Sorry to interupt, but I'll just jump in to answer a few questions...
Muirium schrieb:
I like the short space bar, actually. But is there anything to stop us from using 1.25u mods? What Matias constraints should we know about?
1.25u mods require a 6.25u spacebar, which we don't have tooling for.
The only unusual caps on 88b_Jesterfox are the 1.5u Win/Menu/Fn keys and the 4.5u spacebar. Of course, the 1.5u size is common and we'll be supplying the 4.5u spacebar, so I don't see a problem for future sets to include these.
As an aside, I think the 1.5u mods are aesthetically nicer. The 1.25u mods have always struck me as stubby looking.
c137 schrieb:
From the 60% Matias thread, I assume the same type of controller would be used:
The keyboard itself will not be programmable, but each key in the Fn layer will have its own unique keycode, which you can capture and assign to a macro on your PC/Mac. The side benefit of this is that you can assign different macros for different OSes, allowing you to use the same keyboard on multiple OSes, without conflicts.
Yes, it would be the same controller.
Muirium schrieb:
Yeah, not the kind of programmable that we value. A removeable controller would be a plus.
We can do a removable controller if there's space. Otherwise, we can offer a bare PCB option in the GB, that you could wire/solder to a programmable controller.
Also, if there's interest, we could include spare parts options in the GB -- similar to what we're doing for the 60% keyboard. For exmaple, you could buy an extra case for painting a different colour, etc.
c137 schrieb:
I will also post this here because apparently there is some confusion:
What some people obviously tend to overlook is: I won't build this keyboard. I won't buy the parts. I won't ship anything. I won't get any money. At all.
If a sufficient number of people in this interest check (on GH, DT and CB + MB) can decide on one layout (e.g. 88b_Jesterfox) that is supported by a majority, Matias Corporation is going to set up an order page for the actual group buy.
There buyers will order their version of choice (aluminum/polycarbonate, clicky/quiet/linear, maybe even ISO/ANSI) probably some with a fallback option (something like "I would like the ISO-DE with aluminum case and quiet switches, but if ISO doesn't reach MOQ I'll take ANSI instead"). We will pay at this site directly to Matias Corp, via Paypal/credit card/bank transfer.
Then they will finalize the product - while regularly reporting progress to the community -, make all the keyboards ordered and finally ship them to the buyers.
Just to add to this, there should be no fear that this project won't get done -- asuming that the MOQ conditions are met. We've never not finished a project, and we just recently starting doing keyboards in aluminum. Here's an example of one we recently completed for an old customer of ours...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/KPA28BTW
http://www.newertech.com/images/pr/PR_NTkeypad.jpg
BTW, thanks and credit to c137 (Julian) for leading this GB so enthusiastically. I hope it goes through. We designed the switches to support backlight, so I'm eager to see it happen. Thanks Julian!
