Imagine changing your UI constantly for 2 weeks then out of nowhere changing your brand and domain name.
Also consider this: at least three GMK sets are running concurrently, of which two hit MOQ in days and one broke the 1k orders mark, while one is struggling to meet its 250 MOQ – and the one struggling is the one on Massdrop. That’s pretty wild.
That’d be nice! I’d love to start working on a hotswap PCB for this 1800-inspired layout I’ve been putting together, but can’t guarantee anything on any particular timeline
really hoping they don’t go under before i can get my damn MT3
I could be wrong, but it seems unlikely to me that they would actually go under anytime soon.
They have a big enough user base I’m sure they could find investment if things are going bad.
This is the most Silicon Valley shit I’ve ever seen. Mike Judge would be proud.
The shift board might be the ugliest board that I’ve seen AND it’s $200
Seems weird to change the name. Even some people here in a small town in Finland know what Massdrop was. And it already was a form of brand. My Senns even has Massdrop printed on them.
I can only guess that they were waiting for the domain to become available or eventually offered the owner a ton of money. Drop.com seems to have been registered initially back in 1995 but was updated in late 2017.
That is an aggressively ugly board. I don’t really understand what they’re going after with the new DROP logo with the cut off D either – it looks like some kind of manufacturing mistake on the bottom of the board.
Yikes, yeah that is a really unattractive board for sure. Reminds more of a Magicforce board than anything quality, then the $200 pricing is just laughable to me. Although I thought the Ctrl & Alt were ugly as sin & they sold somewhat well. I suspect it was more gamers than KB enthusiasts that snapped them up TBH though.
But everyone… supposedly according to certain influencers reviewers in our community, the board’s average rating is a 4/5!
Oh yeah! I didn’t think of the MD branding, but I have two items that has it on them, headphones and a DAC/amp. Now they’ll be collectors items! LOL
I mean I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I’d still pass on the Shift if God himself gave it a good review, LOL! IMHO all the Drop boards are ugly, have cheap caps & stabs, & are way overpriced for what they are.
I wonder if we’ll ever see a mobile app, sick of having to do everything through a web browser on my phone.
At least I know why the UI changed multiple times over the past couple of weeks.
The design is prettier, imo, but the usability definitely went down on mobile. Really need to think through the mobile UX on this redesign.
Also, another personal opinion, the script Massdrop logo always looked really classy, this new logo is a step backwards.
Seems like they wanted to be perceived as fresh and new. They had really solid branding, they just needed to work out the QC, timeline estimates, and transparency and that would have really done a lot more than a new name, logo, and site redesign.
I was one of the reviewers and that was my honest review, idk what to tell you ¯_(ツ)_/¯
While I don’t like the SHIFT aesthetically, it is certainly cramming a lot of neat technology into a nice package. Plus it runs on QMK so that is also a bonus. I wouldn’t buy one personally but at the same time I wouldn’t knock anyone who did.
As for the site? Meh. The design is alright although not very touch friendly imo. Target areas are too small and I often press the wrong button. It looks “techy” though which seems to be their vibe.
Risers alone are a -1 star. Kinda kidding. I can dig the massdrop alt. I get the utilization of risers for appealing to a wider target audience, but they just need to make them look more solid. They look like fragile supports for a keyboard that skipped leg day. Why have a brute of a keyboard if it’s just going to have chicken legs?
Don’t forget that the Shift’s true price is 250$ :^)
But yea, it looks so horrible imo
And those reviews seems pretty… well… fake (Edit: Fake is not really what I meant, sorry for that, my English is often broken. I just hope they are not too rushed, receiving a 250$ product for free)
About the new website, I actually kinda like the look, but it’s clearly not user-friendly… And yea, changing every days has not helped. Things keep moving, it’s kinda frustrating
The reviews are definitely real and from well known community members but I bet they felt pretty incentivized to give a somewhat positive review. I mean other than personal taste surrounding the aesthetics of the board it seems to be good? Again, it’s not to my liking but if it’s well built then some people might like it. @merlin left a good review while offer some constructive feedback and things to look out for.