What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
I'm still under the opinion that the extra options really need to be placed in a separate set. If it can't reach MOQ on its own, it has no place being forced onto others. ANSI, WKL, and ISO are the most common keyboards by a mile.
The box itself wasn't particularly good looking - it was (like the NES and PS1, before and after it) bland and intended to be inoffensive, during an era when video games in general, and Nintendo in particular, were trying hard to escape demonization and become a legitimate family activity.
And, for me, at GMK prices, it has to be a keyset I'll actually use every day, not something I'll keep on a backup board I don't often pull out. If it doesn't have a really good look, I'm not willing to pay that high price tag. If it had the color combinations we see in the popular SA sets, I'd jump all over it. 1976, Pulse, Nuclear, Dasher/Dancer, Electric, etc - those are pretty sets. SA is a well-liked profile, but it's the colors that are drawing people to those sets - I mean, I would bet that less than a third of the buyers of the SA drops have actually used an SA set irl. Profile aside, those sets look great. And SNES isn't particularly pretty. (I know this is an aesthetic thing which can be a matter of opinion, but this is my reading of the GMK drop failures.)
This set is similar - it doesn't catch the eye; the only appeal, really, is GMK's reputation. As far as design is concerned, simple and bold are all the rage these days; this set is both busy and bland at the same time. I'm really looking forward to a GMK set with a really nice looking color combination.
(A note to all you keycap designers: email GMK! Signature Plastics takes ages and can't keep a deadline. It might be time for them to see that there's legitimate competition.)
Colorway preferences are really just that - preference. I think 1976, Pulse, Nuclear, and a lot of those colorways are more like something I'd have as a decoration as opposed to something I use on a day-to-day basis. Meanwhile, my GMK sets are used everyday. Again, a big thing these all have in common are that those sets are significantly cheaper than GMK sets.
One of the big problems that happened recently with GMK sets, specifically on Massdrop, was the handling of the Triumph Adler drop. It was pretty famous for having keys with colors that weren't fully mixed due to being one of the first GMK sets with custom colors and the shipping problems from GMK and Massdrop causing a ton of scratched and lost keycaps. This is probably a sore point to a lot of people who received their sets.
I think this set is eye-catching and one of the more 'colorful' sets I've gotten behind (this and SNES). It kind of makes sense that these are harder to get behind than the SP-produced sets considering the stark difference in price though. If the price points were exactly the same, I think that GMK sets would be just as popular, if not more so, than some of the SP sets considering the reputation that GMK has. Sucks for those of us that enjoy them though.