New Cherry MX keyboards for the A500, A600 and A1200

[pgovotsos]

Originally Posted by Daishi

what was the most annoying was the lack of any communication from AOTL (seems to be a trend with them)

It does, doesn't it? I've emailed Aaron a couple of times with no response. It's frustrating!

[multivac]

Any news on a UK / European supplier for the Cherry MX keyboard solution? Communication has gone silent and I would like a brand new keyboard please. I am ready to submit a pre-order or two. (Well A500, A1200 please) Press on Kipper2K and thanks for your work.

[apex]

Was the project cancelled?

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by apex

Was the project cancelled?

nope, as always, things never go the way we plan. the original manufacturer was canned as they were nickel and diming us. The moulds for the 4 special keys are now being made, another 7 - 9 weeks for that and then about 2 -3 weeks for the keycaps to be produced. The MX boards themselves have had a few features added and the "universitality" of the boards are allowing a much broader use within the Amiga spectrum. When i get concrete info i will pass it on, i dont like to pass on rumours as it only gets everyone excited and depressed at the same time. Bottom line is we are still moving on and all is good

[grelbfarlk]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

The MX boards themselves have had a few features added and the "universitality" of the boards are allowing a much broader use within the Amiga spectrum.

So does this mean I on April 15th I can definitely buy a pcb and keys and throw it in an A2000 keyboard shell and get it on or before April 20th?

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by grelbfarlk

So does this mean I on April 15th I can definitely buy a pcb and keys and throw it in an A2000 keyboard shell and get it on or before April 20th?

LOL, and i thought you knew me better, there is no way i can guarantee this, I would say that this is a good "ballpark" figure and if it is in my hands completed on April 20th then i will be happy. I am just as impatient as everyone else

[apex]

@kipper2k
Thank you. Such information should be spreaded before rumors came up. First rule in Amiga land.

[zodiac]

I agree that the communication has been awful. There should have been an update a month earlier. Just a blurb announcing the delay. Especially if you’re operating an online store. Could you imagine if you preordered a game and it wasn’t released and you weren’t updated until a month after the announced release date.

But then again, there really isn’t competition for an online Amiga store so a really bad one can’t fail for being inept.

[sean_sk]

Originally Posted by zodiac

There should have been an update a month earlier.

So you don't think the blog post dated 30th January on the AOTL website is good enough communication for you?

It's always easy to say "there should have been this" or "there should have been that" when you're not the one in the position of having to deal directly with manufacturers who don't end up doing things the way you need them to be done. Often times it is hard to communicate information in a timely manner when you yourself are having to wait for certain situations to resolve themselves.

Seriously, cut these guys some slack.

[solidcore]

Well said Sean_skroht

As a team member behind the mx keyboard I can safely say things are progressing on our end (Testing, Firmware, Final Revisions to the PCB) - but unfortunately we don't live in China and we ONLY communicate with them via e-mails, for some e-mails are day to day thing - but this isn't the case for us and China, it can take them a while getting back to us on some basic asks, demands, and sometimes frustrating requirements which can be miss-communicated at times - however cumbersome this is WE have to do it and we're doing it so you can all have a product at the end which will have a HIGH quality feel, not some cheap rubbish.

Communication between the western world and china is slow, probably google translation, the timezone and the recent Chinese holidays all end up mitigating negatively on what can be translated to 'naturally expected' delays, at least we expected them early on, I get this is hard to understand as a consumer, but let me assure you it's a real thing and not just an excuse, *alas* what can I say ? "Rome wasn't built in a day" and neither was the great wall of china!

Checkmate is currently taking a good peek at our prototype pcb and testing it with their case, some adjustments are going to have to be made either their end or ours, hopefully ours since we will bring a final revision to the table and it won't cost us a penny but if checkmate does decide to make alterations then that's fine by us, and for yourselves thinking of buying one.

On another note, I bring you some good news for UK/Europe buyers, I will try to act as a proxy for shipping to save you money. I'll bring more information on this in the future.

[idrougge]

Originally Posted by zodiac

I agree that the communication has been awful. There should have been an update a month earlier. Just a blurb announcing the delay. Especially if you’re operating an online store. Could you imagine if you preordered a game and it wasn’t released and you weren’t updated until a month after the announced release date.

Grow up, will you. You haven't parted with any money and kipper2k has enough to do without spending all his time writing courtesy emails to spoiled grownups.

[rlake]

Originally Posted by idrougge

Grow up, will you. You haven't parted with any money and kipper2k has enough to do without spending all his time writing courtesy emails to spoiled grownups.

But credit card receipts beg to differ! I feel there's a mix of frustration on all sides but in reading this thread to catch up I expected the worst, a few months delay is no big deal tbh. And I say that with radio silence to my own request to delay over the winter break since I was taking a vacation, and refreshing AOTL blog mid-January to emptiness too.

With that aside, more time for refinements is good all round. For the keyboard to now be prebuilt is a bonus when it comes to quality and eliminating small defects from the hands of users. Just hope I can still solder my own LEDs in for a fun construction task!

[Metropolis]

Correct. Some of us pre-ordered and had money tied up. Some of us even messaged AOTL about it on multiple platforms without any response, only to see a blog post about it after searching random Amiga forums. No direct "hey here's what's actually happening" messages. Delays are expected, silence is not. The A1200.net campaigns are doing it right.

The keyboard concept is worth the wait, unfortunately I'm now realizing it's pretty darn overpriced for what it is.

[SpocksBeer]

Money has definitely changed hands, in part because of the original stated timeframe. That the communication about changes to timeframe and scope was poor is unarguable. AOTL still have the pre-order banner as the first thing you see on their site, the page it links to still says "on or before Christmas 2018", their Facebook page has only had the delay blog post on it since the 8th, and the blog post itself is buried at the bottom of their shop page.

I'm still looking forward to this, the price is fine, and I'll likely back it even further if the product is good, but I'm also reasonably (I think) annoyed that the project is undergoing scope creep. A ready-to-go drop in replacement, to now custom key molds, verifying/tweaking the design with the Checkmate project, Chinese manufacturing without oversight via google translate. It's a lot of spinning plates in the air, and they've certainly come crashing down for other projects like this in the past.

[idrougge]

Oh, I never knew there was some pre-order with actual money involved. In that case, I think someone owes the customers an update now and then. I just thought this was usual whiny Amiga user behaviour.

[grelbfarlk]

I'm afraid to say it but there might be only one solution at this point. Occupy Kipper! That's right lets all meet at the Kipper World Headquarters and march right into the lobby past the body scanners and the receptionist and gather around the fountain and protest until our demands are met-whatever they might be. The only thing I'm not sure of is which protest chant to use. How does "NO BORDERS WITHOUT PREORDERS" strike everyone?



I think this is the kipper2k HQ:

[kipper2k]

lol, i am the guy in the bus stop, strange i am wearing a hat it is normally on the ground hoping for spare change or preorders

[solidcore]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

lol, i am the guy in the bus stop, strange i am wearing a hat it is normally on the ground hoping for spare change or preorders

Back from china already?! ...

[grelbfarlk]

Not even driving your own car, have to have a "bus driver" whatever that is, drive you around?

[zodiac]

Originally Posted by idrougge

Grow up, will you. You haven't parted with any money and kipper2k has enough to do without spending all his time writing courtesy emails to spoiled grownups.

Actually, I pre-ordered and did part with money. An update at the end of the year would have been more appropriate than waiting until the end of January. Obviosly, people who pre-ordered are excited about the project. My pre-order was based on the product being complete and shipped by Christmas of last year. I blame the online store as they took the pre-orders.