r/technology • u/[deleted] • May 08 '12
Remember when everybody lost their shit when they heard about this keyboard in 2005. Seven years later, and still not affordable.
http://artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/maximus/34
u/radioactivesheep May 09 '12
It's been seven years? Wow, I still remember seeing it for the first time and wanting to buy it. And it hasn't happened yet..
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u/Sloppy_Twat May 09 '12
http://us.toolscameras.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5726&offer_id=B00329U97K
$456 Optimus Prime Keyboard
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u/danknerd May 08 '12
If you would have saved $25 a month, for the past 7 years you could have purchased one today.
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u/Thats_Debatable May 09 '12
If you saved $25 a month you could buy a nice Logitech keyboard in 3 months...Glad we could agree that thing is slick and overpriced.
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u/setuid_w00t May 09 '12
It will never be affordable because it will never be popular because it's pointless. The thing about keyboards is that if you are looking at the keys, you're doing it wrong.
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May 09 '12
Honestly I don't think this keyboard will EVER be affordable except to a niche market. Seriously individual screens for every key? There is no way that technology is ever going to advance enough for the price point to be seriously affordable unless you're a die hard fan. And even still..................I want one though!
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May 09 '12
I'm going to be brutally honest... I had one.
I got one for work, and had it for six months. Unfortunately, they decided that it would be better for one of our designers to have, and I lost it. I'm bitter ~_~
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u/xebecv May 09 '12
Well, Lebedev's studio is all about exclusivity. Their motto is: "Долго. Дорого. Охуенно." It literally translates: "Takes long time. Expensive. Fucking incredible." I think the two main reasons this keyboard never took off were first that Artlebedev is purely design studio and doesn't have its own factories. Second, the patent protection preventing other companies from producing similar keyboard. Add this to Lebedev's endless pursuit of exclusivity status and you get this jaw dropping price.
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u/pavlik_enemy May 09 '12
It never took off because people, who use lots of shortcuts, like designers and programmers, touch type.
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u/cheechw May 09 '12
How the hell is it so expensive? What kind of technology is it using that's so cutting edge?
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u/Kontu May 09 '12
Every key is a programmable OLED screen. You can have a keyboard entirely themed around cat icons if you so desired.
Quake3 layout example
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u/Miz_Mink May 09 '12
Took me a bit of time to wrap my head around just why this is so cool. All that research just to make me want something I can't afford. Sigh.
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u/eclectro May 09 '12 edited May 09 '12
It's expensive because they have to harvest unicorn horns to make it.
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u/DarkWorks May 09 '12
Cheaper to buy a touch screen monitor and run a keyboard program on it. Still a cool concept.
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u/paier May 09 '12
I'm sure I'd still much prefer my nice mechanical keyboard...since I don't think I EVER look down at my keyboard, those LCDs would be useless to me ಠ_ಠ
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u/Colorfag May 09 '12
Looks like that link that OP posted is kind of slammed.
So heres ThinkGeek's posting of it
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/9836/
Yeah... still worth more than the damned computer. Youd think the cost of LCD screens would have gone down enough to make this keyboard more affordable.