Optimus keyboard now shipping, bring on the hacks
After years of promises and missed ship dates, the Optimus Maximus keyboard is finally on sale (and shipping!) over at Think Geek. The price is still sheer lunacy, though, at $1,589.99. All so you can marvel at the 113 tiny OLED keys that will soon be covered in an opaque film of dead skin detritus and Cheetos dust. This keyboard, as undeniably sexy as it is, needs to be about $1200 cheaper before I even begin to consider it, even after trepanation. Although every time I try to remember my World of Warcraft warlock's hot keys, I feel a slight pang of temptation.
But in truth, I'm more looking forward to what other people do with the Optimus: with each key capable of playing an animated GIF or Quicktime movie, I don't think it'll be too long before we see a YouTube movie of the the Optimus broadcasting 113 simultaneous copies of "Two Girls, One Cup." Anyone else got any good ideas for Optimus hacks?
Optimus Maximus Keyboard [Think Geek]
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If you don't insist on keys that change dynamically as you type on them... Remember the old IBM keyboards (the ones with snap-off keycaps)? Transparent caps were available for those, so you could create custom key layouts. There was even a convenient little tool to make snapping and unsnapping these faster and easier, without the risk of popping the whole key out.
Half my keyboards used to sport a key labeled "ANY", just because so many DOS applications asked for one. A few spelled out messages, which drove non-touchtypists crazy.
Alas, now that everything has been cost-reduced, we've lost that easy flexibility in keyboard layout/appearance. Maybe that justifies the expen$ive display-keyboard, at least as an experimental base... though frankly, I find myself wondering whether it might be better to just use a single touchscreen behind a transparent keyboard. Or maybe a completely separate display; after all, I don't have transparent fingers and touchtypists rarely actually see the keyboard anyway.
I remember in an interview with the guy behind this keyboard during the CES show, he mentioned a per-key payment structure as well as buying the whole keyboard. The idea being you could buy a starter keyboard for a few hundred, with only a handful of screen-keys and the rest all normal and boring, and then over time buy individual screen-keys for around $20 and just pop the old ones off and drop in one of the new. I thought that was a fitting way to remind yourself exactly how much per-key you're paying for this thing.
No word on that on thinkgeek though.
I did see that pricing model described on the official webpage: http://store.artlebedev.com/computer_add-ons/optimus/
"Simultaneous"? C'mon, we need 113 frame-stuttered copies of 2G1C playing on the keyboard, or I'll scream "SHOPPED!!"
:P
just make em all black like das keyboard. hell yah
maybe when I win the lottery
:(
Hmm, my tax refund came today. Coincidence?
I have no real need for it, but I want it desperately.
"...I'm more looking forward to what other people do with the Optimus..."
You aren't alone.
NOBODY can think of what to do with this thing aside from your earlier suggestion.
That's the problem, this thing doesn't solve any problems and costs a ton to do it!
It's an expensive novelty, hyped to the point that yes, by the gods we DO want to find something to do with it.
Why wouldn't we? We've been talking about it for like two years now!
Just cover one with jewels, sell one in pink to fight cancer and let's get over it and on to something shinier or more useful or something already.
Think of each key showing a small window into a full-keyboard-sized animation. Is your brain working now?
Think of mental masturbation.