Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
The idea is a keyboard without keycaps or switches, shipped in a plain cardboard box.
Also don't require folks to buy switches in a buy - but do offer them. I'd be very interested in something like this with options to buy Kailh/Gateron/Greetech Blues.
Think of it as something super cheap to experiment with and let people mess with soldering yet not having to deal with firmware issues/programming.
Look at the Analog synthesizer market. There are quite a few models now that you can buy preassembled at the factory or comes in kit form.
If MD wants to do more switch / case / keycap group buys this hypothetical kit would be an excellent vehicle for those other items.
It could wrangle in more sales by those who are too nervous with having to deal with firmware software or prefer a standard 80% layout to the 60%/Infinity.