i got some news for you.... The 1600$ version you have not. That one dosn't have color screens in the main typing field. you my friend have the over 3000.00$ one.
@@keggerous Yeah I sort of know what you mean. But I just personally find spending that much money on something that is worth just dollars in actual material costs obscene and stupid. Maybe I could understand if it were gold or platinum plated, or some kinda semi precious metal. No offense to those who love the hobby. I don't mean they're stupid. It's a hobby to them, and that's all good. I just meant the idea of spending money on rare, or low production, but basically otherwise ordinary materials just a bit silly. I would never do it. I tend to look at tech more in terms of function. I would pay more for more, not less.
I have a little Cherry mini keyboard on an old Mac mini, and that has MLs. I really like it. The extra stuff added on this keyboard really will screw it up though.
OLED screens have inherent image burn-in problems if you display static images on it for a long time. It's one of the issues with buying OLED TV's or phones. So putting OLED screens on a keyboard, which is meant on the one hand to display legends semi-permanently, and yet on the other hand be changeable to any other image at your choosing, it's a pretty self-defeating idea.
@@miguelmsilva4112 Yes of course, and power efficiency is a big advantage them of too, but the burn in issue is a deal breaker to me. Image any mobile operating system for example. Static icons everywhere. They will burn in. Some guys said to me, the burn in is a non-issue, because most of the phones can handle 2 years without burning. Well, if I buy a flagship phone, I don't want to buy a replacement in 2 years, I want at least 3-4 years of flawless usage. I still remember, when the iPhone X came out, and in the local gadget store, I had a look at it. The menu icons was burnt in already, after 2-3 months the launch. Yes, these phones screen on 0-24 I know, but OLED still has durability issues. If they fix these, I have no bad words against them.
@@varszegimarcell yeah I agree, they are really amazing screens apart from the burn in issue, I personally have an S7 as my phone , bought it refurbished 6 months ago, only has a horizontal "line" around the middle of the screen, only noticeable on white backgrounds, sooo... it's an issue but doesn't happen that fast, considering this phone has around 2 years of use and only has 1 thing burnt in. Basically the lowest part of the screen is a very slight Grey compared to the white on the top.
There hasn't been tech I have wanted to work more than this keyboard. I first heard about it 10 years ago. And every year I get all nostalgic and look it up again. I really hope someone does one of these that actually works and is under $400.
I just got recommended an ad for the Flux keyboard, so it looks like someone's revisiting this concept right now. I'm not sure what they're gonna be charging for it once the Kickstarter for it ends, but I don't see the price tag exceeding $1,000 like the Optimus Maximus did back in the day
There is a variant which is called Optimus Popularis, it's about $500 (used of course) and a completely different layout. Check it out, it's still an interesting piece of tech.
Back in the days of LiveJournal (remember that?) I used to follow the development of this board. I got to communicate with its creators, and I was enamored with its concept of screen keycaps. Then the pricing was announced, and the LiveJournal followers like myself had their minds blown. The price was incredible and way out of our reach. In their defense they also did make a more affordable 3 key macro pad version. But after that, the Optimus Maximus faded in my memory. But after watching this, I'm so glad I didn't have the money to burn on one. I still think it's a neat idea, but it's the kind of idea where the execution of it has to be nailed perfectly.
I am jealous as hell! I so desperately wanted one of these when they were first produced but couldn't under any circumstances justify the price. Makes you wonder what could be accomplished today to make the same thing.
Your use of colorful metaphors while reviewing keyboards in unparalleled. I watch you videos for the commentary as much as I do for the products reviewed. Well done!
I remember stumbling across the website back in 2008, and being so amazed at the idea that I started saving up to buy one. Glad I chose to spend the money on a 40" TV instead (that I still enjoy every day) rather than that dumpster fire! Appreciate your review! And happy holidays!
Very unexpected! I knew about this keyboard since the beggining, but this is the first "normal" & present video-review on UA-cam now. Great, thanks a lot.
I don't know which opposite of a genius decided to use OLED for this. They're famous for getting burnt in. They make great TVs, but on a monitor the taskbar will become permanent. With phones they're well known for having the button row get burnt in. If anyone wants a tip to avoid this on the phone: make sure to hide those buttons by default.
You could have the pattern move a pixel every so often. Move icons up and down and side to side a bit to spread the wear a bit. Of course this only works if you don't need your icon in precisely the same place all the time. (I'm using this technique in an OLED display project myself.)
Wouldn't OLEDs even with inherent burn in be a pretty good choice for a USB powered device featuring over a hundred fully coloured displays, then you add on that you might be using a full set of iconized keys for most modifier profiles that are all being frequented often and might also need to change often if building in house tools that you may have trouble remembering?
It is surprising that it has good build quality. Seems like many see build quality an oversight when it comes to gimmicky keyboards. It would be fascinating to get such keycaps in more mainstream keyboard switches. F for the ML tho :P
I remember first reading about this keyboard back in 2007 or 2008 and thinking it was so cool. I loved the idea of having little screens in the board. However, the price put it far out of reach. I'd never pay more for a keyboard than I would for my entire system. Thanks for doing the review for us. Even if it is a pile of crap to use, it was still cool to see.
The great thing about this keyboard is that it can display any layout. Hopefully it does this by default. Software can check what symbol is outputted per key, without you having to press it first. However, it doesn't follow the ISO standard for symbol placement, where the most common is to place them in the corners. Maybe the screens are too small for it?
*СПАСИБО !* Thanks for the review man! Even in Russian I cant find any reviews, so now I can see that just a fancy concept, sad.. but any way you can use it as guide map for some custom layout for regular keyboard, or yeah, as authentic slides for yt videos ;)
of course not _(custom 60% PBT blank - is my dream)_ I have a few things from A.L store, which is nice, and I just curios about some other products :P btw it's now just a regular keyboard, it's a piece of art, project of design studio, statement about yourself as an industrial designer, it's more for advertisement than direct sales, so price point is appropriate ;-)
I remember being really excited when this was first announced... back when it was suppose to be about $200 bucks which at the time was super expensive for a keyboard. $1600 is absurd. This thing failed and they built it anyway just to prove it could be done. They made something everyone would want but no one in their right mind would buy.
Привет! Thanks for detailed review. This keyboard even got some design award back in 2008. After your video I think that it's all about fancy looking interesting idea and not about active daily usage.
I remember the hype for these, the huge delays and then the massive price tag. They also did a mini 3 which was like a stream deck kinda deal. Like so many things, it was better as a 3d render.
If the keyboard had xyz pressure control and MIDI 2.0 features considered, with an ability for audio/video/picture editing programs to send video/gifs/updated value widgets etc. with an 8x8 add-on macro keyboard it would be an absolute dream for my productivity in music and video production and photo editing and other technical programs. I would be forced to pay $5,000 for such a setup, although I'm sure the price could come down since this keyboard has been on the market for almost a decade now. Perhaps to make typing easier it would have a mechanical switch to convert the keys from normal key press to pressure mode that could be computer controlled for each key so different presets could do different configurations of typing mode/pressure mode distributed throughout the keyboard.
Slashdot announced this keyboard something like 20 years ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Obviously the sticker price scared me away, and I am glad it did. Thanks for the review.
I got a Stream Deck today and setting it up made me think of this keyboard because it's like the full fleshed out expression of the type of thing this keyboard wanted to be. It's nice that the idea didn't die completely but I don't think it was ever practical on that scale and in that application. As configurable pressable buttons absolutely as keycaps for typing no not so much.
Razer was planning on making a tiny laptop with key screens, the Razer Switchblade. I think even the early Razer Blades had a macro cluster with similar keys.
Honestly, imagine this thing with decent switches, microLEDs instead of OLEDs(that might be entirely feasible in 5 years) and a better keycap design and you have yourself a keyboard that is actually revolutionary for certain use cases. Those who need lots of macros and/or hotkeys(video editors for example) and people who prefer 40% boards with lots of layers(like you showed at 4:58) over full boards would be very happy with such this. Also, thank you for the cunterifically artistic profanity.
3:00 As a developer, my guess is that the UI probably uses web-technologies, which basically requires an entire embed google chrome browser. Makes it cheaper for a company to develop and make it super "sleek" looking. Open-source linux implementations for things like razer chroma are only like 200KiB, since they use standard desktop UI tech and don't need an entire browser included with them.
You guys might hate me for saying this, but I think with the advancements in technology and updated and improved version of this would be very very nice.
Now that 11 years have passed and OLED displays have become ubiquitous in smartphones and other handheld devices, I wonder if a similar one-screen-per-key keyboard could be brought to market without an eye-watering four-figure price tag attached - maybe with better switches this time around.
I think the softwares are hundreds of megabytes because they have drivers for other devices, they have to save the heatmap constantly, also the different animations sets that have to saved and they usually save the old drivers just like geforce.
You'd think that small oled panels from when this came out would be cheaper now but these switches are still extremely expensive. The only switch maker that makes these switches that I can find is NKK but the resolution hasnt really improved much since this keyboard came out over 10 years ago. If you think about it, the cost for $1600 keyboard with this many OLED switches at this time should have been extremely expensive and they def didn't make any real profit off these at all. OLED has gotten a lot cheaper and im suprised that companies like Elgato hasnt gotten into OLED keys/switches yet. NKK Has made frameless switches now which makes it probably look a lot nicer but still disappointing that the price per switch is about $75 a piece.
@@fxckrio It would bore me to watch a video in which chyros is happily typing on a keyboard which he absolutely adores. (It would probably be with ALPS.)
I imagined this as GB keycaps in future using e-ink for lower power consumption. nifty for f layers in those ultra compact 40% or maybe lower in future.
@2:48 Oh my god, thank you, Thomas!!! And that's really only half the question of the century (why rgb keyboard software is so bloatet nowadays.) The other half, particularly with respect to Razer, is why the fuck it is so absurdly terrible, and anti-user
I know Corsair's bloat is partially due to the scope of the software: it's expected to handle every single piece of Corsair hardware. In addition to RGB, it's got temperature monitoring, fan and pump control, RAM overclocking, audio equalizers, and a bunch of other crap. When your RGB software also has to handle your liquid cooling loop, bloat happens. Razer has no excuse, though.
Sooo, a new start-up to fund a new keyboard using OLED keycaps for Function keys (as macros) and normal cherry MX red normal switches for everything else?
I wanted this thing so bad back in the day. I played A LOT of WoW, and this just seemed like the absolute perfect keyboard to go with it. I wish somebody would try this idea again, but done properly, and not outrageously expensive.
I had a Samsung flip phone that featured E-Ink on the keypad and would be able to shift the numbers and key legends depending on phone orientation. There were some instances of it being programmable but it required user unfriendly software.
I remember when this thing was announced, it looked really cool and was supposed to be between $100 and $200. Boy, did they mess up. But I suppose that price was a little unrealistic to begin with.
I think that this could have at least bearable keyfeel if the switches were Kailh low profile. It'd even open up the option of clicky, tactile, or linear. That said, those only came out a year-ish ago, and this board came out in 2007.
Gooooood I remember wanting one of these so badly when I first saw an ad for one in I think EGM when I was like 13. Glad I never pursued that past "oooooh pretty"
More than sure you don't read comments, but Lebedev studio's designs (about 2000$ for the worst one) is actually made by neural network! This one isn't, I guess, since it's from 2007, but the author clearly was on something
i got some news for you....
The 1600$ version you have not.
That one dosn't have color screens in the main typing field.
you my friend have the over 3000.00$ one.
Wait what? xD
Still more functional that that Tfue Keycult keyboard. That's $3500 for a whole bunch of nothing but aesthetics.
@@rvs55 Well it's not really aesthetics. It's the exclusivity of the aesthetics. The fact that they don't mass produce anything on that board.
@@keggerous
Yeah I sort of know what you mean.
But I just personally find spending that much money on something that is worth just dollars in actual material costs obscene and stupid. Maybe I could understand if it were gold or platinum plated, or some kinda semi precious metal.
No offense to those who love the hobby. I don't mean they're stupid. It's a hobby to them, and that's all good.
I just meant the idea of spending money on rare, or low production, but basically otherwise ordinary materials just a bit silly.
I would never do it. I tend to look at tech more in terms of function. I would pay more for more, not less.
@@rvs55 Oh I completely agree. For 3500 you can buy a used Rolex
>screens in the keys
oh cool
>Cherry ML
oh no....
Sliphantom oh hello
Civic is best car in the world
I have a little Cherry mini keyboard on an old Mac mini, and that has MLs. I really like it. The extra stuff added on this keyboard really will screw it up though.
@Arnav Bhatt Dodge fucking neon
@@RueAriarhod chev fucking aveo
It isn't hhhhhhhhideous until you put Comic Sans on it.
hahahahaha :D
Yep we're gonna need another one of your typing videos with this keyboard and comic sans on the keys.
@@TapeCruncherMuncher missing that razer font
Wingdings. You mean Wingdings.
Its gotta be a meme for each letter.
W is what are those
D is do you know the way
J is john cena
And etc.
people send you keyboards you won't like because they want to hear you talk trash
Let's send him MS Surface Tablet Keyboard
@@johnnewman5303 just send him a macbook :^)
Usally the reviews about bad items are much funnier to watch than the reviews about the really good products.
I have some old NEC clone with Aristotles clickly Cherry clones. Don't tempt me ;)
precisely young man, precisely.
Thomas, your comedy gets me every time. "We'll get to the swearing later on" made me lol. The imperial measurements are always great too.
Glad you enjoyed the video :D .
I find the imperial units kinda funny but for the love of God why can't you provide actual conversion
@@JFK_Speedwagon Learn to use google. ;)
@@JFK_Speedwagon ...Or just learn the metric system
I am watching this video on my PC with subwoofers connected and literally my table is vibrating because of your voice.
OLED screens have inherent image burn-in problems if you display static images on it for a long time. It's one of the issues with buying OLED TV's or phones. So putting OLED screens on a keyboard, which is meant on the one hand to display legends semi-permanently, and yet on the other hand be changeable to any other image at your choosing, it's a pretty self-defeating idea.
@Chen Li If only it supported GIFs, which it sadly doesn't.
That's why I aviod OLED. Expensive, not durable and the image quality is barely better than a great IPS.
Yeah, oled panels have some big problems, but some really good advantages too like the beautiful colors, contrast, and brightness.
@@miguelmsilva4112 Yes of course, and power efficiency is a big advantage them of too, but the burn in issue is a deal breaker to me. Image any mobile operating system for example. Static icons everywhere. They will burn in. Some guys said to me, the burn in is a non-issue, because most of the phones can handle 2 years without burning. Well, if I buy a flagship phone, I don't want to buy a replacement in 2 years, I want at least 3-4 years of flawless usage. I still remember, when the iPhone X came out, and in the local gadget store, I had a look at it. The menu icons was burnt in already, after 2-3 months the launch. Yes, these phones screen on 0-24 I know, but OLED still has durability issues. If they fix these, I have no bad words against them.
@@varszegimarcell yeah I agree, they are really amazing screens apart from the burn in issue, I personally have an S7 as my phone , bought it refurbished 6 months ago, only has a horizontal "line" around the middle of the screen, only noticeable on white backgrounds, sooo... it's an issue but doesn't happen that fast, considering this phone has around 2 years of use and only has 1 thing burnt in. Basically the lowest part of the screen is a very slight Grey compared to the white on the top.
There hasn't been tech I have wanted to work more than this keyboard. I first heard about it 10 years ago. And every year I get all nostalgic and look it up again. I really hope someone does one of these that actually works and is under $400.
I just got recommended an ad for the Flux keyboard, so it looks like someone's revisiting this concept right now. I'm not sure what they're gonna be charging for it once the Kickstarter for it ends, but I don't see the price tag exceeding $1,000 like the Optimus Maximus did back in the day
@@bokunogentoo4420 but it's not full legnth which sucks.
There is a variant which is called Optimus Popularis, it's about $500 (used of course) and a completely different layout. Check it out, it's still an interesting piece of tech.
I had the most horrible week today, but this right here, this video, makes me feel so much better. Thank you
At least one of you (counting you and chyros) had fun ... :-D
Hope you feel better!
It's crazy the amount of osu! players I see on this channel lol
The imperial system trolling was hillarious :D
it's here almost every video
I am certain you mean hhhhhhhhheelarious
@Richard Vaughn come down ends ye I'll fooken 'av ye
Always appreciate any attempt at adequately assessing an acquired artefact by actively alliterating
Back in the days of LiveJournal (remember that?) I used to follow the development of this board. I got to communicate with its creators, and I was enamored with its concept of screen keycaps. Then the pricing was announced, and the LiveJournal followers like myself had their minds blown. The price was incredible and way out of our reach. In their defense they also did make a more affordable 3 key macro pad version. But after that, the Optimus Maximus faded in my memory. But after watching this, I'm so glad I didn't have the money to burn on one. I still think it's a neat idea, but it's the kind of idea where the execution of it has to be nailed perfectly.
"shame, such a shame, need a little ibm to heal the pain"
XD
Is That A Massive Attack Reference????!111
I was looking for this comment
@@Mattheus368 he has a Mezzanine album cover in his pictures folder
I am jealous as hell! I so desperately wanted one of these when they were first produced but couldn't under any circumstances justify the price. Makes you wonder what could be accomplished today to make the same thing.
I'm glad this review finally exists. For some time I thought this was pinnacle keyboard that I always aspired to have.
I’m amazed that this thing actually got produced.
They did Optimus Popularis later on, it looked better but still...you know
With this video out, it is now officially Christmas. Thanks, mate!
8:46
please make a compilation of you saying hhhhhhhhhhhhhideous from all the keyboard reviews you made :D
That's some dank meme waiting to happen. xD
i'll be dead
Your use of colorful metaphors while reviewing keyboards in unparalleled. I watch you videos for the commentary as much as I do for the products reviewed. Well done!
I remember stumbling across the website back in 2008, and being so amazed at the idea that I started saving up to buy one. Glad I chose to spend the money on a 40" TV instead (that I still enjoy every day) rather than that dumpster fire! Appreciate your review! And happy holidays!
Very unexpected! I knew about this keyboard since the beggining, but this is the first "normal" & present video-review on UA-cam now. Great, thanks a lot.
I love your content. I wish more people were able to appreciate what you have to offer!
That Enter key sticking out to the right triggers me...
Anyways, great video as always! Glad you saved the best imperial joke for the year end.
I don't know which opposite of a genius decided to use OLED for this. They're famous for getting burnt in. They make great TVs, but on a monitor the taskbar will become permanent. With phones they're well known for having the button row get burnt in.
If anyone wants a tip to avoid this on the phone: make sure to hide those buttons by default.
You could have the pattern move a pixel every so often. Move icons up and down and side to side a bit to spread the wear a bit. Of course this only works if you don't need your icon in precisely the same place all the time. (I'm using this technique in an OLED display project myself.)
Wouldn't OLEDs even with inherent burn in be a pretty good choice for a USB powered device featuring over a hundred fully coloured displays, then you add on that you might be using a full set of iconized keys for most modifier profiles that are all being frequented often and might also need to change often if building in house tools that you may have trouble remembering?
They probably made it OLED because of the black pixels being true black, which can make some graphics look better I suppose?
@@jeank1d or the fact they produce their own light rather than needing over 100 bulky expensive backlights for every key... think harder guys lol
They used OLED for these because at the time this was made (pre-orders started in 2007), it was the technology for small screens.
It is surprising that it has good build quality. Seems like many see build quality an oversight when it comes to gimmicky keyboards.
It would be fascinating to get such keycaps in more mainstream keyboard switches.
F for the ML tho :P
The designers don't seem to think it is gimmicky. They take their own bullshit very seriously!
Love the idea, love the Quake 3 icons, hate the studio's execution. Good review as always.
I remember first reading about this keyboard back in 2007 or 2008 and thinking it was so cool. I loved the idea of having little screens in the board. However, the price put it far out of reach. I'd never pay more for a keyboard than I would for my entire system.
Thanks for doing the review for us. Even if it is a pile of crap to use, it was still cool to see.
such an underrated channel. love your work man!
"...We'll get to the swearing later on."
The great thing about this keyboard is that it can display any layout. Hopefully it does this by default. Software can check what symbol is outputted per key, without you having to press it first. However, it doesn't follow the ISO standard for symbol placement, where the most common is to place them in the corners. Maybe the screens are too small for it?
I love your Imperial measurement comparisons. As my physics teacher always said, never forget your units!
Best keyboard review in the history of keyboard reviews
*СПАСИБО !*
Thanks for the review man! Even in Russian I cant find any reviews, so
now I can see that just a fancy concept, sad.. but any way you can use
it as guide map for some custom layout for regular keyboard, or yeah, as
authentic slides for yt videos ;)
were you really thinking of buying that keyboard?
tbh the price is way too high for *any* keyboard, let alone such a flawed one
of course not _(custom 60% PBT blank - is my dream)_ I have a few things from A.L store, which is nice, and I just curios about some other products :P
btw it's now just a regular keyboard, it's a piece of art, project of design studio, statement about yourself as an industrial designer, it's more for advertisement than direct sales, so price point is appropriate ;-)
Стас обзор делал, посмотри.
I remember being really excited when this was first announced... back when it was suppose to be about $200 bucks which at the time was super expensive for a keyboard. $1600 is absurd. This thing failed and they built it anyway just to prove it could be done. They made something everyone would want but no one in their right mind would buy.
Needs a battleship 122 version with buckling springs.
11 PM, some chips, in bed, post-shower.
Keep making the magic work, Thomas!
This’ll be one hell of a watch, and I haven’t even started the video yet.
I want chips :(
This is an ISO only zone, here we use 23:00 instead of 11 PM.
Привет! Thanks for detailed review. This keyboard even got some design award back in 2008. After your video I think that it's all about fancy looking interesting idea and not about active daily usage.
BOI you have such a cool voice
man you could be a speaker in an epic movie trailer
Unbeliavable, being a russian subscriber for over a year, I've ran into this video JUST now!
2:07 I love the honest (actually weird) version numbering of the configurator :D 0.0.0.19
Haha, good catch!
This is what happens when you ship an early pre-alpha build
I remember the hype for these, the huge delays and then the massive price tag. They also did a mini 3 which was like a stream deck kinda deal. Like so many things, it was better as a 3d render.
If the keyboard had xyz pressure control and MIDI 2.0 features considered, with an ability for audio/video/picture editing programs to send video/gifs/updated value widgets etc. with an 8x8 add-on macro keyboard it would be an absolute dream for my productivity in music and video production and photo editing and other technical programs. I would be forced to pay $5,000 for such a setup, although I'm sure the price could come down since this keyboard has been on the market for almost a decade now. Perhaps to make typing easier it would have a mechanical switch to convert the keys from normal key press to pressure mode that could be computer controlled for each key so different presets could do different configurations of typing mode/pressure mode distributed throughout the keyboard.
I lusted after one of these for years - a great idea that sadly fails at being a keyboard...
Mezzanine is a great album, love that little easter egg lol
Slashdot announced this keyboard something like 20 years ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Obviously the sticker price scared me away, and I am glad it did. Thanks for the review.
I got a Stream Deck today and setting it up made me think of this keyboard because it's like the full fleshed out expression of the type of thing this keyboard wanted to be. It's nice that the idea didn't die completely but I don't think it was ever practical on that scale and in that application. As configurable pressable buttons absolutely as keycaps for typing no not so much.
Razer was planning on making a tiny laptop with key screens, the Razer Switchblade. I think even the early Razer Blades had a macro cluster with similar keys.
I wonder if you could put some Kailh low profile switches (specifically, the clickbar ones). I feel like that'd make the keyfeel perhaps... passable.
They wouldn't fit; the keycap mount is different.
I love how much this review reminds me of the mentor of "Dungeon Keeper" in both voice and dialogue.
I watched the whole fucking video in order to listen to your voice for 11 minutes straight.
holy fuck, i honestly thought you were a relaxing person until 8:47, i fucking love you
Perfect now I can make all my Keys Comic Sans.
This is awesome, great video bro!
Thanks mate :D .
Honestly, imagine this thing with decent switches, microLEDs instead of OLEDs(that might be entirely feasible in 5 years) and a better keycap design and you have yourself a keyboard that is actually revolutionary for certain use cases. Those who need lots of macros and/or hotkeys(video editors for example) and people who prefer 40% boards with lots of layers(like you showed at 4:58) over full boards would be very happy with such this. Also, thank you for the cunterifically artistic profanity.
3:00 As a developer, my guess is that the UI probably uses web-technologies, which basically requires an entire embed google chrome browser. Makes it cheaper for a company to develop and make it super "sleek" looking. Open-source linux implementations for things like razer chroma are only like 200KiB, since they use standard desktop UI tech and don't need an entire browser included with them.
I liked that you added in quake icons
"Satan's compressed excrement" Bloody hell. Nearly spat out my drink
taran van helmert from linus tech tips would die for this keyboard.
What you need is comic papyrus on those keycaps.
Merry Christmas by the way, it's been a great year for keyboard reviews.
I love how you insult the imperial system when doing measuring haha
You guys might hate me for saying this, but I think with the advancements in technology and updated and improved version of this would be very very nice.
Massive Attack album art in those pictures! I APPROVE!
I can see this as the ultimate Macro Keyboard for things like Video Editing.
Now that 11 years have passed and OLED displays have become ubiquitous in smartphones and other handheld devices, I wonder if a similar one-screen-per-key keyboard could be brought to market without an eye-watering four-figure price tag attached - maybe with better switches this time around.
I'm amazed and impressed that they got this to market.
that was best Imperial Measurement Joke this year
I think the softwares are hundreds of megabytes because they have drivers for other devices, they have to save the heatmap constantly, also the different animations sets that have to saved and they usually save the old drivers just like geforce.
'Fuck me with a totem pole', that was the best today. 'Jesus Christ doing the mMacarena' is a good second
the transparent key caps are actually pretty nice and yeah 7 mb
This would actually be viable nowadays, with tiny oled screens costing 1$ in bulk
You'd think that small oled panels from when this came out would be cheaper now but these switches are still extremely expensive. The only switch maker that makes these switches that I can find is NKK but the resolution hasnt really improved much since this keyboard came out over 10 years ago. If you think about it, the cost for $1600 keyboard with this many OLED switches at this time should have been extremely expensive and they def didn't make any real profit off these at all. OLED has gotten a lot cheaper and im suprised that companies like Elgato hasnt gotten into OLED keys/switches yet. NKK Has made frameless switches now which makes it probably look a lot nicer but still disappointing that the price per switch is about $75 a piece.
I remember when this came out I got pretty hyped for it. glad i never wasted my time with it lol
You know I would love a keyboard like this in 2021 made with the advancements we have made. I hope it will be the future.
i love your videos. please keep making them
By far the best and most creative conversion to imperial
Is it possible to have an Optimus keyboard on 2021 ?
Are you a fellow Massive Attack fan? Damn, that makes me love you even more.
Yes, I'm a big fan of their work :D .
I remember coming across this while looking up logitech G15v2.
Pretty glad this did not stayed as my end game.
Happy new year
tbh, the oled screens in keycaps isnt a bad idea for editors and etc
That's why Apple did something similar with their touchbar.
@@TuxmanXP yeah, but this is a better implementation. shame the keyboard is a shitsack lol
@@fxckrio It would bore me to watch a video in which chyros is happily typing on a keyboard which he absolutely adores. (It would probably be with ALPS.)
I wonder if you could do a typing demo xl video of this keyboard :P
Happy holidays!
I had no idea this keyboard was actually manufactured.
I imagined this as GB keycaps in future using e-ink for lower power consumption.
nifty for f layers in those ultra compact 40% or maybe lower in future.
@2:48 Oh my god, thank you, Thomas!!! And that's really only half the question of the century (why rgb keyboard software is so bloatet nowadays.) The other half, particularly with respect to Razer, is why the fuck it is so absurdly terrible, and anti-user
I know Corsair's bloat is partially due to the scope of the software: it's expected to handle every single piece of Corsair hardware. In addition to RGB, it's got temperature monitoring, fan and pump control, RAM overclocking, audio equalizers, and a bunch of other crap. When your RGB software also has to handle your liquid cooling loop, bloat happens.
Razer has no excuse, though.
Sooo, a new start-up to fund a new keyboard using OLED keycaps for Function keys (as macros) and normal cherry MX red normal switches for everything else?
I wanted this thing so bad back in the day. I played A LOT of WoW, and this just seemed like the absolute perfect keyboard to go with it. I wish somebody would try this idea again, but done properly, and not outrageously expensive.
I had a Samsung flip phone that featured E-Ink on the keypad and would be able to shift the numbers and key legends depending on phone orientation. There were some instances of it being programmable but it required user unfriendly software.
I remember when this thing was announced, it looked really cool and was supposed to be between $100 and $200. Boy, did they mess up. But I suppose that price was a little unrealistic to begin with.
I think that this could have at least bearable keyfeel if the switches were Kailh low profile. It'd even open up the option of clicky, tactile, or linear. That said, those only came out a year-ish ago, and this board came out in 2007.
Gooooood I remember wanting one of these so badly when I first saw an ad for one in I think EGM when I was like 13. Glad I never pursued that past "oooooh pretty"
Man, I remember when this keyboard was first announced, it was so cool!
You should do a DougScore except for keyboards.
Chyros is basically the Doug Demuro of keyboards at this point
@@brainandforce Chyros >>>> Doug Demuro.
Lol...the album art from 'Mezzanine.' That is so random!
Looks like a massive stream deck
More than sure you don't read comments, but Lebedev studio's designs (about 2000$ for the worst one) is actually made by neural network! This one isn't, I guess, since it's from 2007, but the author clearly was on something
Imagine a bunch of surveillance camera feeds into each of the key screens. Awesome! Bat-o-vision!
One of the coolest keyboards I've ever seen
I bet you could swap out the Cherry ML for Choc switches with some minor tweaks to the stems and have some actually good switches
ive never seen or watched your channel but for some reason i really like your voice