Why can’t Framework offer a tenkeyless 80% keyboard option?
Basically a desktop keyboard without the numpad.
This will open up a large untapped market. Desktop people who would like a laptop but with a keyboard they are used to. TenKeyLess is also popular amongst gamers and developers.
Above the arrow key you have Insert, Delete, Home, End and PageUp and PageDown…
Currently only the HP Omen 16 offers this although their Delete key is in the wrong position.
I’m sure there is no reason that they can’t.
I can think of a few why they don’t.
Assuming that you’re talking about a TKL option for laptops… then for the FW12 & FW13 I’d assume it’s because they’d need to then offer a second top cover for the laptop… at the moment all of their keyboards seem to all fit a single top cover, irrespective of language, so there you are now manufacturing twice the number of parts and having to maintain twice the inventory.
For the FW16, it could be an option… but I think the FW16 is probably not high enough volume for them to be able to support wider ranges of options at this time… the fact it’s only really available with two CPUs from a single generation would seem to support this.
I think NRV has mentioned a few times, there are lots of things that Framework would like to do, but there’s only so much money available and they have to move slowly if they want to remain viable… without taking the seemingly unending amounts of available VC money that corrupts other companies.
One option is to offer a different numpad with arrow keys and above them: Insert, Delete, Home, End, PageUp and PageDown…
This would be more cost effective than a new keyboard layout and it would unlock a whole new segment of potential customers (including me).
They can even leave the legacy arrows as part of the main keyboard to save costs (or alternatively offer shallow hard platics stoppers that basically fills the holes of the legacy arrow keys)…
The macropad can easily do this. Also happens to be even more cost-effective, as it can be many different things for different people. Keys can be assigned point-and-click using the interface at https://keyboard.frame.work/. If you need keycap legends, at least one company makes decals specifically for the FWL16. Keyshorts, I think it was.
