2 Likes
This thing is nice in theory.
Until you think of the reality:
-the keyboard SUCKS. Too small. Not spaced enough. Shit, a standard kb (be it full or 80%/ten-key-less) is actually not optimally spaced for human hands (and almost all ‘ergonomic’ keyboards aren’t either because they use the same key sizes, just split up or slightly widened: a REAL ergonomic keyboard would be split and would have wider and curved keys).
-the screen is too small: not wide enough for writing, not wide or tall enough for coding … and let alone for the needed functions/sidescreens etc etc etc.
-a programmer needs to compile code: that Pi just ain’t gonna cut it.
Gimme a wide 80% KB with a widescreen, slightly larger in height than the KB, color e-ink or that OLPC transflective screen, with a phat cpu and 64 gig o’ram and a cheap-ass integrated gpu (not doing CUDA so don’t need a gpu!) and then we’ll talk.
This is a throwback to the symbian machines which lost to palmpilots. And is nowadays a cheap toy.
-edit-
Oh … and motherfucker! That last link to mechanical? Their security certificate is dodgy as fuck.
What the hell, Boingboing?!?!
Yeah, good luck getting one of those right now!
A 16:5 aspect ratio? Uh… no thanks.
I can’t imagine every doing any serious coding on this thing if I’m being honest. Between that cramped little keyboard and small display with weird aspect ratio, it seems like it would be torture.
Don’t get me wrong - this is a neat project and I have much respect for the result. But I just don’t see this as anything more than a toy.
USB to serial adapters are a dime a dozen these days. You can get a high quality FTDI-based one for cheap. With a low cost FTDI FT232H chip you can not only use it for plain old RS-232 serial communications, you can also easily repurpose it as a JTAG adapter for on-chip debugging. (Only downside with FTDI chips is because they are so ubiquitous and popular, they are also heavily counterfeited so beware of “too good to be true” prices.)
1 Like
Those are clicky key switches. You can get ones without that clicky-clack.
To further reduce any noise you can add sound damping under the PCB board inside the case.
I do agree that for may users this is a rather small keyboard.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
