It's a shame that trackpoints never caught on outside of the thinkpad crowd. I rarely see them get used for custom keyboards, even though they are IMO the perfect fit for a use case like this.
You can already find Corne-inspired keyboards with these features, but up until the introduction of this Toucan design, you couldn't find a Corne keyboard with all those features together.
I get that it's fully programmable, but can someone explain how you type numbers and the symbols that are on number keys on this keyboard? I didn't see any keycaps for them, and couldn't find any docs on where the symbols live.
EDIT ADDED: I'm guessing maybe there is a control that causes other symbols to become visible on the keycaps, replacing the default A-Z symbols, and they never show those alternate symbols in the photos because we're supposed to know it does that.
Why? Well, I really admire Jonas Heitala's documentation of his journey to find a layout that fit his aesthetic: https://www.jonashietala.se/blog/2023/11/02/i_designed_my_ow... . My layout isn't as extreme, it's still qwerty-ish, but I've been heavily inspired by his thorough analysis.
Some examples of how this can be accomplished:
- double tap some key
- hold some key
- layers (tapping a particular key changes what all keys do)
- holding multiple keys (combo)
It’s programmable so you can change what key interactions cause a certain output.
I feel like there should be a sign on the home page saying "you have to be at least this (arrow pointing at a height) cool to buy this keyboard"
If you don't already know how this kind of keyboard works, we don't care about you and won't bother explaining it to you because you're obviously not worth selling to if you don't already know how a programmable 42 key keyboard works.
You have to pick keycaps, and switches, and maybe buy extra keycaps for some reason. We're not going to tell you why extra keycaps are important or useful, but you should probably buy them anyway for some reason.
I'm pretty sure they would have sold me at least one keyboard, maybe several, if they'd bothered to put even 5 minutes thought into non-keyboard-hipster customers, but I'm clearly not cool enough with my multiple kinesis keyboards, chording keyboards, and mechanical keyboards.
I'm not a keyboard hipster, I'm just a guy who had RSI and doesn't want it again. People like me do actually buy keyboards.
Super minimal finger travel. I have a 34-key layout personally, and while I give up the F-keys, everything else is not very difficult to access and I really love how little my fingers move.
Having tried a few, I think the Kinesis contoured keyboards are a sweet spot. Plenty of keys, but finger movement feels really close. Keep coming back to my old Kinesis Advantages or similar custom builds.
I started building Dactyl and got bored very quickly, then went back to my Logitech Ergo K860. K860 is $40-50 brand-new (classic eBay auctions), and I got the MX Ergo Plus mouse next to it. This is a proper working combo. I have 20+ keyboards collecting dust in my wardrobe, and this combo was the only one to win. All under $150 combined. I also got razer wireless control hub to make sound control easier ($50).
TLDR; these small split keyboards are so expensive. $190-500 range. Weird.
It's a shame that trackpoints never caught on outside of the thinkpad crowd. I rarely see them get used for custom keyboards, even though they are IMO the perfect fit for a use case like this.
I wonder whether the modern ThinkPad enthusiasts are actually only TrackPoint enthusiasts.
(Previously, the keyboard, durability, and repairability were also ThinkPad selling points for enthusiasts.)
You can already find Corne-inspired keyboards with these features, but up until the introduction of this Toucan design, you couldn't find a Corne keyboard with all those features together.
- Wireless
- Integrated pointing device
- Aligned 1u thumb keys
- E-ink screen
- Aluminium plate
- Below $200
I'm interested for sure. Thanks for sharing.
I get that it's fully programmable, but can someone explain how you type numbers and the symbols that are on number keys on this keyboard? I didn't see any keycaps for them, and couldn't find any docs on where the symbols live.
EDIT ADDED: I'm guessing maybe there is a control that causes other symbols to become visible on the keycaps, replacing the default A-Z symbols, and they never show those alternate symbols in the photos because we're supposed to know it does that.
Many keyboards use the qmk firmware these days, qmk.fm, which can be programmed with the Vial configurator, get.vial.today .
Here's one typical qwerty-ish layout for 42 keys: https://mark.stosberg.com/markstos-corne-3x5-1-keyboard-layo...
And for something more weird but still fully featured, Miryoku is a fairly common micro-keyboard layout, https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku .
Why? Well, I really admire Jonas Heitala's documentation of his journey to find a layout that fit his aesthetic: https://www.jonashietala.se/blog/2023/11/02/i_designed_my_ow... . My layout isn't as extreme, it's still qwerty-ish, but I've been heavily inspired by his thorough analysis.
Some examples of how this can be accomplished: - double tap some key - hold some key - layers (tapping a particular key changes what all keys do) - holding multiple keys (combo)
It’s programmable so you can change what key interactions cause a certain output.
I feel like there should be a sign on the home page saying "you have to be at least this (arrow pointing at a height) cool to buy this keyboard"
If you don't already know how this kind of keyboard works, we don't care about you and won't bother explaining it to you because you're obviously not worth selling to if you don't already know how a programmable 42 key keyboard works.
You have to pick keycaps, and switches, and maybe buy extra keycaps for some reason. We're not going to tell you why extra keycaps are important or useful, but you should probably buy them anyway for some reason.
I'm pretty sure they would have sold me at least one keyboard, maybe several, if they'd bothered to put even 5 minutes thought into non-keyboard-hipster customers, but I'm clearly not cool enough with my multiple kinesis keyboards, chording keyboards, and mechanical keyboards.
I'm not a keyboard hipster, I'm just a guy who had RSI and doesn't want it again. People like me do actually buy keyboards.
The key cap legends don’t change. You need to touch type to use it.
How do people find these trackpads? I’ve seen them or at least similar in the Kyria at al keyboards[0] and am intrigued but suspicious too.
[0] https://splitkb.com/collections/keyboard-kits
Love the innovation. Relatively happy with my Lily 58 with the exception of the case. Switches keep popping out of the edges.
> 42 keys
It is a nice looking keyboard but do people find value in such minimal layouts?
Super minimal finger travel. I have a 34-key layout personally, and while I give up the F-keys, everything else is not very difficult to access and I really love how little my fingers move.
Having tried a few, I think the Kinesis contoured keyboards are a sweet spot. Plenty of keys, but finger movement feels really close. Keep coming back to my old Kinesis Advantages or similar custom builds.
I started building Dactyl and got bored very quickly, then went back to my Logitech Ergo K860. K860 is $40-50 brand-new (classic eBay auctions), and I got the MX Ergo Plus mouse next to it. This is a proper working combo. I have 20+ keyboards collecting dust in my wardrobe, and this combo was the only one to win. All under $150 combined. I also got razer wireless control hub to make sound control easier ($50).
TLDR; these small split keyboards are so expensive. $190-500 range. Weird.