Maybe I'm the only one who saw what OpenLabs was doing at NAMM: they weren't selling a finished keyboard, they were displaying a working prototype specifically to get interest from third-party vendors to see if they could snag some deals for incorporating softsynths and control panels designed for specific applications into their units when they finally ship. Word is they got plenty of interest. The apps that were displayed on the eKo were the ones OpenLabs bought out of pocket to demo the hardware, not to show off anyone else's sounds or apps.

Current specs on the prototype eKo was a 3Ghz processor, half a terrabyte HD (500MB) and a gig of RAM. Your laptop doesn't have that nor can it be upgraded to it... in fact, no keyboard currently made has that kind of processing and storage power. Even if you buy a controller and computer as suggested, you are still stuck with the kinds of controls that the keyboard manufacturer designated in places where they think you should have them. The control surface types and locations of the eKo are determined by the keyboard owner for the first time. Then you install the apps and sample libraries you want. The eKo would have far more hardware and software options available on it's first day of sales than all other keyboards combined, so the constant "why doesn't Yamaha add digital I/O's to their arrangers" or "why doesn't Roland include SCSI on their keyboards" debates won't apply to the eKo. Once you design the keyboard to fit your needs and work preferences and install the apps and components, it's ready for use on stage or in other studios with little setup time needed. Your controls will always be what you need and where you need them.

It's the potential of the eKo, not the stuff that was previewed, that is what has keyboardists talking about it. I'm not interested in buying an eKo today either because I don't need it yet and it isn't finished, but next year or the year after when it's refined I'll be very interested. I'll also bet that since the eKo is basically a keyboard with off-the-shelf computer components/OS that at NAMM 2004 we'll see eKo clones that weigh and cost less. The exploding softsynth market makes keyboards like the eKo inevitable.