The $400 keyboard
Friday, February 22, 2008
Would you pay $460 USD for a keyboard? Yes, a keyboard, for which a substitute costs as little as $5.00 USD.
I don't think I
would. I'm not in the target market for this thing, but then again what is the target market?
Comments:
* Vi/emacs users could see the actions mapped on each key.
* Same for eclipse/IntelliJ
* Same for keyboard-intensive games (if you are into that kind of things)
* Same for 3D studio.
It lowers the bar for learning keyboard shortcuts with your favorite application. No, I am not spending that much in a goddamn keyboard - and you are falling short, depending on the selected configuration you can pay as much as 1300$
$1300? Insane...
I'm a vim and eclipse user, and I don't mind the key combinations, but I'm the kind of guy that doesn't like to use the memory key in phones. I think it keeps my mind sharp if I force myself to remember little things.
I'm not sure what you describe is a well defined market (gamers and such). I think sticky labels have been used in the past (also cheap colored plastic keyboards), so replacing those with an expensive and alternative is not the way to go.
We'll see how well the company does. The keyboard looks cool and all, but I think of it as an expensive unneeded toy.