Custom Kayboard Layouts Are Not Possible


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Is it possible to have a run of keymats with out print and just a black epoxy coat for laser etching a custom layout? Is a run of 1000 feasible if some people are willing to pay about $15 USD for a blank?
 
combined with the right control scheme and a lightweight Python app using JMDict could win us another niche.

How much do 1000 mats cost, roughly? Could you get blank mats for testing?
Japanese keyboard ? I don't see much advantage to a Japanese layout. I've always used non-Japanese keyboard and it has never been a problem. Sure some ppl use the kana input but I doubt it's that many and I think it would be more difficult to use on the small keyboard.

The only real plus to a Japanese layout I can think of is the special key to switch between the different writing mode... but really you can just assign other key for those function.

Also I would think that people wanting be able to write Japanese and another language that uses some special character would prefer having a non-japanese keyboard. With a Swiss keyboard for exemple I could input french / german / english and Japanese wouldn't be much trouble too.

Maybe I am missing something but I believe that unless they want to focus on Japanese customer I see little point to a Japanese layout.
(and a Swiss layout keyboard would probably also be really hard to justify depending of the number of Swiss customer. That was just an exemple)

I definitely with you when it comes to using it has a dictionary. I would definitely love to have a good EPWING dictionary program and handwritten recognition.

I have to say I am not familiar with the JMDict project.
I am currently using EBView on Linux and I hope with will work on the Pandora too.
Tomoe for handwritten input sounds promising. I've read about it before but I don't know how good it is. Probably better than kanjipad I guess. I have to say I would love to have something has good as on Windows Mobile but I am kind of sceptical.

I don't see people buying a Pandora just for it's Japanese dictionary use. A windows mobile device with Japanese input and EBView does that well if it's just for that use. It will definitely add some more awesomeness to the Pandora though.

Once the Pandora actually launches maybe we can start a topic about Japanese on the Pandora (input, dictionary, learning tools...). I was thinking about doing this for some time. Good to see there are some more people interested in the topic :)
 
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Yea, I would love to see a mat similar to what we have now, except Start and Select only said Start and Select. So if it's possible that we could get that for some users if we can drum up enough interested users, I would love to do that.

-God Ginrai
We had this talk already... you cannot possibly be delusional enough to think a thousand people care about the wording of those two buttons to want to pay for new ones. At least the others want to change functionality and the mat to fit... your change is purely aesthetic and singularly arbitrary.

Edit: I wonder if I can get a thousand people who don't want the Pandora logo on the lid. Or who only want alt and ctrl on those keays, and get start and select removed.
 
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We had this talk already... you[God Ginrai] cannot possibly be delusional enough to think a thousand people care about the wording of those two buttons to want to pay for new ones. At least the others want to change functionality and the mat to fit... your change is purely aesthetic and singularly arbitrary.
Edit: I wonder if I can get a thousand people who don't want the Pandora logo on the lid. Or who only want alt and ctrl on those keays, and get start and select removed.
I'm cool with dual labeling on my Pandora. However, I would pay extra to have the "Start" and "Select" labels removed from God Ginrai's Pandora.
 
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Yea, I would love to see a mat similar to what we have now, except Start and Select only said Start and Select. So if it's possible that we could get that for some users if we can drum up enough interested users, I would love to do that.
-God Ginrai
We had this talk already... you cannot possibly be delusional enough to think a thousand people care about the wording of those two buttons to want to pay for new ones. At least the others want to change functionality and the mat to fit... your change is purely aesthetic and singularly arbitrary.

Edit: I wonder if I can get a thousand people who don't want the Pandora logo on the lid. Or who only want alt and ctrl on those keays, and get start and select removed.

Why not just remove the ones you don't want with a black permanent marker, or maybe black nail polish or something?
 
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Is it possible to have a run of keymats with out print and just a black epoxy coat for laser etching a custom layout? Is a run of 1000 feasible if some people are willing to pay about $15 USD for a blank?
This is a really good idea. I imagine some provision would have to be made to have the keymat be laser etch "compatible".
If this is possible, it could solve everything, as there are plenty of people out there who could do the laser etching for whatever keyboard layout you want to have made.
 
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Er, no, you're not. You're Nordic though.
My fault, OTOH its not only me.

layout for Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland could presumably be possible.
Finland and Sweden already use the same keyboard layout. For norway and denmark, they use Ø and Æ (and seem to have some disagreement on which way they should be on the keyboard ...) in place of Ö and Ä. Maybe some layout supporting all these needs can be made, although the pandora doesnt have too much keys.
 
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It would be great to have a scandinavian layout. Is there 1000 customers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark?
And Finland.... we're scandinavian too remember.
Er, no, you're not. You're Nordic though. As are Iceland and the three Scandinavian countries. That said, a common (semi-common"] layout for Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland could presumably be possible.[/quote]Was about to say the same. Well, now we're 4 people of 1000 :)
 
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Yea, I would love to see a mat similar to what we have now, except Start and Select only said Start and Select. So if it's possible that we could get that for some users if we can drum up enough interested users, I would love to do that.

-God Ginrai
We had this talk already... you cannot possibly be delusional enough to think a thousand people care about the wording of those two buttons to want to pay for new ones.
I don't expect to get 1000. But if a couple of hundred people were to support my idea and were willing to pay extra, then we could go ahead and buy the 1000, could we not? It's all about if people are willing to spend more to have the keymat they want. I sure as hell am.

Why not just remove the ones you don't want with a black permanent marker, or maybe black nail polish or something?
Because I'm a perfectionist to a certain degree. I could never take a black marker or nail polish to my Pandora, it wouldn't look right, and it would drive me crazy.

-God Ginrai
 
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Once the Pandora actually launches maybe we can start a topic about Japanese on the Pandora (input, dictionary, learning tools...). I was thinking about doing this for some time. Good to see there are some more people interested in the topic :)
I agree that an entire custom mat may not win you much, especially when we have things like Anthy/SCIM that make the layout (any layout / language input combination for that matter) irrelevant. It would be cool though. :)

I was going to piece together a little web or Python application for it using JMDict and a trimmed down cache of Wikipedia JA / EN as one of my projects. If you're interested in helping coordinate something, let me know.
 
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