Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
But presumably the tooling will be used for many keycap sets in the future, and therefore this up-front cost should be treated as a long-term investment. Not as a one-time expense to be financed by early adopters.
Massdrop is not a pro-bono, they are not rightfully taking the risk to create a completely new set. Like I said, let's make it to 1000 and all this won't matter.
Love your work Mito. You make amazing stuff. Side note - I wrote you an email with a request and did not hear back from you. If the response is "no", that is totally cool. Just let me know!
That's the only minor ask I would have.
Also, I think I may pick up two sets and I can vomit on one of them and take a straw poll as to which is better for science if ya want. Lemme know! Seriously though, really great work here!
I know this is really hard to answer, but do you think there's a chance there will be a round 2? Do you know how MD decides if it's worth doing a round 2 for a set of very custom caps like this one?
I'm still totally in for a Base Set, Extras, and Ortho.
Thanks for the hard work!
Obviously, if you are Apple and sells millions, that cost becomes insignicant, but there is always a min because new molds are required after a certain qty. They don’t last forever.
The only difference here is that GB format predetermines that qty with certainty. You are given the info henceforth to make a decision whether to buy, or not to buy. But you are not made a sucker or victim by any means.
I too want to buy this set at much lower price, albeit what I just wrote. But all those involved need to make a living, too. Or else, where is the incentive?
Hope we make it to 1000. Like ‘Mito’ says... I mean Matt3o. 😅
I'm really curious on the much-praised MT3 profile as I didn't join /dev/tty MT3 for a variety of reasons¹. So I'm really glad about the new MT3 key cap set is with dark and warm colors and colorful legends. Hence I also don't mind the price tag. :-)
Of course PBT would have been nicer, but while PBT double-shot is possible (or at least tried), it's still seldom, because even more work than ABS double-shot. And at least for it's clear that the prices would have been much higher and hence the chance to hit the MOQ much lower if PBT double-shot would have been tried.
I also like the fact that your key caps sets always have a new and original colorway, not something we have already seen. So please continue to do so. :-)
¹) Didn't join /dev/tty mostly because I like either orange or dark alphas, and I would have had to get both novelty sets because I wanted the dark orange key caps from the Triumph novelties but with the beige novelties as turquoise key caps don't fit into any of my common color schemes.
> Prices go down graduately once the initial cost is recovered.
So unless (1) I absolutely love the design or (2) I have a lot of faith in the vendor (e.g. both true in the case of GMK space cadet) then I have no incentive to finance the development of new tooling. From a game theory point of view, it just makes more sense to wait for R2.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I think that one way that Massdrop could incentivize our investment in R1 tooling would be a guaranteed nominal discount on future drops that use the same tooling. Maybe 10-15% off. And limit that discount to one complete set of keycaps, to avoid enabling flippers. It's a small gesture, but I think it would go a long way toward encouraging folks to join R1 drops, and to dull the disappointment associated with inevitable R1 QC issues.
Regarding being a sucker or victim: After learning more about R1 /dev/tty over the last couple days, I do think that those guys kind of got screwed. And there was a recent R1 knife drop that involved a totally new product developed by Massdrop-- I can say that many of us felt we didn't get the knife that was promised, and the drama and anger was intense.
I've signed up for the base and extras, and I love this colorway. Thanks for doing something sober like the gruvbox scheme instead of some really loud scheme. Love the accents too !
I actually looked in to picking up a set during the Massdrop Keycap-Recap a couple weeks ago. However, to cover an MX-HHKB layout (like a Tokyo60), I think it required three kits: base, WKL, and extra mods (or maybe it was base, mods, extra mods and 7U space, IDK) and it was more than I wanted to spend. Additionally, the recap also was selling `/dev/tty0` (round 1) which I read had some QC issues. These base set for this drop covers the layouts I want to use it on and seems to be popular enough to maybe even bring that drip down to $100 USD.
Concerning the R1 dev/tty, yes, there were quality issues like my Colemak layout coming with a different font weight. It took a couple more months for the replacements to arrive, but in the end, the issue was fixed, and I never regretted buying it.