Views : 468,333
Genre: Science & Technology
Date of upload: Nov 29, 2022 ^^
Rating : 4.927 (224/12,115 LTDR)
RYD date created : 2024-05-15T04:45:36.210798Z
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Top Comments of this video!! :3
I owned one of these around 2015. I was so proud to bring it around to my college classes and various meetings to impress people with my futuristic technology. I believe I used it 3 times before relegating it to my prop bin, where I keep a stockpile of weird tech products in case I ever shoot a sci-fi.
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If you were to ask me "Have you heard of the Magic Cube?" I'd probably say no the name doesn't sound familiar, but I do remember hearing about a wireless, laser keyboard that looked kinda interesting.
I do remember it being featured in some crime procedural show, like on some secretary's desk at a techy company they were investigating or something and thinking "that's stupid, why isn't she just using a normal keyboard?"
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I worked at an Office Depot back when this product came out. It was given its own special display right by the front door. I had a chance to test it and it worked exactly as well as you found. There’s only so much you can do with projection tech like this. Your own hands interrupt the ability to see what’s going on behind them, which is why the keyboard is so horrible using a normal posture.
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I actually had one of these. And it was super cool... well... except.
There was definitely a steep learning curve. I actually got better at typing the right thing.
When I first got mine, it was before tablet computers were really a thing. So, at the time it was primarily a smartphone accessory. So it made a lot of sense that you would want something smaller than a tablet keyboard.
My problem was the "solution" you talked about for not getting feedback when you typed a key.
Having some kind of type animation on the key would have been great. Perhaps a brightness increase when you type a key would have been great.
The tap sound that they used instead was a deal-breaker. The whole purpose for using this keyboard was that it was super portable to use in meetings. But the tap sound was unbearably loud and distracting in meetings. Everyone would ooh and aah when I turned it on at the beginning of the meeting, but it would quickly turn to "what is that tapping sound!?" and "please turn that off".
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First time seeing this was on an episode of the original CSI, something like a secretary used it to secretly blog while on the clock. I have one branded differently and it actually worked pretty well (perhaps my technique was better). It was best as a talking piece. Either way it's been in the junk bin for quite some time.
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We were looking into this product in the late 2000's for our clean labs to reduce dust etc from keyboards. However, the keyboard was "locked" to us/en layout and was missing numpad as well. But we would have for sure purchased one or two devices for testing if it hadn't been for those limitations.
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I’ve actually seen this thing soooo many times, usually in tech videos of advanced tech “coming soon!” And they’ll use clips of this product as background filler imagery and I always get frustrated when I see it because I’m like “what about the laser keyboard thing!?” Finally a video about it. Sad it’s a failed product but at least my curiosity has finally been satisfied
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If I remember correctly, I saw it popular mechanics when it was still only a "magic" idea and then it was featured in CSI Miami or CSI New York.
I then saw it in some niche stores, but it was probably $100 at the time, which is cheaper than the $160 you mentioned, but was far to expensive for me as I was only a teenager.
It later just disappeared from the market completely.
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The best portable keyboard I've ever had was the Stowaway for my Handspring Visor. Folded it was close to the same size as the visor. Unfolded it was the size of a larger laptop. Portable keyboards were welcome on the Palm OS devices because all other input options were pretty cumbersome. I wish I'd kept that setup simply for the nostalgia
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It is more suited for use as a replacement for wireless keyboards for smartphones not tablets or desktop personal computers.
One annoying thing was only auditory feedback for key 'clicks'. Would have preferred either that they increased the brightness of the key being 'clicked' or have a second laser color like blue or green.
Its technology has a number of other applications that immediately come to mind but I will not elaborate in case I decide to pursue one or two of them.
A lesson in that if the use case for a new product is weak the product will fall into the novelty gadget category. In my experience it is still possible to make money from novelty gadgets if a company makes a number of such products. Changing out products as they fall away into the 'chasm'.
P.S. liked your analysis - especially you pointing out one cannot type on their lap with it. lol
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@ComputerClan
1 year ago
Enjoy the new episode! Also, I made a new playlist of tech flops & fails, so check it out and binge! 👉 youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFWeyvvxf1rjrzxzjt_6iGe…
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