November 13, 2019

The First Step of NuPhy

Since the emergence of laptops in the 1980s, the keyboards on laptops have become thinner and thinner, but their typing experience has become worse and worse. My first notebook was 11-inch MacBook Air bought in 2010. Ever since then, this computer made me a big fan of Apple. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the first time I have seen a consumer electronics device made into a work of art.

Like many Apple fans, I have a bunch of apple products and boxes at home

At that time, I didn't have a strong resistance to the keyboard. One reason was that the keyboard I used on the desktop was a relatively thin membrane keyboard. And I haven't used the mechanical keyboard yet. To be honest, even today, the "mechanical keyboard" seems to be a very bad name, because it sounds like a product of ancient times.

Until 2015, Apple introduced the Butterfly Keyboard on the latest generation of MacBooks. Although many media raised doubts at that time, I bought it immediately. Because I thought I could adapt to the new keyboard soon. The biggest reason is that Apple's thinking is always in front of the media and users, whether it is on iPod, iPhone or iPad. It happened many times.

However, I was wrong this time. In my opinion, the launch of the butterfly keyboard was indeed one of Apple's worst decisions in recent years. Not just the MacBook, but also the new Butterfly Keyboard that was later introduced on the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. After I slowly accepted its key travel, a few keys become difficult to use, because of dust. And sometimes I even need to press several times to react. One problem after another made me frustrated, and I have to start looking for an external keyboard.

After I tried a variety of external keyboards, I had to say that the mechanical keyboard was so great that I often had the illusion that typing on a mechanical keyboard was a finger dancing on the keyboard. I never thought that typing can bring such a pleasant feeling to people before. But there are two things I can't accept. One is that I like to use the Force Touch Trackpad on my MacBook, and the external Magic Trackpad can't replace it at all. The second is Touch ID. The combination of 1password and Touch ID is perfect. I can't imagine that I don't have them in my daily life.

This is why we would like to introduce NuType to this world.

I started the project in June 2018 and it has been 17 months since then. I have been working with Hard Cider Labs for more than 9 months, and I really appreciate their help during these days. I can't imagine how the result of NuType would be without their help. What impressed me a lot was their honest attitude towards the products. As designers, they were obviously not satisfied with the current products, even if some fans publicly expressed their love for their products. They know more about current products than any other customers. But their passion for product design makes me believe that these deficiencies will disappear completely in their follow-up products.

In fact, on January 27 this year, I’ve already received the first sample in our trial production. At that time, the molds of each part had been opened. But obviously, there are still many problems with the product. When I was preparing for crowdfunding, Hard Cider Labs stopped me. They told me about their crowdfunding experience and warned me that if I went online crowdfunding before the product reached perfection, it would probably ruin my life and the brand. I listened to their advice and worked with them to solve product problems. After 287 days on detection, now I think it’s totally correct I didn’t blindly start crowdfunding at that time. Otherwise, NuType will probably be labeled "Scam" today.

Today, I have used NuType as a daily tool for more than 2 months. It can be said that it is very close to the ultimate goal in my heart. We’ve started to distribute samples to friends around us. When I got the feedbacks: "From the moment I got the keyboard, I used it every day," I think we are ready to go to crowdfunding.

This is the process of NuType -- from only an idea to implementation. I hope you like this story. And I also hope that you will like NuType.