Made some design updates based on feedback I received from a couple fellow keyboard designers and I just received the first two prototypes this week. Super happy with how they turned out.
I am curious about the layout. Why is it like this?
Not OP. I guess that it is for someone missing a finger on their left hand
My friend always says my Vault 35 doesn’t have enough keys so I made this layout on Keyboard Layout Editor as a joke and then he said I should make it a real keyboard and then I posted it on the 40s discord and they said I should make it a real keyboard and next thing I knew I was making 3d printed prototypes and shopping for manufacturers.
Oh no!
Damn it, why do I want it so bad??
Looks funny and elegant, but typing appears to be a nightmare on this layout.
It’s very ergonomic, I swear.
The joke of this board is that the “QAZ” layout is not uncommon in “40%” and smaller keyboard, but leaves the user with extra keycaps. Most folks who would try using this board would configure it so that “Esc,” “Tab,”, and left “Shift” do Q, A, and Z respectively. The whimsical keys on the right would be for macros, navigation, or whatever the individual prefers, though IIRC @cloffwrangler@lemmy.world tried it with them mapped to the letters, like the mad lad he is. :-)
Haha you are correct, I have used it with QAZ on the right side.
No numbers, important keys shoved out of reach… OP expects you to bind OTHER IMPORTANT KEYS LIKE ESC/TAB/SHIFT TO BE BOUND TO Q in order to function…
Might as well just grab a macropad at this point. You’ll almost never use the keys for one thing anyways and you’ll be doing Ctrl+/Fn+ combos constantly(except you don’t even have those buttons, so what are you making combos out of anyways?).
I wouldn’t even use this for an emulator. WASD is completely borked and the buttons you’d bind them to instead would then be lost as well and those need to be rebound too. A controller is more useful than this ever would be.
Does this mean you won’t be joining the GB?
How would you even type a “?” with that keyboard. No, I would not use a keyboard that was missing all numbers, 90% of symbols and threw 3 of the keys haphazardly to the side.
This is a joke at best and mostly just waste. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. It’s junk like this that makes the alternate keyboard community look like a bunch of schizos. “Why would I use something that works when I can remove tons of functionality to be cutesy?”.
Hard pass.
Chords and layers, my guy. Much in the same way you type a capital letter with a combination of two keys (shift + letter), people using smaller keyboards do the same thing for any key you deem “missing”, just with more keys being pressed. There’s even functionality where each key behaves differently depending on whether you tap or hold it.
Technically, you can have only 10 keys (one for each digit on your hands) and still get 2^10 = 1024 unique actions! Forget letters; you can have have whole words encoded in those keys, and voila ~ that’s basically stenography!
If you don’t like it, that’s okay! I’d never be able to use one myself either, but the people who can use it do like it; and besides, it’s all good fun to see what people can do with these layouts.
I still wonder how anyone would remember and adjust to all these key combos, since there are no labels for them.
I imagine having to look up each character on a large A2 poster.
The same way creative professionals learn keyboard shortcuts for software like Blender, Photoshop, or Premier: practice.
It seems daunting, but honestly it’s not that difficult to adjust to using layers or chords on a smaller keyboard, especially when you can assign all those inputs to any key combo you want.
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Why QAZ? Aren’t your brain looks for those keys on the left side?
I always found the idea of small keyboards peculiar; I always wanted MORE keys. Could you explain the idea?
The QAZ keys on the right is a joke. This keyboard layout is called a QAZ/35% layout, where the Q, A, and Z keys are gone. The Esc, Tab, and Shift keys on the left side default to typing Q, A, and Z respectively, with further keys hidden behind chords and layers.
I believe OP is making this keyboard as a response to someone’s reaction to the QAZ board, right here on Lemmy.
To answer your question, many people prefer smaller keyboards mainly because 1. they’re gamers and want more space for their mouse, and 2. smaller keyboards minimize hand movements and therefore are more ergonomic.
Smaller keyboards are also more easy to take with you!
I first got into 40s because I wanted more free desk space and then I moved to a 35%. My friend always said my 35 didn’t have enough keys so I designed this layout as a joke but enough people liked it that I decided to actually make it.
In my default layout, QAZ are mapped to Esc, Tab, Shift and I use the keys on the right for macros.
so insane
Do you actually use this keyboard, or is it just for show? Genuine question, btw.
It’s my daily driver. I was using the original prototype up until this one was delivered. Same layout, just a slightly different case design.
Man, you are a different breed then. I’d probably die of stress if my keyboard was this small. 😂
It’s not for everyone but you do get used to it surprisingly fast.
Definitely not for me and never will be, but I 100% understand and will never judge you. As long as you’re happy with it. This is like Linux for me, it is not for everyone but it makes me happy :)
Haha totally understand!
the group buy for a 173% keyboard is still open …
Man, if not for the tiny space frame keys and the 80s grain keycap texture I’d buy this in a hearbeat.
Holy shit, that’s a massive keyboard. I’m a 96% guy. This the one I have. I replaced the key caps with keychron’s high profile KSA, the switches with baby kangaroo and taped the board and put extra foam in there. It now sounds fantastic. I’ll keep it until it falls apart.
I absolutely don’t need (nor can I afford) another QAZ but this is just too good and I must have it 🤤
WERTY layout???
Oh, this chonky boy is gorgeous ! I especially love the QAZ placement.
Thank you!
