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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
It's got 20 keys, hot-swappable, and individually addressable RGB.
And for an FOSS printable one, https://github.com/Dwin17/bento
(assuming this meh partnership rebranding had his participation)
https://www.elgato.com/us/en/p/stream-deck
https://www.elgato.com/us/en/p/stream-deck-plus
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.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_button#Purpose
My first reaction isn't here yet
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
However, it really puts in perspective that a large part of my job has just become clicking a few buttons.
https://doioshop.com/products/doio-16-keys-programmable-mult...
This looks like it has LEDs but not a screen.
Any experience with https://www.eezbotfun.com/ or recommendations for something similar?
I am only half-joking.
Also, translated pages transform newlines into \n.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1ue5inx/i_built...
Regardless, device looks nice
Of course not.
2. lol, why is this $230
Nothing to see here.
It looks very sus like an Apple product.
Uh… what?