There’s a fine line between genius and madness, and I’m not entirely sure which side this falls on, but web designer ArleyM recently shared details about a DIY ergonomic E Ink laptop project… and it’s kind of beautiful and horrific at the same time.
Basically, the kit combines an ergonomic keyboard from Kinesis, a Kensington Orbit trackball mouse, and an Onyx BOOX Max3 eReader and writing slate plus… a duct-taped kitchen drying rack that acts as a tablet stand.
It’s clearly not for everyone — you need to be a fan of E Ink displays and ergonomic products to look fondly on this thing. And we’re looking at about $1250 in parts. But there’s still something a little fascinating about the project.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
- Ergonomic writing setup [ArleyM]
This DIY E Ink laptop combines an ergonomic keyboard, a trackball, and an eReader. - Wave Computing and MIPS Wave Goodbye [SemiWiki]
Wave Computing is allegedly filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shutting down, potentially taking MIPS Technologies along with it (about half a year after shuttering the MIPS Open Initiative less than a year after launching it). - Magic Leap reportedly slashes 1,000 jobs [TechCrunch]
Augmented reality company Magic Leap announced it’s shifting focus from consumer to enterprise… and the company may have also just laid off half its workforce (1,000 people). Related: apparently Magic Leap had 2,000 employees. - Zoom Hits Milestone on 90-day Security Plan, Releases Zoom 5.0 [Zoom]
Zoom 5.0 is rolling out, addressing some of the security issues that the company has come under fire for in recent weeks. 256-bit encryption is enabled. Waiting rooms and passwords are enabled by default. And hosts have quicker access to security settings. - Windows Terminal Preview v0.11 Release
Microsoft releases Windows Terminal Preview v.0.11 — the final release before version 1.0. New features include support for languages other than English, settings and color scheme updates, copy and paste changes, and bug fixes.
Close enough to genius.
Except for the display mount. You still have to hunch and look down at it.
I think China could make for price with 1 less zero.
Every part of this thing is probably already made there.
And sure, maybe they could, but they won’t, because people will pay tons of money for seemingly weird niche products with even if they don’t cost that much more to make.