Our team had a good plan to make 1 keyboard, but to make them at scale we knew we needed a manufacturing partner.
I went to a consumer electronics trade show in Hong Kong and met with a bunch of manufacturers there. From there, I entered China to visit their factories. Toured 7 of them.
It was really interesting seeing how everything works from the inside. Also they were so welcoming. Paid for my meals and drove me everywhere. It was an interesting experience, perhaps I'll write more about it if there's interest in that journey.
I’ve been exploring the idea of visiting China to check out manufacturing partners/see how I could go about manufacturing a physical product in the future (I’ve also visited China a couple times for family reasons and it’s always a blast). I didn’t quite know how I would go about it, so hearing about how you did it is very interesting!
Also the paying for your meals and driving you everywhere sounds like some solid 关系 to me lol
I've had my split keyboard (r-go) for a few weeks now, and I'm already finding some drawbacks. In particular the function keys on the side (AZERTY layout - FR, with keys for copying, pasting, etc., which are to the left of the keys and make me feel out of place when typing).
The cable connecting the two parts is a bit short for my taste (or am I a bit too wide?).
This is my first split keyboard, I chose it because of its layout, I don't want to have to learn a new layout. I can't wait to see how the project progresses.
Have any technical choices already been made? I'm thinking in particular of the availability of several layouts (AZERTY in my case).
> The cable connecting the two parts is a bit short for my taste (or am I a bit too wide?).
Ours will be entirely wireless. You should be able to go as wide as you with our design.
> Have any technical choices already been made? I'm thinking in particular of the availability of several layouts (AZERTY in my case).
Yes we are actually close to a functional prototype with manufacturers. Our first board will use a QWERTY layout similar to any US macbook keyboard.
One of our most important design goals is to make the keyboard easy to use if you switch back and forth between it and your laptop keyboard. There should be no learning curve.
For AZERTY support: We may make the keyboard programmable (although it is low pri). If we do, you would be able to remap the keyboard to your liking if you enjoy the hardware.
Nice article and it's great to see that you're doing passion project outside of your job. Btw, Seems like project is in final phase. new newsletter : )
Thanks Keyul! Actually the project is just getting started. We did a functional prototype but doing it at scale with the manufacturer takes a long time
Need to pay for molds and set up an assembly line that matches the quality bar we expect. Will share more as we go :)
Very very interesting and motivated. I also get a chance to work on outside projects, if I succeed in that. I will share my journey like you. That’s my first outside project.
That would be amazing Anton, thanks for following along! Will share as I go so I can collect feedback from the community, would love to hear your opinion along the way
This keyboard should be different from existing ones, so hopefully the design and product decisions we're making will be interesting to you
I'll share more and more of the product at read.compose.llc as we go. Our industrial designer came up with an interesting tenting mechanism I haven't seen anywhere else
Lets go!!
Awesome project! Looking forward to following along.
What kind of things did you do in China to learn about manufacturing?
Our team had a good plan to make 1 keyboard, but to make them at scale we knew we needed a manufacturing partner.
I went to a consumer electronics trade show in Hong Kong and met with a bunch of manufacturers there. From there, I entered China to visit their factories. Toured 7 of them.
It was really interesting seeing how everything works from the inside. Also they were so welcoming. Paid for my meals and drove me everywhere. It was an interesting experience, perhaps I'll write more about it if there's interest in that journey.
I’ve been exploring the idea of visiting China to check out manufacturing partners/see how I could go about manufacturing a physical product in the future (I’ve also visited China a couple times for family reasons and it’s always a blast). I didn’t quite know how I would go about it, so hearing about how you did it is very interesting!
Also the paying for your meals and driving you everywhere sounds like some solid 关系 to me lol
I've had my split keyboard (r-go) for a few weeks now, and I'm already finding some drawbacks. In particular the function keys on the side (AZERTY layout - FR, with keys for copying, pasting, etc., which are to the left of the keys and make me feel out of place when typing).
The cable connecting the two parts is a bit short for my taste (or am I a bit too wide?).
This is my first split keyboard, I chose it because of its layout, I don't want to have to learn a new layout. I can't wait to see how the project progresses.
Have any technical choices already been made? I'm thinking in particular of the availability of several layouts (AZERTY in my case).
> The cable connecting the two parts is a bit short for my taste (or am I a bit too wide?).
Ours will be entirely wireless. You should be able to go as wide as you with our design.
> Have any technical choices already been made? I'm thinking in particular of the availability of several layouts (AZERTY in my case).
Yes we are actually close to a functional prototype with manufacturers. Our first board will use a QWERTY layout similar to any US macbook keyboard.
One of our most important design goals is to make the keyboard easy to use if you switch back and forth between it and your laptop keyboard. There should be no learning curve.
For AZERTY support: We may make the keyboard programmable (although it is low pri). If we do, you would be able to remap the keyboard to your liking if you enjoy the hardware.
Consider this an official request for hot-swappable switches!! <3
I've been looking for an alternative to the Kinesis myself. The wrist pads wear out. Hope this is the next one for me
Wishing you lots of luck and I cheer for you !
Thanks Prem! I have the same problem with my Kinesis. Gets dirty so quickly and isn't easy to clean
We're going to solve that problem in our keyboard. I want the palm pads to be removable so its easy to replace them if needed
Nice article and it's great to see that you're doing passion project outside of your job. Btw, Seems like project is in final phase. new newsletter : )
Thanks Keyul! Actually the project is just getting started. We did a functional prototype but doing it at scale with the manufacturer takes a long time
Need to pay for molds and set up an assembly line that matches the quality bar we expect. Will share more as we go :)
Very very interesting and motivated. I also get a chance to work on outside projects, if I succeed in that. I will share my journey like you. That’s my first outside project.
Awesome article Ryan! Can't wait to snag one of these when you launch!!!
Thank you Kevin, I'm definitely going to save one for you :)
Loved the project, subscribed! Would definitely give it a try once you have it available for sale.
That would be amazing Anton, thanks for following along! Will share as I go so I can collect feedback from the community, would love to hear your opinion along the way
That's interesting
As a nvim user I'm always interested in keyboards 😁
This keyboard should be different from existing ones, so hopefully the design and product decisions we're making will be interesting to you
I'll share more and more of the product at read.compose.llc as we go. Our industrial designer came up with an interesting tenting mechanism I haven't seen anywhere else