Massdrop: Search Your Feelings

/Thread

 

I like the idea of Massdrop.

Thing is I am so used to lurking, researching and budgeting and haggling/asking certain questions that I prefer to get audio gear on my own. When I find a good deal and I have the money and space I get it.

Still for certain people Massdrop works and that is a good thing. To each their own...

 

Massdrop is a San Francisco startup that has raised $48M from investors so far: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/massdrop
Like most startups, it is very unlikely that they are turning a profit. I'm curious about their endgame. Going public? Becoming acquired? No doubt they are being watched and evaluated by the large e-commerce players.

 

Disclaimer: This is about mech keyboards rather than audio, but it concerns Massdrop. Mods please delete if this is irrelevant.

Massdrop activity with mechanical keyboards seems to be one of the areas that seems to have kicked off this soul searching Massdrop thread. I've long been aware that some people over in mech keyboard land resent Massdrop, citing similar concerns to what's been brought up in this thread- that they use the communities for free research, then stifle innovation by flooding the market with popular but low-brow products, and more recently that they are bullies when it comes to IP.

As an old school mech keyboard user, I'm all for Massdrop entering this market. After decades of using buckling spring, Alps and scissor switch boards, I more recently realised that mech boards had become a 'thing' and that 'communities' and forums had sprung up around them. After participating online a bit, joining group buys, modding boards, I also realised that these communities are a complete and utter shambles. Group buys ran years behind schedule, projects died before getting off the ground, scams from long established personalities happened with depressing regularity, and the idea of 'innovation' seemed to mostly centre around new and ghastly colour schemes for plastic key caps.

The single most reliable entity within this hobby appears to Massdrop. Sure, they are in it for the money, rather than it purely being a labour of love. But this is clear from the outset. And if they organise a group buy, you can rely on it actually happening within a reasonable timeframe, without ridiculous amounts of drama, without Massdrop inventing medical conditions and running off with the money. They have made obscure keyboard formats available to a wider market, they have allowed at least one 'new' product (Hall Effect switches) to come back into production.

I'm glad that Massdrop entered the market. I've bought exactly one thing from them as most of what they provide does not interest me. But when I look at the state of the rest of this market, I am damn glad there's at least one company there that knows how to market, how to handle logistics, and won't just run with the money. And I can see the affect that it's had- all over my workplace there are people using nicer keyboards purely because Massdrop exists.

 

That reminds me, I'm still waiting on a Kickstarter project I sponsored 20 years ago to deliver.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1824863230/donald-trump-hentai-leader-shirt/community


I was honestly wondering when the clicky-keyboard community would chime in here.

 

Kickstarter only began 8 years ago, but it can certainly feel like 20 years after a project had originally promised to deliver in 6 months.

 

PortaPro Cozy?

 

Quite. A lot of it is ANSI rather than ISO, and last I checked, it was no longer the stone age.

The lead times are frequently awful, and the prices are often no bargain if you're not American. once you've paid for shipping and import duties. If there's a problem, returning it is basically out of the question, too.

Generally I'd only buy things that aren't really available elsewhere, knowing what I know now.

 

Massdrop pricing isn't that great across the board.
MD charges tax in CA.

I refuse to support Massdrop because of these reason.

Oh MD x EC amps coming soon? -- run and set alarm so I won't forget.

 

When are the Massdrop X SBAF t shirts coming out?

 

On environmentalism. Lots of green energy and environmental projects leave room for doubt. For example when you produce green energy, but in the process use more fossil energy to run the previous operation.. with the help of subsidies perhaps. Lots of make-believe, smoke and mirrors.

To be successful, whatever you do, just admit it's green and smug enough.

 

MD doesn't charge taxes. Your state does. Educate yourself.

 

Mama made our clothes when I was a boy:



My brothers had to share a potato sack because.. well you can only eat so many potatoes. Daddy wore the family rope-belt so we all just had to hold ours up.