Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

Some update here;

in the process of making/designing a few complete protos with all components. these will have 3d printed keypad (draw symbols with sharpy) and all other components in place. hopefully in a few weeks these will be done.

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keypad production seems harder than it is... for an acceptable quality keypad, the tooling costs are extremely high. would need to make few million to get the price per piece down.

alternatives:
1. quit
2. go for silicone keypad slab (like the one in rev1)
3. go for 3d printed keypads (use sharpy to draw symbols)

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i am running a bit low on 'dough', so that also slows down developments. if you feel the urge to support, order some awesome stuff from my site. i will put it to good use!

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

1. hope not
2. I don't think that's what people wanted
3. I think you might lose your mind, etching by hand, and it might not look great

I assume the cost would push it above the €120 mark previously mentioned?

Why not set up an indiegogo? Not for the finished product, but to finish production, and people pledging a certain amount get a % discount on the final product? If this was less than successful, it would probably be an indicator that proceeding with the project would likely result in losses due to poor sales / lack of interest.

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

How much of a donation would you need to speed things up? I'd be happy to donate a whole lot of money to you :)

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

Nooo not the end! :(

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

it would mean you would get a blank keyboard (white) and everyone draws own symbols. if i would go for this option, then all parts are accounted for and pre-orders can open. but my mind cringes from the idea of doing it this way.

Going for professional keypad, yes. Probably an order of magnitude higher. ;)

Maybe, but those guys also take a few percent and I don't like the idea if doing this before the design is complete and I am confident about the production of all parts.

I don't know. The thing is that i *think* that when I open pre-orders, there will be enough demand for me to be able to start ordering all parts etc. But again, all parts must be accounted for in terms of production, otherwise it is complete BS to start buying expensive stuff.

Unless of course you have enough to spare to put an engineering team together to produce a Nokia/BB quality level product.


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This is a very weird stage of development to be in.

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

Whilst I guess it's not a very likely outcome, maybe you could speak to Jolla about them licensing your basic design and they could take care of production. It would remove your financial constraints and allow for a high quality KB (hopefully), allow for much easier localisation and perhaps importantly for them, offer a convenient way to save face from the disaster that TOH has been so far.

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

I wouldn't say it's a disaster. In fact, it opened up all sorts of talents within the community. Aside from Dirk's funky colors, we've had a TOHLED, SolarJolla and Shapeways crazy stuff so far. I really like the community spirit that went into these TOH's :)

@Dirk: Well, I could help cover (part of) your costs that are needed to get things rolling if it saves me a spot on the pre-order list (because I really want TOHKBD rev2 and don't wanna miss out on it!) :) Let me know, maybe we can work out something :)

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

Hi, dirkvl.

can you use the same material as N900's keyboard?

and, please don't quit, you have come so far on this project. I really in need of physical keyboard for my Jolla

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

Yes! (:

Re: TOHKBD rev2
 

At least this way it would be easy to get a QWERTZ / AZERTY / DVORAK / Whatever sort of weird keyboard, as long as you can set up the keyboard layout in software.


Only problem - if I start painting the letters on my keyboard myself, it will look very unique, but NOT very professional...