Unicomp SSK... for real this time?

Hypersphere · 03 Apr 2014, 04:10

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

M'er Forever · 03 Apr 2014, 04:12

[Account and posts deleted on request]

M'er Forever · 03 Apr 2014, 04:16

[Account and posts deleted on request]

E TwentyNine · 03 Apr 2014, 04:29

M'er Forever wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 04:31

[Account and posts deleted on request]

Compgeke · 03 Apr 2014, 05:04

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 · 03 Apr 2014, 07:54

Yslen wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 10:08

M'er Forever wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 17:02

Muirium wrote:It did. In 1984…

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

Muirium · 03 Apr 2014, 17:04

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 · 03 Apr 2014, 17:35

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.

snowyBlinds wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 18:06

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 · 03 Apr 2014, 18:13

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

Hypersphere · 03 Apr 2014, 18:22

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 · 03 Apr 2014, 18:27

rjrich wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 18:39

[Account and posts deleted on request]

scottc · 03 Apr 2014, 19:00

matt3o wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 19:30

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 · 03 Apr 2014, 19:32

rjrich wrote: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 · 03 Apr 2014, 20:01

[Account and posts deleted on request]

snowyBlinds · 03 Apr 2014, 20:30

Findecanor wrote: 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 · 03 Apr 2014, 23:21

M'er Forever wrote: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 · 04 Apr 2014, 00:37

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 · 04 Apr 2014, 00:38

7bit wrote: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 · 04 Apr 2014, 00:41

Or just the switches, we do the rest.

scottc · 04 Apr 2014, 00:45

Yes, sounds like a plan!

matt3o · 04 Apr 2014, 00:54

7bit wrote:Or just the switches, we do the rest.

and the PCB...

scottc · 04 Apr 2014, 00:56

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

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

webwit · 04 Apr 2014, 01:09

scottc wrote: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 · 04 Apr 2014, 01:13

scottc wrote: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.