What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
i understand where you're coming from, wanting to purchase a keyset that fits your board 100% but it is near impossible to meet with a keyset this ambitious. the interest check ran for a few months and this topic has been discussed more than a few times, they have already reached a consensus and sacrifices have to be made.
if you refuse to order these keyset, your only other option to get anything close to it would most likely be cheap tai hao knock offs. GL with that.
TLDR: DON'T GET THIS SET EXPECTING TO FIT AN OLD KEYBOARD, YOU BUY A NEW KEYBOARD TO MATCH THIS SET.
As for matching the keys to my "keyboard", that is an incorrect assumption. I am matching the caps to MY personal preference. I touch type ISO-DE and I have been using an HHKB with blanks for a while now, you are misreading my gripe with this.
I keep hearing "not economically feasible" and "europeans cannot reach moq"...but there has been no effort from the organizers to actually gauge the interest. I firmly believe we could reach MOQ on an ISO addon, especially with the speed the drop is filling up. There are already several european vendors, such as Caseking.de or ducky nordic offering specific layout custom keycaps, the demand exists! I am asking the creators to give us a chance to prove it and an attached drop to this would be the perfect opportunity.
Finally, to return to your TLDR....really? I get the focus on "hip" new customs from the far east, but layout is not the issue here. The set as is has all the caps needed to fill my boards, be they my 80s vintage cherries or my GON, Novatouch, jd40 and Phantom. What you meant to say was "DON'T GET THIS SET EXPECTING TO FIT YOUR UNAMERICAN WEIRD COUNTRY LAYOUT, YOU LEARN OUR LAYOUT OR NO CAPS FOR YOU" and I take offense to that.
Yes, no effort to gauge the interest in ISO kits in the broader community. Geekhack is very ANSI-centered as a primarily american community. There are plenty of other places to discuss mechanical keyboards. Also, stop trying to make this personal...attacking me for my opionions really doesn't help anyone.
a while ago, there was this guy who loved making keyboard carrying cases, his name was intelli87. this guy had this crazy idea of organizing a group buy based on his favorite keyboard, TA so he created a post about it. wanting to get the best quality, he opted for GMK. now here's the thing, GMK, known for their quality and not for their options only have limited color palettes to choose from so he suggested that they ask GMK to offer them custom colors to fully match this TA's unique shade of blue/teal and you know what happened? half the people reading the thread ridiculed the idea while the other half was too busy laughing to even make comments. 1000 MOQ! that was what GMK commonly asks for projects like this and that is what intimidates most of the group buy organizers from going this route.
fast forward half a year later, we can actually see the availability of this keyset and what comments do we see? people saying they won't buy this set because the windows key is too ugly, the layout does not offer iso, it is too expensive, it is distributed through massdrop, they wanted the teal alphas as opposed to the blue ones, etc.
if you want a keyset that fully supports you favorite keyboard layout i respect that but i just want you to understand that getting this project off the ground was impossible enough as it is, bro. this is the first time that the almighty GMK actually tried to listen not just to ANSI users but keyboard users in general to actually lower their MOQ for custom colors and now we have people asking this group buy to include everything else but the kitchen sink or they won't support it?
this isn't another ANSI vs ISO debate. this is just the first step (and hopefully not the last) for GMK custom color group buys and getting the base set is pretty much all we could ask them at this point. in hindsight, it's so easy to ask for full ISO support among others now that we can see enough people are starting to show some interests but you have to realize that just a few weeks ago, people were not even expecting this to reach 500 MOQ.
this is not about asking you to not get this set expecting to fit your "unamerican weird country layout" or asking you to learn our layout. it's about giving up a few keys just to support a project that may later on give way to better group buy choices from GMK... or we could all just keep whining about this keyset not catering to our each and every needs and just stick with SP group buys... either one works.
PS: FYI this group buy was delayed for weeks as no one could produce a single authentic TA keycap to send out to GMK as a basis for the color way. it's nice to know that you actually owned several of these said boards.