the aetherworld category
Preorder Optimus Maximus: The $1500 Keyboard
We often see massively hyped products which then fail to emerge as their release date is postponed time and time again. The correct term for these products is Vaporware.
The Optimus Maximus Keyboard of Art. Lebedev Studio could fit this description. First announced in 2005, the release was postponed twice. To be more cost-effective, the technical specification of the keyboard changed and after another postponed release were changed back to the original.
Especially at an estimated price tag of $1500 for a keyboard, noone would be interested in the product anymore. But the much-hyped and long-awaited Optimus Maximus keyboard is different. Behind each of its 113 keys, a small 48x48 pixel OLED display works its magic, allowing the user to change the picture on each key. Custom keyboard layouts or shortcuts can be switched easily on a per-application basis.
Today, Art. Lebedev Studio announced via a countdown on their website that they will apparently start taking pre-orders from computer owners with more money than sense in roughly 3 days. Only 800 keyboards will be shipped until end of January 2008, ensuring that the price is kept high.
LogoMaid: Simplebits Logo Ripoff
Last year in December, Dan Cederholm launched a new website design for his business and weblog, Simplebits, along with a brand new (and great looking) logo.
Now, LogoMaid is selling a logo bearing a striking similarity to Dan’s on their website for US$ 199,-. They even have the audacity to call the logo “restyling”. Read the discussion on Flickr or John Gruber’s post on the topic. Paul Viluda, the owner of LogoMaid, even accused Dan Cederholm of in turn ripping his own logo off from LogoMaid and threatened a lawsuit against SimpleBits.
Dan’s logo is not the first they ripped off. Panic’s Unison logo is among the stolen designs, as well as Apple’s logo (now removed). Hopefully this post helps spreading the word that LogoMaid consists only of dirty thieves!
Good luck, Dan!
Design News - All in One
aetherworld.org is now a proud member of Design-Feed. Design-Feed is an online aggregator site for the most interesting design related RSS feeds on the web. What sets apart Design-Feed from other aggregator sites are the hand picked feeds. This means you can get all the latest, and best, graphics and web design news in one place, rather than browsing through hundreds of sites every day. Every post aggregated is also searchable by keyword.
“Basically, it’s a one-stop shop to get all the latest web-design buzz. If you are familiar with MXNA, you can think of this as MXNA for designers”, says Felix Turner, creator of Design-Feed.
Read up on Design-Feed here.
Redefining and Redesigning
Welcome, gentle reader, to the next iteration of the aetherworld. I’ve gone slack with my personal websites once contract based work started to eat away at my time and side projects fought over the remaining scraps. Well, here I go again. I’ve found out that for me there’s nothing better than drastic changes to get me back in line. This time, however, I’m not only relauncing but also redefining, redesigning and rebooting the aetherworld.
Redefine. Or: how things should be
First registered somewhere around 2000 (if my memory serves me right), the aetherworld has almost never had a consistant purpose. At one point it was a personal link collection, then a place to try out various CSS layouts, a listing for my music collection, a place where I blogged about design and tech stuff and for the past year, it was dead. Literally.
The first logical step for me is redefining, what the aetherworld should become. I decided to turn it into a blog again, forcing me to concentrate more on content than on presentation. I want it to be a place to share my web design and web development work as well as personal thoughts on various topics.
Old aetherworld layouts
Redesign. Or: how things should look
Whenever I have a blank paper in front of me, something inside of me wants to draw, to design, to make the paper become something beautiful, something with a purpose and something pleasant to look at. A blank paper and a pencil is my greatest incentive for starting to work on a project.
The same goes for a blank website. I could have chosen to design the site in private, work on the layout till it’s perfect, and only then make the finished version go live. I chose not to. A blank and unstyled website is as much incentive to get me working as a blank paper. Every time i see the naked aetherworld, I’ll want to style it, make it better, make it look beautiful. That will be my way to give myself a kick in the ass.
Bandwagon
I thought my live design was a unique idea. That’s why I was really shocked when I saw other people doing the same. Well, so there goes novelty.
Anyway, the design process will be completely live and will take place over a longish period of time. I’m planning to be finished before January 1st though. So bear with me as I’m adding content and layout and expect things to break from time to time.
