Unicomp SSK... for real this time?

[Hypersphere]

T.S. Eliot was right about one thing: April is the cruellest month.

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[E TwentyNine]

P.S. Reluctantly rejoined GH (as "1avid_collector") at several members' request. Made some innocent-enough posts -- or so I thought. Got perma-banned. Weird.

WHAT? What makes you think you're banned?

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[Compgeke]

Oh don't worry, geekhack bans everyone. Unlike most sites there isn't a process for bans, just giving mods free will to do as they wish as far as I know.

If I were them I would personally make a poll system for mods to use before banning or issue temp bans first, permabans just makes you look like a dick.

[Grond]

What's the best way to communicate our preference to Unicomp? Some sort of poll, and hand them a % for each of the two designs?

I say let's make a poll and then mail them the results.

[JBert]

P.S. Reluctantly rejoined GH (as "1avid_collector") at several members' request. Made some innocent-enough posts -- or so I thought. Got perma-banned. Weird.

You didn't have a proxy set by any chance? Since people were abusing those to bypass IP-bans, some kind of mechanism was put in place to ban anyone using a proxy.

[rindorbrot]

It did. In 1984…

But it is from 1982! It kinda looks familiar, too

[Muirium]

1982? You've got yourself an early one there Rindorbrot! I proxied four of them, which were either 1984 or 1986 dated. Mine is the late version.

[Findecanor]

I also much prefer regular TKL over anything else, but with right Alt under the period key like on Realforce and HHKB.
If it is going to be any smaller than TKL, make the nav cluster 2×3 instead of 3×2 and lose the space between them and the Enter key.

Except group End/Home together instead of having Pg Up/Pg Dwn in between them.

Home/PgUp/PgDn/End is the most established convention for when those keys are in a column.

[Muirium]

Good to see you back in the open again, Emmer. Given the confusion already about what was fool and what was the real article, I get the impression that working with Unicomp is a touch chaotic. They're an interesting wee company, and ever since I discovered SSKs I've been banging on about how they absolutely ought to get in on the demand for TKLs and smaller. It's the potential big hit that they really need. So you've done something vital: you've gotten the message through to them and the ball is rolling. At last!

Next, it would be fantastic if someone in the company could join in over here and talk with us about the project. We're a pleasant enough bunch, and more technical than Unicomp itself might expect. For starters: I'm very interested to know what they're prepared to change about the barrel plate. Can we trim a row, or should we concentrate on a narrower design with the same height as before? Can we consider nontraditional sizes of caps — like 5 unit space bar or 1.75u right shift — or should we try to work with what's currently available? And then of course there is the case, where you put most your work. What's possible there? What contributions can we make?

Unicomp has everything to gain from talking things through with its fans here at DT. Forum discussion is more effective than dealing with us all directly through email feedback too.

Thanks for getting us to the beginning of the good stuff, M.

[matt3o]

I agree with everything Muirium said... apart from the pleasant bunch of course. We are just like a finger in the anus.

[Hypersphere]

I emailed Unicomp this morning to ask about the project and how to provide feedback. I mentioned that the Deskthority forum was engaged in discussions. To their credit, they replied right away, but they simply said, "The purpose of our disclosure was to solicit comments. Please send your comments to M83@unicomp.com."

[matt3o]

I emailed Unicomp this morning to ask about the project and how to provide feedback. I mentioned that the Deskthority forum was engaged in discussions. To their credit, they replied right away, but they simply said, "The purpose of our disclosure was to solicit comments. Please send your comments to M83@unicomp.com."

comments they'll get!

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[scottc]

I agree with everything Muirium said... apart from the pleasant bunch of course. We are just like a finger in the anus.

Well let's just hope that Unicomp are into that because we're not going away!

[Muirium]

Emmer: GH has a thing for bans. It's one of the reasons why, if you check my account over there (same username) I'm yet to make a single post. I much prefer the culture over here. At DT: what you see is what you get. You've been on the sharp end of an argument over here too, and we just do it all in public. DT bans are extremely rare. Many orders of magnitude less than GH ones!

Re: TKL and 60%, Unicomp's a small outfit. I think they ought to aim their energies on a great job with the TKL first and see how it goes. More ambitious projects can wait to be informed by the first one. And paid for, too!

A new SSK is their sure ticket to new relevance.

[E TwentyNine]

I emailed Unicomp this morning to ask about the project and how to provide feedback. I mentioned that the Deskthority forum was engaged in discussions. To their credit, they replied right away, but they simply said, "The purpose of our disclosure was to solicit comments. Please send your comments to M83@unicomp.com."

That's a HORRIBLE way to go about things.

They have a dedicated subforum on GH, a few threads talking about this announcement there as well, and threads here.

If you were building a new product and trying to please the widest market possible, would you want single mailed responses from individuals, or an open discussion on public boards (they could go stick their head in over at reddit as well) where people can see others' comments and evolve ideas on what would be best?

Hope this doesn't fall the way of the Red Alerts.

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[snowyBlinds]

Home/PgUp/PgDn/End is the most established convention for when those keys are in a column.

I know... but a man can dream, right?

[acfrazier]

I figure it's only a matter of time before I'm banned here too. It never ceases to amaze me how good intentions are so often mistaken for bad.

I would like to hope that we're a bit more democratic, but based on my limited experience of your contributions to the community, I can safely say that shouldn't be a concern here.

I do hope to see you on IRC, if you roll that way.

[7bit]

Ideally, they should do an exact copy of the SSK in industrial grey with silver on black square metal IBM logo!


While they are producing those SSK cases, they can also run a batch for the 122 key keyboard cases in industrial grey.

[scottc]

Ideally, they should do an exact copy of the SSK in industrial grey with silver on black square metal IBM logo!

Or in aluminium...

[7bit]

Or just the switches, we do the rest.

[scottc]

Yes, sounds like a plan!

[matt3o]

Or just the switches, we do the rest.

and the PCB...

[scottc]

What if they could make discrete buckling spring switches..?

And then we could make a 60% BS keyboard...

[webwit]

What if they could make discrete buckling spring switches..?

The Brother switch keeps popping up these days. (Although if you read the details, not quite)

[E TwentyNine]

What if they could make discrete buckling spring switches..?

And then we could make a 60% BS keyboard...

They should make a discrete buckling spring switch that has the same mounting characteristics as a Cherry switch and just sell that for starters.