This is a rebranded/reskinned WORK LOUDER Creator Micro 2 btw (https://worklouder.cc/creator-micro-2). Great device if you're into expensive tech toys (a la Teenage Engineering), but if you were waiting for a big OpenAI hardware reveal sorry to disappoint.
It's not clear why this physical object is a better solution to the problem than, say, a window on your screen. Feels like more of a hobby project than something that provides $230 of value.
I know a lot of people who really like things like the Stream Deck. This seems similar to that kind of a concept. I'd probably take the Stream Deck over this though, its a good bit cheaper and each button has a little screen on it. Having some physical knobs is an interesting twist on it though.
I'm curious who the target audience is. As a developer I already spend all day at my keyboard, so I'm not yet convinced dedicated hardware is faster than a desktop app. I'd love to hear from people who've actually used it.
I see it as another iteration of the wave that had everyone controlling agents directly from a chat app like slack. It isn't actually a more effective way to reach flow state, exchange information faster, and move your development projects forward to greater success, its simply a novel, oddly satisfying input mechanism, at least for the first day.
Which is no different than when the iphone first came out, the basic concept of touch screens was endlessly novel as an input and output device. That novelty did a lot more heavy lifting than what we can now see in hindsight was appropriate, because now many of us won't be able to control the temperature in our cars after the touch screen fails.
I think its the same underlying mechanism that explains why I, a person who has never recorded or mixed audio in a studio, and a person who can know for certain that purchasing a 24 channel mixing console isn't going to faclilitate my career change or even hobby development. But part of me is still viscerally certain that my life would be fuller if I purchased a 24 channel mixing console.
I don't need a legitimate reason to own a tool, or a problem I would fix with it, to fantasize about using that tool.
As someone with a few unused Teenage Engineering things. The real answer is probably rich tech people who love having things that make people say "I'm not sure who the target audience is".
I set up an old Stream Deck to do the same thing. I stopped using it after a few days. This design looks great though, status lights are a nice touch. YouTube vibe coders will love it, traditional devs will keep MacGyvering their own toys.
It isn't meant to sell like hot cakes. Work Louder is the keyboard equivalent of Teenage Engineering. They make expensive toys for silicon valley engineers.
on one hand...this looks cool/teenage engineering-esque. on the other...engineers have been infantilized forever now but this is a new level. it feels like my career has been dwindled down to ... what? a few colors and like 5 buttons? reminds me of something out of idiocracy a bit. just need a button that orders a nice juicy hamburger for me during my lunch break.
but jokes aside, I suppose you can look at this being sort of like a numpad in addition to your main keyboard so I see the point of this gimmicky thing
Looks fun, but I don't quite understand this product:
- Do the buttons map to configurable skills / prompts?
- Is it meant to be used remotely with some independence (like codex remote), or is it a peripheral like a trackpad?
This is the lamest possible implementation, exactly what I would expect from openAI. Nothing about it is interesting or unique or really leverages the power of LLMs to make a new experience.
Pretty sure I could just vibe code this with my old Elgato Stream Deck. As a bonus, it wouldn't become eminently useless if I swap to any other model provider.
Why not a Stream Deck? I own 3 stream decks, and they are incredibly useful. Not only for coding, but windows controlling, shortcuts for anything. And the best part is that there are small screens you can customize.
This is a rebranded/reskinned WORK LOUDER Creator Micro 2 btw (https://worklouder.cc/creator-micro-2). Great device if you're into expensive tech toys (a la Teenage Engineering), but if you were waiting for a big OpenAI hardware reveal sorry to disappoint.
IMHO this is a much better solution.
https://marketplace.elgato.com/product/claude-code-usage-ea7...
I actually have this as a problem with Codex / Claude where I don't know if I have to make a decision .
At least it's much more expensive
ooh Micro 2 is a lot cheaper, but doesn't seem to have individually addressable RGB keys unless I'm mistaken?
$56 premium for the OpenAI skin. :)
Or you could get a bluetooth number pad for $20.
Apple must be happy that they let Jony Ive go. What a letdown.
(assuming this meh partnership rebranding had his participation)
It's not clear why this physical object is a better solution to the problem than, say, a window on your screen. Feels like more of a hobby project than something that provides $230 of value.
I know a lot of people who really like things like the Stream Deck. This seems similar to that kind of a concept. I'd probably take the Stream Deck over this though, its a good bit cheaper and each button has a little screen on it. Having some physical knobs is an interesting twist on it though.
https://www.elgato.com/us/en/p/stream-deck
I'm curious who the target audience is. As a developer I already spend all day at my keyboard, so I'm not yet convinced dedicated hardware is faster than a desktop app. I'd love to hear from people who've actually used it.
I see it as another iteration of the wave that had everyone controlling agents directly from a chat app like slack. It isn't actually a more effective way to reach flow state, exchange information faster, and move your development projects forward to greater success, its simply a novel, oddly satisfying input mechanism, at least for the first day.
Which is no different than when the iphone first came out, the basic concept of touch screens was endlessly novel as an input and output device. That novelty did a lot more heavy lifting than what we can now see in hindsight was appropriate, because now many of us won't be able to control the temperature in our cars after the touch screen fails.
I think its the same underlying mechanism that explains why I, a person who has never recorded or mixed audio in a studio, and a person who can know for certain that purchasing a 24 channel mixing console isn't going to faclilitate my career change or even hobby development. But part of me is still viscerally certain that my life would be fuller if I purchased a 24 channel mixing console.
I don't need a legitimate reason to own a tool, or a problem I would fix with it, to fantasize about using that tool.
As someone with a few unused Teenage Engineering things. The real answer is probably rich tech people who love having things that make people say "I'm not sure who the target audience is".
I set up an old Stream Deck to do the same thing. I stopped using it after a few days. This design looks great though, status lights are a nice touch. YouTube vibe coders will love it, traditional devs will keep MacGyvering their own toys.
The keyboard community maybe? I think these little macro pads are neat, but I don't have a real use for them either.
i'm guessing the primary market for these will be free gifts to enterprise customers at sales meetings.
And you would need to spend your day at your keyboard for this to be useful anyway. It's just an input device.
We need to bring back the 'turbo' button.[1]
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_button#Purpose
My first reaction is WTF. My second reaction isn't here yet.
My second reaction is: ah is this what the stolen IP from apply fuss was all about?
My first reaction isn't here yet
A quarter RGB keyboard for the price of half a MacBook Neo? Yeah this will sell like hot cakes...
It’s $230 vs. $699? That’s almost exactly a third, not half.
It isn't meant to sell like hot cakes. Work Louder is the keyboard equivalent of Teenage Engineering. They make expensive toys for silicon valley engineers.
So work louder is the new work smarter?
on one hand...this looks cool/teenage engineering-esque. on the other...engineers have been infantilized forever now but this is a new level. it feels like my career has been dwindled down to ... what? a few colors and like 5 buttons? reminds me of something out of idiocracy a bit. just need a button that orders a nice juicy hamburger for me during my lunch break.
but jokes aside, I suppose you can look at this being sort of like a numpad in addition to your main keyboard so I see the point of this gimmicky thing
With that lens your career before this device was a few colors and 104 keys?
Programming is basically now playing with some keystrokes and joysticks :p
They've been issuing these new tablets to the new people at work, productivity has gone through the roof. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2ZD6J2W
I like it because it looks sleak, and the colors are neat.
However, it really puts in perspective that a large part of my job has just become clicking a few buttons.
I checked the date but no.
I KVM between a bunch of boxes and I have a Doio KB16 for Claude and I love it. I get the reasoning for the product. Price is..... interesting.
https://doioshop.com/products/doio-16-keys-programmable-mult...
Thanks for the link, it seems a lot more capable and interesting, to a much better price.
Looks cool. I’m looking for a macro pad with a little LCD that’s Mac and Linux compatible.
This looks like it has LEDs but not a screen.
Any experience with https://www.eezbotfun.com/ or recommendations for something similar?
We're rapidly approaching the Jetsons one button workplace territory.
Looks fun, but I don't quite understand this product:
I like the teenage engineering style, but is that the hardware that they were stealing Apple secrets for?
I thought this was an aprils fools joke. Then i realized it’s July..
How long before someone shows a hobby project with a robotic arm and computer vision controlling one of these?
I am only half-joking.
Post a picture of one of these with the “X” key conspicuously removed and you’d probably get a repost from Sam
Looks like a novelty item made with the purpose of testing their hardware production capabilities before producing a real product.
Also, translated pages transform newlines into \n.
We march ever closer to the cntl c v keyboard!
Lol this is trippy, although not sure how much use I really would get outta this thing
Where's the Stream Deck emulation layer?
AGI is almost here, but first, one more thing... a keyboard controller!
This is the lamest possible implementation, exactly what I would expect from openAI. Nothing about it is interesting or unique or really leverages the power of LLMs to make a new experience.
Ordered. Not sure will beat my streamdeck modules, but YOLO
A bit late for April Fools, no?
In all seriousness, does anyone actually want this?
Presentation is not clear to me. How is it superior to using my keyboard?
Where have I seen this before
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1ue5inx/i_built...
Is this the reason OpenAI decided to steal Apple hardware secrets?
Regardless, device looks nice
Would think they would be doing it for their own hardware device for chatgpt not for developers.
Pretty sure I could just vibe code this with my old Elgato Stream Deck. As a bonus, it wouldn't become eminently useless if I swap to any other model provider.
wow, great partnership for Work Louder but man, I have a micropad from work louder, it's basically just a weird layout for a macropad.
Wow, they are going to sell dozens of these!
So it's like a more limited Streamdeck.
Seems a bit silly (especially given how easy LLM's make building such an accessory)
It's just a keyboard.
Nothing to see here.
Is this the moat?
Is this the Jony Ive device?
It looks very sus like an Apple product.
It looks nothing like an Apple product and no, it's not part of the io/Ive partnership.
Why not a Stream Deck? I own 3 stream decks, and they are incredibly useful. Not only for coding, but windows controlling, shortcuts for anything. And the best part is that there are small screens you can customize.
I had to check the calendar as I thought it’s April fool. What’s the point of this? Isn’t that like the meme of stackoverflow keyboard?
I ordered one because I lack impulse control.
$230 for essentially a fancy numpad that's only useful for one tool? Welcome to the AI revolution
> Flick the joystick to launch common Codex workflows like reviewing a PR, debugging an error, or refactoring code.
Uh… what?
Finally! Definitive, tangible, tactile proof that we're near the top of the bubble. /s