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
If a keyboard doesn't include switches and keycaps, then please don't use photos like this to depict the product. Doing so only presents an opportunity for shoppers to misunderstand what they're buying. If you show us a keyboard kit that doesn't come with switches or keycaps, I assure you we can handle the task of imagining what it would look like with switches and keycaps. I just had a pointless 30-minute chat with a friend about buying this kit, which ended disappointingly when we read into the details.
Additionally, it's not really a Mechanical Keyboard Kit if the mechanical components aren't included - it's a PCB and Case Kit.
A better job can be done of presenting all of this to us, do you not agree? Thank you, and keep up the good work. :)
I dislike taking walks similar to this a couple times a week, and I'm confident that I'm not alone:
1) Get an email with a drop announcement for a keyboard kit, clearly depicting switches and keycaps. Very interesting. Click the link to view it.
2) Land on the drop, again showing a completed keyboard. It's $99.00. Cool, I'll take one.
3) Wait a minute. It's $15 for switches and $20 for caps. Another $35 is necessary to get the product depicted in the email and on the drop.
Now, who here breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that they'll have to spend more money to get switches and caps? Hmm? This too closely resembles bait and switch to let slide without a comment.
The better marketing technique would be this: Same email, same product image, same front page, but different price - $134.99. And if I want to, I could choose to pass on the switches and caps altogether, and get just the PCB, case, etc. for $99.00.
Do you see how in the end of those two examples we end up with the same product(s) for the same price, but nevertheless one feels like a good deal while the other feels dishonest? Sticker shock should be a positive experience, not a negative one. And no one should feel like they've been baited into arrangement X, only to have it switched to arrangement Y.
Have you ever bought a car? They don't advertise the price of the top model fully loaded. They advertise the base model that no one buys. Heck, they try NOT to tell you the price at all. "We can put you in that car for $439 per month, how's that sound?" This is the same thing. And in this case you stated that this is the Massdrop norm, so you should be conditioned to it.
I do agree that advertising a fully loaded price would be a more upfront approach. But I don't agree it'd be a better marketing technique. In marketing you want to drive demand. The same reason why when they advertise the Mustang it's the "starting at" price for a 4-banger with the GT model shown. The problem Massdrop has is that not everyone wants the fully loaded kit. And so, if they see the $135 price, they may be put off and leave without purchasing. The advertisement in the email doesn't include a price at all, so bait and switch doesn't apply.
Perhaps I'm biased as I don't want a "full" kit as I already have some b-e-a-utiful zealios 67g switches just waiting to be used. And I have a caps ready to go too.
I can't agree with the relevancy of your car sales analogy; that's an entirely different and more complicated transaction, and I think your argument teeters on fallacy when you liken it to the subject of my comments - especially when no one here needs to discuss auto sales to understand keyboard purchasing. We're all well versed in the latter.
I also disagree with any rationale suggesting that I, indeed anyone in the community, should be conditioned to the sort of gotcha pricing that I'm pointing out. To claim otherwise would very much resemble blaming the victim; as though I'm the one in the wrong for speaking up against price obfuscation? No sir.
I do agree with your admission of possible bias though. I think it's much easier for you to blame me for my expectations, than it is for you to put yourself in my position and consider my comments as someone who does want a "full" kit and who, upon seeing a complete keyboard next to $99, expects a complete keyboard for $99.
I'm not asking for anything radical or unheard of, and my suggestions echo the fundamentals of marketing and retail merchandising. And while I appreciate you jumping in to discuss this with me, I don't understand what it is you believe you're arguing for, or what you believe you're contributing to this discourse... other than just to be argumentative for the hell of it. *shrug* Whatever the case, I'll leave you to it. Thanks for sharing.
There's no description on the email newsletters, and no reason to think that the product - should you choose to click on it - is going to be something other than what's pictured right there in the email. If you're psychic, sure maybe you could infer that, but everyone else is within reason to expect what's pictured. This, combined with the on-site switch to different pricing, is what I take issue with - the two, collectively.
Again, product descriptions aren't the issue nor are they relevant to the discussion. We all see the product description, but only after we're led to believe that the product is something else.
To all: I hope you can follow my argument and understand my reason for raising these issues, because I don't wish to belabor the point of that argument by continually breaking it down into smaller bites for everyone who wants to chime in. Sorry. It's tiring and I just straight up have other shit to do. Good luck all.
Victim blaming? You're a victim? Of what? Using a site you're not forced to use? They have very few Massdrop exclusives and this isn't one of them.
Fundamentally, I stand by the fact that the product is exactly as stated/shown.