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Comment by ilc | Hacker News Reader

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ilc

When the question becomes:

- Lose your career as a computer user.

- Surgery.

- Try funky expensive keyboard with lots of research behind it, and tons of testimonials.

The funky expensive keyboard suddenly looks like the cheap option.

If you don't value your time, or enjoy 3d printing and assembling stuff, kits get shipped every few months, with all the electronics, and access to the files needed to 3d print the board.

I'm typing this on a board I printed. If I valued my time at my hourly rate, the price listed is dirt cheap. But I enjoyed doing it :)

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I have a problem with that. I've seen how disabled users are milked out of their money (or their insurance, if they have one that covers it) just because they don't have another option. And I know, economy of scale and everything, but most of the time the huge price differences aren't justified (like commented in the $1K wheelchair post [0]). I've seen it with software (simple pictoric augmentative communication software for iPad that costs hundreds of dollars, plus some DLCs...), and in hardware (consumer hardware that costs 1 or 2 hundred dollars, but is firmware locked so it cannot be used in augmentative communication software. You have to pay a thousand or two for the unlocked versión).

Also, sadly, the salaries in my country aren't that high that it makes it look cheap compared to do it yourself.

  0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41711437

To be very clear: Svalboard's firmware is on GitHub, and releases are made using github actions. GPLv3.

There is a reason kits are offered, and in part it is due to cost.

That said, if there is a true need, talk to the owner. I've watched this business for a while. I have enough parts to have Svalboards forever. But I decide to stay and help, because his heart is in the right place with regards to this whole thing.

That said, he has to put food on the table, and I respect that.

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