direction to make money, along with a multi button mouse. Generally apple couldn't really sell a keyboard to windows users cause of the different keys, but with this they could, and target it to people that buy a mac as a second computer, so they could use the keyboard for both (as well as duel boot mac/windows computers). Generally though I don't think it would be a big seller for windows, as a keyboard doesn't have a must have quality like the iPod does. People don't really replace their keyboards unless they are in niche markets like geeks, power users and gamers. It would be great for gamers, but I don't think Apple is the first company a gamer would look to when looking for hardware. It could become a nice little lust item for the cool kids though, especially if it docks with the iPod in some way, and is compatible with any future home media device (could be useful for things like web tv and managing your content)

[Spanky Deluxe]

Ohmygod, that is the coolest thing I've ever seen. They say it'll cost "less than a good mobile phone". In other words £200-£300 so about $350-$500 off the top of my head for you guys over the water.

If they had a wired version of this I'd buy it quicker than you could say 'my wireless keyboard was such a waste of money'.

I need a new keyboard anyway. Wireless is overated imo as you may have guessed. I mean how many times do you really move your keyboard around the room apart from the few occasions when its a novelty and you use it to play and pause videos from the couch.

One of these keyboards (wired) + lovely microsoft intellimouse (wired) + multi os bluetooth remote control = dream come true.

[alexstein]

wow that is the coolest, sexiest and most usefull keyboard i have ever seen. i never thought i would talk like that about a keyboard.

[Mechcozmo]

That Is Cool

Translation: I want! :D

[zv470]

Wow Apple should buy this patent!!!

Wow. :)

I'd like to see this idea applied to Apple's keyboards, not that keen on the look of the design, but I love the idea, WOW :)

[xisforextreme]

reminds me of that virtual keyboard, wonder if they could do something similar with that http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/images/VKB-animation.gif

[acedickson]

Someone should contact Apple about that keyboard and then point Apple to this thread. I think it's an awesome idea too. I love new gadgets!

[Nermal]

this keyboard is sweet, wonder what the price tag will be on this?

"In brief, the keyboard is likely to become available in 2006, will be OS-independent and “will cost less than a good mobile phone.”" (http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/4283/)

[Tymmz]

If it doesn't get too expensive I would love to have one.

[jamesW135]

Very nice, I hope this is sold in the next couple of years.

[Diatribe]

"In brief, the keyboard is likely to become available in 2006, will be OS-independent and “will cost less than a good mobile phone.”" (http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/4283/)


Very nice, I hope this is sold in the next couple of years.

If it doesn't get too expensive I would love to have one.


Always funny how people never read the thread but only reply to the first post... :p

[cubist]

The idea is not new at all, keys with programmable displays have been available for at least 10 years. They are used in airplane cockpit equipment because they are extremely expensive.

What's different here is the estimated cost. If these guys can produce these for "less than a good mobile phone" - I read that as $500 - they will sell well. I'd also be concerned about the display longevity.

[dornoforpyros]

Obviosly that is flat out awsome, But my concern would be how well the keyboard holds up over time? I mean we've all spilled a drink or two into a keyboard and I'm sure many of your keyboards (like mine) are full of crumbs. :p

[killmoms]

cubist: They're OLEDs, and OLEDs last a pretty long time. No backlight worries and such.

dornoforpyros: I've never spilled drinks into my keyboards, because I'm a careful cat. :p But it looks like the keys all have solid end-caps on them, and I'd imagine the bottoms are protected against that somehow, since obviously this keyboard would have more electricity running through it than your average one. I would think that even if the prototype doesn't, if this keyboard ever went into production those things would be considered.

[thrillz3]

I wonder too if someone could come up with a more effective keyboard that has less keys on it, using this, that adaptively shifts key assignments? :)

Less keys? www.frogpad.com

[aboutthat]

Wow Apple should buy this patent!!!

Wow. :)

I'd like to see this idea applied to Apple's keyboards, not that keen on the look of the design, but I love the idea, WOW :)


I don't know how to do this, but perhaps someone should contact and 'suggest' to Apple to buy this thing and get it into production and make sure it's all done correctly...they're sitting on a gold mine...any Apple employees on the board who want to line themselves up for a promotion, bring this thing to your boss ;)

If it becomes more mainstream/standard equip. I can just picture some way for advertisers to tap into it. Ads might magically appear under your fingers, making spam just a keyboard tap away...your enter key suddenly starts flashing with low APRs for refinancing your house, etc. This keyboard is fab, just have to put the right constraints on software possibilities, make it all user controlled without the possibility of outside key changing.

[iHacker]

My guess is that it will probly come out at llike $150 to $200 range. I am hapy with my standard apple keyboard until this comes out!

[joshwest]

i think it be a great idea if they worked this in to the powerbooks then the ibooks i think it would spiffy them up.. and also mac-ize it and use the full size for g5's

[Ahmed]

thats an amazing keyboard!! i would pay up to 200$ for a keyboard like that!!

:D

[Jay42]

You know what, this almost doesn't surprise me.

[wheezy]

Wow, what a cool product, I really like how it matches the aluminum!

Also, a great informative website. I liked such information as

"Moscow is the capital of Russia."

"Our studio is located two blocks from the Kremlin." (The KGB must have been developing this and they stole the idea)

"It has a numeric keypad because we love it."

"There’s no snow in Moscow in summer."

I seriously thought of all these questions when I checked out this keyboard.

[Veldek]

Latest news on Hardmac.com (http://www.hardmac.com/niouzcontenu.php?date=2005-07-19#4293):

- USB2 and maybe Firewire keyboard
- it could integrate an external power supply.
- it will cost between 200 and 300$.
- It should be available within one year

[ldenman]

simply. Amazing!

[runplaysleeprun]

Keys could be animated when needed.

Can you imagine, the whole keyboard acting like a giant dispay for itunes showing the different levels of audio (cant bloody remember what that thing is called that shows the different levels of audio, like a wave, i know it has a name....) in different colors? As the music is playing, the whole keyboard is just sitting there lighting up with the audio. man, that would be cool. or even set as the visualizer for the music. man would that be sweet.

[weldon]

Typing in Russian is a pain on an English keyboard. I used the stickers that came with my old Cyrillic localization kit from Apple (remember those in the OS 8 days?). They work OK, but I would buy this keyboard in an instant (as long as it had a good feel).

I can totally understand how a design firm in Moscow would be inspired to come up with something innovative to solve the problem of typing in Cyrillic and English.

It would be even better if the keyboard driver/utility would allow you complete freedom to remap keys. One of the big issues with a cyrillic keyboard is the question of using the traditional Russian layout or a phonetic layout that corresponds to the English QWERTY layout by trying to place the Cyrillic letters with the transliterated English letter. I had a great phonetic layout in WordPerfect for DOS way back in the day, but I haven't been able to duplicate it. I've read a number of documents about how to customize keyboard layouts for both Windows and Mac, but I usually get stumped somewhere along the way where I want to change one key for another. A keyboard like this, with total customization, that displays the character being used would be incredible.

[FoxyKaye]

Would all those little displays would be quite a drain on the battery power? Would the switchable display files for the keys be kept on the computer and transmitted via BT, or maybe on some internal flash drive in the housing?
I was thinking along similar lines - where does the burden of processing the keycaps fall: to the CPU, or to something that accompanies the keyboard itself? Seems like there wouldn't be a lot to do, just line the correct keycap displays up with the correct program, but who knows what kinds of computational power this would require...

Latest news on Hardmac.com (http://www.hardmac.com/niouzcontenu.php?date=2005-07-19#4293):

- USB2 and maybe Firewire keyboard
- it could integrate an external power supply.
- it will cost between 200 and 300$.
- It should be available within one year
Cool - very Star Trek: The Next Generation - I'd save up for it and get one, though maybe wait till the rev. B's are released.

[Edit]:
Typing in Russian is a pain on an English keyboard. I used the stickers that came with my old Cyrillic localization kit from Apple (remember those in the OS 8 days?). They work OK, but I would buy this keyboard in an instant (as long as it had a good feel).

I can totally understand how a design firm in Moscow would be inspired to come up with something innovative to solve the problem of typing in Cyrillic and English.

It would be even better if the keyboard driver/utility would allow you complete freedom to remap keys. One of the big issues with a cyrillic keyboard is the question of using the traditional Russian layout or a phonetic layout that corresponds to the English QWERTY layout by trying to place the Cyrillic letters with the transliterated English letter. I had a great phonetic layout in WordPerfect for DOS way back in the day, but I haven't been able to duplicate it. I've read a number of documents about how to customize keyboard layouts for both Windows and Mac, but I usually get stumped somewhere along the way where I want to change one key for another. A keyboard like this, with total customization, that displays the character being used would be incredible.
I completely agree on all points... Russian on any keyboard in college was hell, even with the right fonts and interpreters for WordPerfect...

[raynegus]

I sent this thread to Apple along with a link to the product. So keep the comments clean! :)

[hob]

Can you imagine, the whole keyboard acting like a giant dispay for itunes showing the different levels of audio (cant bloody remember what that thing is called that shows the different levels of audio, like a wave, i know it has a name....) in different colors? As the music is playing, the whole keyboard is just sitting there lighting up with the audio. man, that would be cool. or even set as the visualizer for the music. man would that be sweet.I just fainted. Sorry. That is the most orgasmic idea I've heard for the last year!! (And it wasnt exactly a slow year ;) ) I never thought i'd be this excited about a keyboard!!

[mkrishnan]

- it will cost between 200 and 300$.

To be fair, the actual interview quote was: "I can hardly imagine it to be less than $200 to $300 (USD). Sounds like a lot for a keyboard, but most modern mobile phones cost about that." Which is slightly different.... :rolleyes:

But still, like hob said, this is an amazing idea.... :)

[Veldek]

To be fair, the actual interview quote was: "I can hardly imagine it to be less than $200 to $300 (USD). Sounds like a lot for a keyboard, but most modern mobile phones cost about that." Which is slightly different.... :rolleyes:

But still, like hob said, this is an amazing idea.... :)Well, I didn't quote the interview but Hardmac.com. But I agree, this makes it sound more expensive than $300.

[mkrishnan]

Well, I didn't quote the interview but Hardmac.com. But I agree, this makes it sound more expensive than $300.

Ahhh, yeah, I know. Too many translations, probably, Russian to French to English. :eek: ;) :D Here's hoping for it being cheap enough to make it the standard keyboard on the next 12" PB! :D

[NicP]

Wow, what a cool product, I really like how it matches the aluminum!

Also, a great informative website. I liked such information as

"Moscow is the capital of Russia."

"Our studio is located two blocks from the Kremlin." (The KGB must have been developing this and they stole the idea)

"It has a numeric keypad because we love it."

"There’s no snow in Moscow in summer."

I seriously thought of all these questions when I checked out this keyboard.

these answers are in response to the discussions on slashdot

[Les Kern]

Since I use a KVM between 4 computers and one is a PC, THIS baby is for me.

[zim]

Love the idea but not for me. How often do I look at my keyboard? almost never. So if I never look at my keyboard then to what benefit would this have? I agree that it would be a good training keyboard and or maybe a cool wow factor but I also fear it could become as tacky as those light up phones that you see in the malls.

[RedTomato]

sometimes I have to write down analyses of deaf people's sign languages. The coding used is bloody obscure, see below for what i mean - it isn't related to the alphabet at all, not even remotely.

http://www.signwriting.org/forums/linguistics/ling001.gif

Nobody is gonna make a keybord with this on the keys, the market is just too small...

so if this new keyboard could display sign notation, and from the website, it seems pretty easy to do, it would be worth buying for us Sign Language researchers :)

And at the other end, i could see it being useful to people working with some types of music analysis / notation that a USB piano keyboard attachment might not work with.

xoxo tomato

[D*I*S_Frontman]

I doubt it would sell for less than $500 US. Maybe more.

Having said that, if they integrated a scrub wheel with assignable buttons for all of us video/audio engineers, I would totally buy one. Sure, you can buy dedicated ProTools, Logic, or FCP keyboards--but to have a perfectly customized keyboard interface with every pro app or high-end game you own, changing on-the-fly in every new scenario, well, that is a transformational innovation.

It totally fits the Apple ethic of a brilliantly designed user interface experience.

Apple should take some of that iPod green they've banked and buy these Muscovtes completely out--lock, stock and ruble. Mac OS X Lion should have it implemented on day one for all the Apple pro apps, with an easy-to-build developer's kit to get Adobe, ProTools, and the gamers on board. The new PowerMac G5 with Color-ProKey™ technology!

The best part of it--adding this functionality to Longhorn would delay its release another two years! And you can imagine how gawd-awful that would work in that environment?!

[zelmo]

Apparently, a prior patent exists (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000437052405/) for this type of keyboard.

[Le Big Mac]

Wow...when's the last time you saw *real* innovation in a keyboard? Does it produce its own light at night? How much eye strain when looking at it? Price could definately be a big deal breaker here.


Yeah, looks like a really great idea, but it's probably pretty costly.

One other good use would be public computers that people might want to use different language keyboards on. Sort of a niche, but also probalby more affordable by, say, an internet cafe kind of place.

[zelmo]

Still another (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000647052414/) precinct reporting in...

I suppose we'll be seeing a product out of this sooner or later.

[mdavey]

I suppose we'll be seeing a product out of this sooner or later.

Feb 1st 2006, according to Engadget (http://engadget.com/2006/01/08/optimus-keyboard-shipping-february-1st/)

[2nyRiggz]

that is very nice indeed.


Bless

[puckhead193]

prob will be around $250 US :eek:

[shadowmoses]

Love the idea but not for me. How often do I look at my keyboard? almost never. So if I never look at my keyboard then to what benefit would this have? I agree that it would be a good training keyboard and or maybe a cool wow factor but I also fear it could become as tacky as those light up phones that you see in the malls.

I think you have a very good point there, the keyboard may be cool, but fot eh majority it wouldnt be of much use,

Shadow

[bigandy]

Feb 1st 2006, according to Engadget (http://engadget.com/2006/01/08/optimus-keyboard-shipping-february-1st/)

i should hope so!

there's been far too much waiting around for this keyboard.