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
I may attempt to sell or return it. Not sure yet as I have not opened the box.
Good luck all.
Massdrop offers *terrible* customer service because they can. Where else are you going to buy a WhiteFox or any other MD exclusive? I strongly suspect they give optimistic fulfilment dates to lure in buyers. They also do slimy things like group buys for products, with several months wait, that are available immediately at other retailers at the same or even lower price (ex. Nixeus Moda V2 TKL Mechanical Keyboard, available on Amazon for same price).
Designers like Matt3o have no real alternative to Massdrop. Can you imagine trying to run a GB this big from your house? The reality is Massdrop has us by the short and curlies; things won't change because they have no incentive.
I'm sure Yanbo, Peter, and the rest are nice people. The deception and indifference are likely company policy.
Some good has come from this. It made me reflect, and realize that my keyboard hobby has degraded into rampant consumerism. I'm cutting way back on group buys, and from Massdrop entirely.
Meanwhile I'm enjoying my stopgap board so much, I'm just as likely to cancel @ this point.. I mean, All novelty is gone at this point.. Plus nothing but issues. I've not seen ONE board posted that has good looking keycaps.. Not a damn one.
They really should have done their PR in handling this disaster slightly better.
I'm excited about the keyboard itself, though!