Wow, hadn’t heard of this keyboard but I love it. It ticks a lot of boxes for me:
- Minimalistic design
- Hotswappable switches
- N64/GBA-esque translucent plastic
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It’s somewhat of an impulse purchase for me, but with the combination of price, aesthetic, and hot-swappable switches, I decided to back the project. It’ll be my first 40%, so I’m excited.
@jetpacktuxedo - are the keycaps pictured likely to be the ones on offer for the final version? Just curious.
Looks fantastic! I just right shift too much for many of the 40% layouts.
My minivan layout has a right shift 
. I use the rightmost key as a tap /? and hold rshift. I am a heavy right shifter as well and it works great for me.
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@evangs would be better to ask than me, but I would guess like 95% yes, with the remaining 5% being something catastrophic happens to the XDA manufacturer. Lol the pics are from samples he has already.
I’m still waiting for one feature that I wish would make it to 40% keyboards: CV Pedal Inputs.
I already have a large number of key combinations to keep track of (Tiling window managers + vim/emacs); I’d prefer physical pedals for toggling layouts.
It would be like Church on Sunday! 
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I can’t use a keyboard that’s smaller than TKL. It must be TKL or full size.
Thank you for the quick response, @jetpacktuxedo
@evangs - are the keycaps pictured likely to be the ones made available to backers when the product ships? Also, will the F and J keys be homing in any way?
Thank you!
yes, they are prototype caps that will be the same as what we produce in the kickstarter. F and J will be standard XDA homing
I like this idea 
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That’s actually not a bad idea… My CST trackball has simple TS ports (as in tip/sleeve, like TRRS but without ring contacts) you can use to add up to two extra buttons. I considered building some foot pedals for it. @evangs could try something similar to allow people to expand a bit if they want. I’d certainly try it. Maybe I will wire one in and see how it goes!
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Why though?
I thought the same thing when I first started getting into keyboards, and then I tried a 75%, which is roughly the same keycount as a TKL (like 2-5 keys short I think?) and realized that that was fine. Then I realized I never use function keys so I dropped to a 65%, but I use arrows so I thought that was my limit.
I snagged a second round minivan on massdrop (during the only massdrop round), and figured I’d give it a solid try for a week or two and then sell it when I inevitably didn’t like it. I already had someone lined up to buy it before they were even shipped. I’m a software engineer so I figured it would be a struggle without the number row and with the reduced symbol set. I first plugged it in and was struggling supper hard, so about 20 minutes later I opened the configurator and started moving things to places where they made sense to me.
The numrow moved first, and then I shifted some symbols around, but at each step in the process I would go back to using it, and each step of the way it got way easier. By the time I was done my keymap was totally different from stock, but all of the shortcuts made sense to me. I never really had to learn a keymap, because everytime I would reach for a symbol and get nothing and then look it up and go “why is it over there?” I would move it to where I had tried to reach for it.
Sorry for the huge wall of text, I guess what I’m trying to say is that “how would anyone even use that” is a perfectly valid thought that probably everyone has the first time they see a 40%, but you never really know whether it is something you could get used to unless you try it for a little bit. Even trying one at a meetup won’t give you a great feel for it, you just sort of have to try it on your own for a week or so and then decide. Maybe you will surprise yourself! I imagine that is why Evan is fighting to bring down 40% prices by offering a full kit for a fairly reasonable price. It makes it easier to justify buying one to try out, and then if you decide you really like it you might be more tempted to pick up a more “premium” model.
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Having gotten used to 40% now I think this is an awesome way to step into this size. Great price with great features to get your feet wet. Don’t be afraid of function layers!
Oh I’m sure if I were to use a much smaller keyboard I would eventually get used to it and maybe like it. There was a time I only had chiclet keyboard from laptop which if measured was actually smaller than TKL but it still had the function row and nav keys just scattered and squeezed and it was perfectly fine.
Like you said, with TKL/full-size I can immediately use the keyboard without having to do anything but small keyboards require me to discover and configure my own effective way of using the keys which takes time. And even if the adjustment period is over, I just don’t feel complete. Although I’m new to the mech board community, my first keyboard was the IBM Model M2 and after that it’s always been full size rubber domes. So I grew up only with full size keyboards. It is only when I got back to mechs that I started using TKLs and even with TKLs I miss a full size keyboard.
That being said, I am interested in Kumo especially that I live in Tokyo, Japan which means no shipping fee and waiting time when it ships. It being completely programmable and hot-swappable is very great. I seriously hope KUMO reaches its goal. If I have the money right now, I would seriously pledge. Hopefully, I can get to buy it even after the kickstarter.
@evangs @jetpacktuxedo are there plans to offer Kumo as a regular item at TheVan’s store after the groupbuy? I’m not sure I can swing the cash rn (gotta save lots for a new car to replace my dying one plus also college is expen$ive) but I’m really excited about this board and would really love to get one at some point in the future!
I totally agree! I took the plunge straight from TKL to Planck and it was pretty wild at first. I’m also a software engineer so I was pretty worried that I just wouldn’t be able to be productive with such a small keyboard. After a couple days of stumbling around I remapped the board to stuff that made sense to me, and it was like having a whole new board! I bet that if I’d had a more familiar, staggered layout the transition would’ve been even smoother.
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Yes
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I had also only used fullsize boards before getting into mechs. The process I described above of going from TKL → 75 → 65 → 40 was ongoing over about four or five years. To be fair, I would have skipped 75 but 65 wasn’t even a form factor until a few years ago lol.
And yeah, you just never know until you give it a try, and you sound like you are at least willing to try it 
. On first read your other comment sort of read like you weren’t which is why I had such a big reply lol. If you’re in Tokyo you might try reaching out to the guy who does marketing stuff for the van man, as he also lives in Tokyo iirc. Maybe he’d let you borrow a van to test drive. I personally own two (three of you count an unassembled one) minivans, and one of those is specifically a loaner board that I can let people curious to try the form factor borrow for a week or two.
There’s also a Tokyo meetup next month that you may want to look into.
I’m a software engineer by day, so I have lots of co-workers who use tiling WMs (though mostly not due to dissabilities). I also volunteer with ckeys, a seattle-based nonprofit, where one of our goals is to help people with disabilities find/build input devices to better accommodate their needs. This is 100% something I want to do some work on, not specifically for the minivan but for keyboards in general.
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