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Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Do I hear the noise of thousands of geek wallets snapping shut? Yes, friends and twinkly loved-ones, Optimus have announced (ahead of schedule, mind) pre-order prices for their 103 screen-key keyboard. After the news that the keys will not, at least at first, be colour, now comes the jaw-dropping revelation that it’ll cost $1,200 come December 12th. The pre-ordered keyboards, limited in number to 103, will be delivered May 2007; they then hope to have a second pre-order phase at the $1000 mark, for delivery in September 2007.
Considering this was introduced as coming in at “similar to the price of a high-end cellphone”, this is a disappointment. Is anybody considering putting in an order? And just what “greater price” will the colour screen keyboard command?
More! More! [Optimus Project Blog]
My tablet pc that I bought in June cost me $1600. A keyboard for $1200? I don’t think so. It’s pretty and I was extremely excited when I first saw this but for that price point, I don’t think so. That’s half of what I paid for my car. And with black and white keys? They can’t even give you color for $1200? Is the color going to be $2000?
I love the concept and I think the whole thing is brilliant but the price point is beyond justification. No, I won’t be ordering one of these until it drops to 1/3rd of that price.
Haha! What idiot is going to pay for something like this when they could be a new computer or two, a couple of next gen consoles, a nice weekend away or a lot of beer?!?
it’s a cool concept but i agree the price is too high, however there is always someone who is willing to shield out big cash for it. it’s niche product, but kind a cool.
It was, of course, inevitable that it would cost so much, especially in a limited run of just 103 to begin with. As Ewdi says, there’ll still be buyers; what’s disappointing is that the hardcore geek tweakers are unlikely to get their hands on them. I was looking forward to seeing what they came up with.
Do we think there’s a market for a combination Optimus/normal keyboard? One with, say, a numeric pad of colour-screen keys and a standard QWERTY keyboard? That would keep the price right down, but allow for more functions than the Optimus Mini with its three large buttons.